I FIRST met Ray Daykin when we worked together at Villandry in Bicester Village, cementing our relationship and our fervent passion for fresh cooked no-fuss food.

I had worked for a number of casual dining brands including opening La Tasca in Oxford Castle where my obsession for tapas began. Ray had previously worked for Browns and met Jose Fernandez Rama at Carluccios.

Classically trained Ray always believed in freshly cooked ingredients in all of his dishes and we encompass this ethos, cooking traditional Galician recipes handed down from Jose’s family.

Like many entrepreneurs we became frustrated by the lack of recognition, innovation and personal involvement in chain restaurants and we knew we needed to get out on our own in order to test our ideas and ambitions in our very own restaurant. Of course the recession was still with us at the time and economic recovery was nowhere in sight. Therefore our aspirations had to remain a pipe dream.

However, we persevered, trawling over various locations and business models. We had initially considered a bistro very similar to Villandry, but soon realised the cost would be prohibitive.

We settled on a concept which needed to be unique and easy to understand and market. Our set up costs needed to be minimal with a low overhead, high margins and potent revenue. With Jose’s heritage, tapas seemed like a no brainer.

However, we hit rock bottom late last year when two sites we were keen on went nowhere, and, demotivated from writing all of the business plans and kitchen table discussions, we abandoned the whole idea and went off and did our own thing.

The phoenix rose when we discovered that the Swan in Bicester was available, after being closed for a while. We had all been customers and loved the site, believing it would be ideal for an intimate tapas bar full of character, but we weren’t sure if Brakespear, the brewery that owned the pub, would go for it.

We began our negotiations pitching to their CEO who fortunately loved the idea, and were determined to offer the market a contemporary tapas bar based on various popular Mediterranean dishes with a few of our own twists like a Chorizo Scotch egg, all cooked from scratch, with authentic ingredients imported from Spain and other countries.

We also wanted a completely original decor where everything was recycled or upcycled on a tiny budget and hence some of our furniture and crockery hails from Ebay and charity shops, avoiding the contrived urban vintage look that seems to be dominating.

We did all of the work ourselves with tremendous help and support from all of our friends and family who gave much of their time and energy in helping us complete our refurbishment.

We managed to complete the gruelling refurbishment of Brava Tapas in four weeks and open on schedule to a rousing response and rave reviews. I believe the success of the restaurant is down to filling a niche in the market for authentic, aspirational food that appeals to a more discerning mature customer, especially women, something that was sadly lacking in Bicester.

We have had a fantastic experience during our first opening and will be looking for more sites next year. We’ve had highs and lows with loads of hard work and very long hours, but it has been worth every minute in realising our aspirations and passions. For all those who feel trapped and frustrated by their current occupation, I can recommend no better experience. Choose the right partners, do your homework, shed the fear and get going!

TRY IT
Brava Tapas
13 Church Street, Bicester, OX26 9AY 
01869 327182 bicester@bravatapas.com