Restaurant Franchise Opportunities

Tapas: uniquely Spanish dishes from the Spanish word ‘tapar’ which means to ‘cover’ in Spanish, thought to come about as a result of Innkeepers in bygone days, covering glasses of wine with small plates of cheese or sausage, to stop flies and mosquitoes flying in?

Others say that tapas began to be served at the entrance to Inns, to satisfy the hunger of travellers who would halt briefly on their journeys, but had no time to get down from their horses or carriages even for a bite to eat and a glass of wine: hence, a small snack (the tapar ,or ‘cover’) was passed to them on top of the wine for a quick bite and drink!

Whatever the reason for the ‘tapar’ I promised myself that one day I would open a Restaurant (or two or three), specialising in this wonderful and uniquely Spanish way, of ‘fun dining’ in sharing these wonderfully simply but incredibly tasty dishes, with family and friends.

Unlike a lot of British citizens, I did not discover Spain until later in life, when I was asked (some twenty years ago), to carry out some work for Shell España as a Consultant in the Offshore Oil & Gas business.

At that time we were based in San Carlos de la Rapita, a beautiful area in the Ebro Delta, Catalunya, where absolutely no-one spoke any English (mainly Catalan) , but where I could get by learning the basics of Castilian Spanish (also useful everywhere else in Spain)!

My travels with Shell took me to the North of Spain (Santander, Gijon...) and to Madrid, where, after this short amount of experience in Spain, I realised what I might have been missing in life!

From that moment on, I immersed myself into the culture of the Spanish, the food, the fiestas, the excitement, the colour, the music, the dance, I embraced it all with a great deal of enthusiasm, and have done ever since.

As a keen amateur cook, I have always tried my hand at the local dishes wherever I had lived, but traditional Spanish dishes blew me away and I absolutely loved the idea of the Tapa, where small tasty dishes can be shared with family and friends; never feeling ‘full’ always feeling as if you need another bite; such an incredible variety of seafood, meats, chorizos (spicy Spanish Sausage), shellfish, vegetables........

Hence, many years later and with an apartment in my favourite City of Barcelona, having travelled throughout Spain and with a great deal more business experience; the first ‘Tapas Tree’ business investments emerged at Clark Quay, Singapore, some four years ago.

Through personal contacts: identifying the correct site for our first restaurant, researching many restaurants overseas for the chefs who could cook my favourite dishes in their truly authentic fashion, designers who could help me simulate the ‘Spanish feel’ in my restaurants, the selection of products from Spain, wines, etc.......

This gave birth to The Tapas Tree Group business franchise: now with three Singapore restaurants business investments of various size and location operating profitably and looking towards more Singapore franchise opportunities and franchise opportunities overseas; we are by far the most original in South East Asia, for our food, our ambience and our designs, from our hand-made mosaic tables, our eye for getting the Spanish ‘look’ through the use of terracotta, wrought iron and red brick, to the personal photographs I have on display; not forgetting of course the images of one of Spain’s most prolific and in-demand Flamenco Dance Photographers, Ana Palma! Our Spanish customers call us, ‘That little bit of Spain, in South East Asia’, a title that I am immensely proud of!

Astreem Corporation is the franchise consultants for The Tapas Tree Group who are the franchise opportunities partner for businesses that are looking for franchise business opportunities in the Singapore bar and restaurant franchise market of interest. Astreem is constantly on the lookout for franchise opportunities for The Tapas Tree regionally and internationally.

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