Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng, the chef couple behind the long-running East-meets-West project TATA Eatery , will open their new restaurant Solis in Battersea on October 4 – and this time it is Iberia meets Uruguay.
The 80-cover venue is the final addition to the Arcade Battersea food hall, which opened this summer in the former Battersea Power Station. It is named after Juan Díaz de Solis, a 16th-century explorer said to have been the first European to land on what is now Uruguay, and offers a menu of chicken and steak influenced by the grill cuisines of Spain, Portugal, Uruguay and Argentina.
Ana said, “Solis is a very personal restaurant for me. I wanted to create a place for everyone, that serves the type of food I have experienced since I was little; very simple, but full of flavour and approachable. We want Solis to be a place everyone feels at home – somewhere unfussy and warm that serves the sort of food you want to eat over and over again.”
The ‘de la parrilla’ section of the menu (£15-£20) will include half a spatchcock chicken with their signature smoked Aji-Aji oil, as well as flat-iron steak with their entrecôte sauce. Both come with fries and an asador salad, a classic accompaniment of onions and tomatoes dressed with oregano and olive oil that is traditionally served by peri peri chicken shops in Portugal.
Small dishes ‘para picar’ (£2-£4), meaning ‘to snack’ in Spanish, include Huevos Rellenos, a play on devilled eggs with a spiced tuna filling and salsa golf sauce, and Elotes Asados, a street-style grilled corn on the cob with crema dressing and lime and chilli seasoning.
Other snacks include Beef Croquetas with caramelised onion and a hint of mustard and Gildas, a quintessential drinking snack comprising boquerones, gordal olives, pickled alliums and house chimichurri on a slice of baguette. To finish, there’s Torta De Queso, a creamy cheesecake with blueberry sauce.
Uruguay dominates the drinks offer, including the national aperitif Medio y Medio – combining white wine and sparkling wine – and a concise wine list from well-known Uruguayan winemaker Pablo Fallabrino. Three types of sangria are served by the glass or jug (£7/£25)
The interior features artwork, photography and football colours designed to transport guests to the clamorous parrillas of Montevideo’s old town market, while the furnishings reference Uruguay’s heyday at the start of the 20th century.
Cokey Sulkin, Arcade’s COO, commented “As the final restaurant launch of Arcade Battersea and a brand we’ve been developing within our Arcade Create programme for some time, we’re very excited to see Solis come to life and to welcome the very first guests. Arcade Create has so far helped bring over 12 food concepts into existence and we’re thrilled for Solis to join that collection.”
Ana and Zijun met while working at Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes’s ground-breaking Viajante, and launched TATA in 2015.
