When we opened the doors to Movida in Hosier lane in 2003 no one knew what to expect. Here was this little bar on a graffiti covered cobbled lane near the cathedral serving Spanish tapas and shared plates in a down lit room playing funky tunes.

It wasn’t purely Spanish, it wasn’t purely a bar, it wasn’t a textbook restaurant. It was what we in Melbourne do well – an amalgam of the food of our immigrant homeland, the skills of our chefs and the love of life of our front of house crew.

People caught on that they could come in for a beer and a jamón croquetta at the bar and then move across to a table and share a plate of slow braised lamb, some patatas a lo pobre and down some seriously good Spanish red wine.

People soon got the idea of MoVida and now people are coming from all over the world to eat and drink with us.