Jose Pizarro

I trained as a chef in Caceres, Extremadura, gaining experience in local hotels and restaurants. I then moved to Madrid to the award-winning Meson de Doña Filo where I cooked `nueva cocina' and began my love affair with fresh, brightly flavoured dishes. I continued to develop this style after my move to London, working with the Eyre brothers and then joining Brindisa as Chef Partner to set up the hugely popular, critically acclaimed Tapas Brindisa in London's Borough Market and its Soho and South Kensington outposts. I have recently retired from the partnership to pursue new projects. I'm inspired by local ingredients that I find in the food markets every day, the incredible quality of Spanish food stuffs that I have access to and, of course, my roots in rural Spain. I have appeared on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen and UKTVFood's Market Kitchen and my first book Seasonal Spanish Food was published in October 2009 by Kyle Cathie.