There are chefs whose face and personality you learn to recognise over their repeated TV appearances, and others whom, instead, you grow to love simply through tasting their food. The latter is true of my indirect encounter with José Pizarro, the Spanish star restaurateur and multi-cookbook author whose tapas bar and eatery on Bermondsey Street — called, rather essentially, José and Pizarro — have become the go-to hangout for art insiders checking out exhibitions at the nearby White Cube and the wider Mediterranean cuisine-obsessed London crowd. The launch of his first two locations, dating from 2011, heralded the birth of his cooking empire, now comprising two equally successful (and even more design-forward) spinoff concepts at the Royal Academy, and another spot on the same road: the 2024-inaugurated, atmospheric Lolo. With further addresses at Surrey's The Swann Inn pub and the Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers in the UAE, the chef's gastronomic influence extends far beyond London.
Hailing from a village in the rural region of Extremadura, western Spain, Pizarro was raised on a farm: an upbringing that granted him a thorough, hands-on understanding of vegetables, dairy products, and meat, as well as a profound connection to the land around him, from a very young age. Sparked by his family's passion for all things food, he left a potential career in dentistry to work in a rotisserie kitchen in Cáceres, a city near his hometown, to which he owes his culinary journey. Having made his way up to the position of Head Chef at Michelin-starred eatery El Mesón de Doña Filo in Spain, Pizarro relocated to London in 1998, where he learned English while hustling inside the kitchens of acclaimed Spanish restaurants like Brindisa, Eyre Brothers, and Gaudi.
