Spanish-style café draws inspiration from food and drink culture on the Continent
THE new owner of a licensed café in Glasgow’s west end is bringing a fresh taste of Spain to Scotland after reopening the outlet.
Ziques, in Partick, was founded in 2001 by Mhairi Taylor and later renamed in honour of Taylor’s grandfather, who fought with the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
It has now been taken on by Fergus McCoss, who spent nearly a decade living in Palma de Mallorca before returning to Scotland in 2019.
Under chef Robbie Smith the revamped menu at the café will feature Spanish dishes prepared using fresh Scottish ingredients, while on Tuesdays the venue will focus on Basque-style ‘pintxo’ dishes – bite-sized dishes accompanied by small glasses of beer. Ziques is charging £3.50 for each pinxto, with the accompanying glass of beer priced at £2.
The venue is the latest project from the growing Hinba hospitality group, which also owns Hinba coffee shops in Glasgow and Oban as well as The Bakery in Glasgow.
The company is currently refurbishing another recent Glasgow acquisition, EightyEight on the city’s Dumbarton Road.
“I want to bring a bit of Palma to Partick,” said McCoss.
“In Spain, food is a bigger part of everyday life. You finish work, meet a friend, have a small beer and a couple of bites to eat without breaking the bank. You stay for ten minutes or all night. It’s so relaxed and fun, and I’ve really missed that since moving home.
“Ziques feels like the perfect place to try it in Glasgow.”
He added that the pinxto concept has been devised as an antidote to the increasing expense of dining out.
“Eating out has become expensive and stressful,” said McCoss. “You plan it weeks ahead, spend a fortune and feel like you need to stay two hours to justify it. But it doesn’t have to be like that.
“I’m inspired by pinxtos bars in Palma – people coming and going, talking to the next table, eating two pintxos and heading home. Why shouldn’t that work in Glasgow? Maybe one day we’ll even bring Ziques to its spiritual home.”
