Omar Allibhoy on why he chose to launch Tapas Revolution in Basingstoke

Speaking to the Gazette during a visit to the newly-opened Tapas Revolution in Basingstoke, Spanish celebrity chef Omar Allibhoy said he had been looking for a suitable venue in the town “for a long time”.

He said the busy shopping centre was a draw, along with his belief that many people in the town travel frequently and “are accustomed to the food of Spain and who want to eat tapas when they get back home”.

The 38-year-old father-of-three also noticed that Basingstoke has no other tapas restaurant, following the closure of La Tasca in 2016.

“There has to be some Spanish present,” said Omar, adding: “I’m a big believer of Spanish food. For me, it should be the same way there’s a sushi restaurant in every city, there should also be a Spanish restaurant.”

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However, he is keen to point out that Tapas Revolution is not a ‘chain’ – he has opened 10 restaurants in 12 years and said he likes to take his time with each one before launching the next.

Hoping to bring a taste of his home-country to Basingstoke, Omar is passionate about the food on offer at Tapas Revolution, which gives diners an authentic experience of Spanish cuisine.

However, Omar explained that this does mean dishes will not always be identical every time.

“People are obsessed with consistency,” he said, adding: “But the produce we use is never identical. To me, the key is that it tastes like it tastes in Spain. It’s about our food tasting really good.”

The restaurant owner, who started cooking with his mother when he was just five-years-old, is passionate about sourcing the best ingredients to use at Tapas Revolution and for everything to be made by hand.

“The only thing we don’t make is the bread and ice cream, which even Michelin restaurants don’t do. We buy quality ingredients and use good recipes from my life in the kitchen and from my mother. Around 85 per cent of the menu is classic and we make sure it’s as good as it can be,” he said.

Omar highlighted the importance of the quality of the ingredients used in each dish, and how they are prepared.

Many of the tapas dishes, such as Pan Con Tomate (bread, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil), use very few ingredients meaning the individual components are vital to ensuring it tastes exceptional.

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Omar explained: “We don’t keep tomatoes in the fridge because they would be rock hard and flavourless. We buy from the Isle of Wight and well as Spain and it’s about it being harvested early and as soon as they get to us, we leave them out to ripen. We blitz the tomatoes and we take the vines and put them with the grated tomatoes because most of the aroma is in the vine.”

Inspired to cook by his Spanish mother at a young age, Omar remembers helping her out in the kitchen as a child.

“I started cooking when I was a little boy. My first memory is of cooking in the kitchen. I was always jumping on the chair to help my mum whisk eggs and dress the salads. I never wanted to be an astronaut or a football player. I have been lucky enough to find that passion and I still have it,” he said.

Omar is hoping to demonstrate his passion for cooking this month when he competes in the World Paella Finals in Valencia against 41 other top chefs.

The businessman is also launching his own cookbook dedicated solely to paella in April 2023, which he hopes will help people cook their own paellas at home.

“Paella has always had that magic for me,” he said. “People remember their first paella. My cookbook is dedicated to the mastery of paella for those who really want to go for it and learn and understand how the recipes work but also the recipes are incredibly simply described so if you follow it, it will come out really well. That’s the theory.”

But for now, Omar is hoping the people of Basingstoke will come and support his newest venture in the town.