Ambiente Tapas

Seasonal Specials; heritage tomato salad and perennial padron peppers (vegan)

Locally grown Padron Peppers — Padron Peppers

Every year, when the nights start getting lighter and the weather begins to warm up, we find ourselves in a state of eager anticipation for a phone call that marks the arrival of summer - the day when padron peppers are ready!

You may have already seen Padrón peppers popping up in supermarkets from the start of spring, but ours are locally grown and are at the whim of the British weather, taking them a little longer sometimes to reach their peak readiness. They've been steadily creeping in as they have been ripening and are finally in full swing!

Located just down the road from our restaurants in York is Yorkshire Chillies, where Nigel, a local food producer, lovingly grows a variety of chillies and vegetables. For the past 10 years, he has been supplying us with Padrón Peppers, and due to their loving cultivation, they are some of the best we've ever tried, which is precisely why we turn to Nigel year after year for our Spanish Padrón fix.

If you haven't tried them yet, we urge you to visit one of our restaurants as soon as possible! Pan-fried in a little oil and sprinkled with sea salt, this simple cooking method really highlights the flavours of these homegrown little beauties.

But that isn't all… A few weeks ago, we visited Nigel to catch up with him and get a potential date for our first lot of Padróns. He has always grown vegetables in smaller quantities, mainly focusing on chillies. But this year, we found that he has expanded his operations. When we arrived, not only were we met with our usual excitement at the mammoth amount of Padrón plants, but we were also met with a bunch of bright, sweet, and 'green' fragranced tomato plants laden with fat, juicy, and ripening tomatoes of all colours, shapes, sizes and varieties!

He gave us a few of the early pick to try, and the results were indescribable. From farm to fork in just a matter of days, the freshness, flavour, and texture of these tomatoes are something else. They are sweeter and richer than what you might be used to due to these tomatoes being left to ripen fully on the vine, which enhances their sweetness and overall taste. Ever since we tried them, we knew we had to incorporate them onto our menu.

We're excited to say that we've done just that and turned these tomatoes into a dish that highlights just how delicious they are.

Seasonal Specials - Heritage Tomato Salad (vg) & Padron Peppers (vg) with our Bluebird Bakery Sourdough & Tio Pepe Fino En Rama

From now until the season ends, you'll find our Ensalada de Tomate (vg) on our specials menu—a selection of chopped heritage tomatoes made up of a variety of colors, sizes, shapes, textures, and flavors, all grown locally at Nigel's farm in Wigginton, York, and handpicked only when ripe every day. They're served on a bed of gazpacho and then drizzled with lovage pesto. It may seem like a simple dish, but it allows these delicious, local, seasonal, and lovingly grown tomatoes to steal the show.

You can find them in all our Ambiente Tapas Restaurants from today, alongside our other seasonal Padrón and strawberry specials.

Check out our Seasonal menu below and then book your table.

Summer Specials Menu