"Fitzroy has been a Spanish area for a long time, well before there were only fish and chip shops on Brunswick Street," says Andres Ruiz Mesa, owner and namesake of La Bodega de Andres, the new Fitzroy restaurant offering Melbourne diners a faithful representation of Spanish cuisine.
Mesa hails from the Canary Islands, born into a family deeply rooted in hospitality — in fact, his parents met while serving in the Royal Palace of Spain. While caring for their six children during Spain's post-civil war economic downturn, they did all they could to survive. "During this time, you couldn't be picky about your food," Mesa says "We used everything possible in our cooking."
Armed with a passion for his country's food, Mesa arrived in Australia in 2002 and fell in love with the country. He has since married and received Australian citizenship. "I feel very much at home here. On the inside of my jacket is an Australian flag and a Spanish flag.”
Melbourne folks are well aquainted with Spanish “tapas” – a label freely dished out to small plates of varying origins. But authentic Spanish food is rarer. "Melbourne restaurants use the words tapas, chorizo, churros and paella. But it's usually not authentic,” he laments. This and an innate desire to cook spurred the opening of his first restaurant, Arcadia, in Ascot Vale.
For tapas, there’s berenjena con queso (grilled eggplant with goat's cheese and date molasses), the pulpo a la plancha (grilled octopus with coriander sauce and potatoes) and the albondigas Maria (Mesa’s mother's meatball recipe with almonds and rich tomato sauce).
From the raciones selection, the salmon ceviche with a lime, pepper and onion marinade receives a zingy injection courtesy of a pickled cucumber vinaigrette. The champinones al Pedro Ximenez: sauteed mushrooms in sherry sauce served in a cazuela, arrives in a clay pot. You'll certainly find your meat of choice on the mains menu, which includes carrilleras (braised beef cheeks) and the linguine frutos del mar (mixed seafood pasta).
But the star of the show is the paella; the national dish of saffron-infused rice is served in a huge pan and needs at least two mouths to polish it off. Mesa notes that the most popular is the marinera paella but if seafood isn't your thing, there are chicken and vegetarian options available. Be sure to visit on a Tuesday for the $12 paella night.
It goes without saying that sangria is a must — Mesa’s secret recipe includes a surprising blend of fruits in Spanish wine with spices and splashes of cognac, brandy and gin. There’s no shortage of Spanish wine or beer on the menu either, and there’s an authentic take on the mojito, too.
Mesa is very deliberate about the origins of his dishes; he handpicks ingredients from the markets and will happily explain the story in each meal and ingredient, from the jamon to the Spanish wine. There's even a small deli on site, and he’ll import special orders for interested customers.
Tue - Fri 5pm–late and weekends 12pm–late
361 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC
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