La Tasca’s former executive chef brings ‘authentic’ Spanish dining experience to Didsbury

One of the minds behind the expansion of the La Tasca chain of restaurants has teamed up with his wife to open an eatery in Manchester.

Ignacio Perez-Barreiro and Natalia Esquerdo-Girbes created 12 jobs with the launch of Tinto, a 90-cover Spanish restaurant in Didsbury.

The venue is based in the unit formerly occupied by the Chalk and Grill, which had been closed for six months before Ignacio and Natalia acquired the space with the help of SME funder Reward Finance.

Ignacio, better known as Nacho, qualified as a chef in Spain before relocating to the UK in 1992. During his time working as executive chef at La Tasca’s first restaurant on Deansgate, he helped to establish the concept and roll the brand out across the UK and US.

Nacho and Natalia have already partnered on a number of ventures. In 2001, the duo established Spanish food and kitchenware wholesaler Lola Espana.

They also jointly launched Tapeo & Wine on Deansgate in May last year, but decided to sell their stake to the other shareholder, the father of Manchester United’s Juan Mata, to run their own restaurant.

Tinto will be supplied by Lola Espana and offer a Spanish menu focusing on its charcoal oven. The venue’s ambition is to move beyond the tapas dishes prevalent in many of the UK’s Spanish restaurants and recreate an authentic Spanish family dining experience.

Natalia said: “As we live in the area we spotted the Chalk and Grill had closed and believed it was the perfect place to open our own restaurant. It is a great location in the heart of Didsbury village, which has an excellent community and family feel.

“We believe Spanish food, cooked in a simple and authentic way to bring out the high quality ingredients, will be a big attraction in the area.”

She added: “We would like to thank the team at Reward Finance for having the confidence in us to enable us to buy the restaurant and create such an authentic feel to the interior.”

Paula Jones of Reward Finance commented: “Natalia and Nacho are a formidable team who are extremely passionate about the business. In addition there are not many chefs with the track record of Nacho for creating successful concepts.

“With such drive, experience and ambition we are confident Tinto will be a huge success.”