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Restaurants

When I began my chefs apprenticeship in Melbourne in 1981 it was my dream to one day own my own restaurant. This finally happened in August 2001 when myself and three friends opened The Providores and Tapa Room on London's Marylebone High Street. Previous to that I'd been executive chef, but not owner, of The Sugar Club in Soho and Notting Hill, and before that executive chef at the Mayfair private members club Green Street. However, since The Providores opened I have become involved in many other restaurants and food businesses, some as consultant, some as investor. This was something I hadn't foreseen, but that I have enjoyed immensely.

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The Providores and Tapa Room   www.theprovidores.co.uk

The Providores and Tapa Room was opened on August 15th 2001 by four partners - myself, Michael McGrath, Jeremy Leeming and Anna Hansen. Anna left the business in 2005. The Providores continue to offer the most exciting and innovative fusion food in the UK – please read my Fusion blurb elsewhere on this site.

On the ground floor you'll find the Tapa Room - our all day restaurant, cafe and wine bar. It takes its name from the enormous traditional Rarotongan Tapa cloth (made from block printed and hand beaten paper mulberry bark) that hangs on the wall. We do serve small dishes of food, much like Spanish tapas, but it is the cloth that we honour with the name. Tapa cloth can be found throughout the Pacific and is used either as a decorative piece, as a ceremonial floor covering at feasts, or in some cases as fabric for clothing. Our breakfast menu is legendary (try getting in for brunch on the weekends) and our all-day Tapa menu is ever changing and extensive.

On the first floor is the more formal dining room called The Providores, serving delicious finely executed dishes.

We stock Europe's largest range of New Zealand premium wines, including Waitaki Braids, which is co-owned by myself, my partner Michael McGrath, winemaker Michelle Richardson and Stephen Cozens www.waitakibraids.co.nz