Renowned South London mini-chain of Spanish wine bars, The Tapas Room is to launch a fifth site in Peckham this May.
The site is the largest in their repertoire of five, with an excellent Spanish food offering in the large dining space and a dedicated bar downstairs to continue championing lesser known Spanish grape varietals and small producers of vermouth and sherry.
The Tapas Room group was founded by Paul Belcher in Tooting in 2017, after a successful stint of his pop-up restaurant Donostia Social Club, which started life as a street food van and evolved into a site at Pop Brixton.
The small site in Tooting serves primarily as a wine bar and shop, serving nibbles alongside to interested customers, developing the brand’s loyal following and providing an opportunity for expansion.
The group has gone from strength to strength in the succeeding years, with the popular Deptford site following in 2019, and the two newest sites in Brixton and Battersea in 2020 during the peak of the pandemic.
Belcher said,“We have been eyeing up an opening in Peckham for a while, we know a lot of our customers from the other sites live around the area and we wanted to bring The Tapas Room to a brand new pocket of London, and one that still has that local feel to it. Our aim for Peckham is an accessible, informal restaurant, where people can easily learn about wine, try delicious food, and enjoy a bit of Spain in South London.”
The site is split into two parts with the bright upstairs dining area looking over an open plan kitchen where diners can watch their food being prepared, and the smaller downstairs bar providing a cosy space for evening drinks as well as the area for The Tapas Room’s many events.
One of the key tasting events at this new site will be held one Wednesday a month, and will revolve around giving people the chance to sample little known grapes, vineyards and regions of Spain as well as sherry and vermouth. Each session will be informal and free to attend for anyone who is interested.
The Tapas Room Peckham is located in an old hotel and pub on Peckham High Street, boasting floor to ceiling windows and an old stained glass window with the site’s previous name, The Crown Hotel. The interiors will match The Tapas Room’s other sites with dark blue accents and high tables and chairs, as well as some snug areas with banquette seating.
Part of the new offering in Peckham will be a Spanish inspired brunch with star dishes - The Tapas Room Crumptopus, an octopus crumpet with citrus salsa, and traditional broken eggs with morcilla. The cocktail offering will also showcase Spanish twists on classics including a Vermouth Spritz and Oloroso Negroni.
The wine lists at each site vary slightly, as they are curated by the manager of each outpost, however all represent a range of Spanish wines, from those lesser known grapes such as Treixadura and Hondarrabi Zuri to excellent examples of popular spanish wines.
Max Delaney, Manager at Peckham, said of the wine selection, “Our aim for the wine at The Tapas Room has always been to showcase more of Spanish wine than meets the eye, we serve the ever popular Rioja and Ribera del Duro, but if you want to branch out we can select 5 or 6 others than would really impress you.”
Three of The Tapas Room’s sites; Deptford, Battersea and Brixton will reopen their outdoor space to the public in April. All sites offer a mix of hot and cold tapas, suitable for nibbles alongside drinks or for a more substantial meal. The group imports excellent quality cheeses and meats including Idiazabal, a pressed sheep cheese from the Basque region and Serrano Reserva Ham.
The new Peckham site will be fully open to the public from 18 May, in line with current government guidelines. The booking platform for Peckham will open 1 May, bookings can be made via The Tapas Room website.
