Fino Bar & Restaurant in 4^th Avenue in Parktown North, with its delectable Spanish food and great cocktail bar, is one of the best places to chill in Jozi. It takes its name from the Spanish word for ‘fine’; in this case the palest, driest of the traditional varieties of sherry. It fully lives up to its name.

Fino Bar & Restaurant

Fino was opened nearly five years ago by Cristina Sato and Zane Beer. She had grown up in South America with Spanish food influences and he was in the restaurant business with a passion for Mediterranean cuisine.

‘I love the way they use garlic and olive oil,’ he says. ‘But more than that they have this idea that food is for sharing; it’s all about hospitality. So they load the table with smaller portions of different foods from vegetables and cheeses to seafoods and meats, which also allows for a variety of taste sensations. While all the Mediterranean cultures do this, the Spanish tapas are most appealing to me because of the North African influences in their cooking.’

Since opening, Fino has consistently been rated one of the city’s top 20 restaurants. When you visit, it’s obvious to see why. It’s in everything from the streetside deck, crisp Mediterranean décor, friendly service, great cocktail bar and some of the best food you’ll find anywhere.

Tapas Bar

Tapas are essentially a Spanish appetiser, but are mostly combined to make a shared round of starters for a table, a full meal for the individual, or a feast for a party. Fino offers traditional hot and cold tapas with the finest ingredients sourced from around the world; variations on the theme; and their very own creations, like the mouth-watering chorizo chips of thin slices of Spanish chorizo sausage wrapped in thinly sliced potato and then fried.

There is a wide selection of aperitivos, vegetarian, seafood and meat tapas to suit every taste and appetite. Among these are mushrooms fried in garlic, paprika, dry Spanish sherry and a good touch of red chilli; salmon and hake fish puffs (fish cakes) with paprika tartar salsa; and lamb shoulder kebabs grilled with Spanish spices and herbs.

Cocktail Bar

Tapas means ‘cover’ and refers to the Spanish tavern tradition of covering a glass with a slice of bread, probably to keep fruit flies out of sweet sherry. Enterprising barkeeps began adding small snacks on the bread and the lowly fly screen became part of the national cuisine.

Since then they have been an integral part of ‘bar food’, which is why they go so well with cocktails. And Fino has one of the finest, most imaginative cocktail lists in Jozi. Their signature is the Aqua de Valencia with orange juice, cointreau, vodka and Cava sparkling wine. Big favourites are also their chocolate martini and watermelon (when in season) martini.

And it wouldn’t be Spanish without sangria. Here I’m not talking about that noxious stuff served up by steak houses, but the real deal like Fino make of red or white wine, cointreau, brandy, fruit and lemonade.

The Restaurant

Fino is also renowned as a restaurant. Many critics have written lovingly of their chicken breast with orange and mint taken from an old Andalucian recipe.      

But my favourites are their arroz and paella dishes. Arroz is like a Spanish version of risotto and you should try their Peruvian one of spiced duck cubes with garlic, cream and coriander. Unlike ‘risotto’ style dishes, paella is drier as all liquid is reduced in the pan, allowing for a flavourful rice with calamari, prawns and chicken. 

And do remember to save space for their long Spanish doughnuts with a thick, warm Belgian chocolate dipping sauce. They are worth going to the gym for. And Fino is worth a visit if you’ve never discovered this gem of the Northern Suburbs. Highly recommended.