‘Rising costs’ force closure of award-winning Hispanist restaurant
RAVE REVIEWS: Nick Hill at The Hispanist
By Phil Ascough
After more than five years of serving up award-winning dishes which had diners licking their lips the chef-patron of one of Hull’s finest restaurants is now licking his wounds.
Nick Hill called time on The Hispanist in a social media post which displayed his frustration at having to close, his pain for the impact on his family of trying to keep the business afloat, but also his happiness for the restaurant’s achievements.
He told The Hull Story: “There isn’t much I can give you in terms of plans.
“There’s no relocation. I’ll be doing pop-ups and have some events and weddings booked later in the year.”
During 2024 The Hispanist was listed in the Good Food Guide Top 100 Local UK restaurants for the second year running. In 2023 it won the food and drink category of the HullBID Awards.
Glowing testimonials from people who nominated the business included:
Nick Hill, has spearheaded an amazing offering of a cuisine one could only ever get to taste and enjoy in Spain – elevating Hull and our taste buds to complete food heaven!!
Creative, original, best food in the city and just what this city needs to be on par with the ‘big cities’.
Introducing a cuisine and a level of ingredients to Hull that haven’t been seen here before.
Social media responses to Nick’s announcement brought compliments and commiserations from much further afield, including from diners and other restaurateurs.
Nick became hooked on all things Hispanic from an early age and he developed his interest in parallel with becoming an accomplished chef. He trained at the catering and hospitality school in Hull College and worked in various restaurants in and around Hull.
He gained a degree in Hispanic studies and immersed himself in Hispanic culture by living in various parts of Spain and teaching cooking and English for a year at a secondary school in Valdepeñas.
Many of Nick’s ideas were showcased in The Hispanist cook book, a bold venture devised in partnership with A Way With Media, Birmingham-based media professionals with a diverse client base featuring the likes of Marcus Wareing, Benjamin Zephaniah, John Lydon and former MP Alan Johnson.
Unveiling the book, which is still available, Nick said: “It’s to support what we do – make a cook book of recipes that people can do at home rather than come up with something hyper-technical that needs all sorts of equipment.
TOP QUALITY: The Hispanist
“It’s really recipe-focused. It’s broken down into different sections – snacks, veg, meat, fish, desserts, cocktails and I tried not to do pages and pages of spiel around that. I purposely avoided making it difficult. You can create any sort of meal from what’s in it and you should also be able to find everything you need in the local shops.”
Nick’s latest social media post highlighted the current economic challenges but in reality the business was up against it from the start.
After launching towards the end of 2019 the business took a hit during its first Christmas, when uncertainty about the opening date denied Nick the chance of using the festive season to get off to a solid start. In 2020 the lockdowns started, and by the time they were banished in 2022 the invasion of Ukraine was creating shortages and pushing up costs.
At the beginning of 2023 Nick decided on an extended closure. He said: “I needed to get my energy back up and our energy costs down. That’s a real issue and that’s what worries me the most. You go from spending £350 to £400 a month up to £1,700. I didn’t even sign a new contract. It was just forced on me.”
The business bounced back with the Good Food Guide listings, yet more rave reviews and a desire to do more. The team at The Hispanist had been considering a move to larger premises, still in the city centre, as the date approached for the renewal of their lease at Paragon Arcade. But then Nick finally ran out of steam and has closed the doors for good as he rethinks and recharges.
In his social media post he highlighted the last 12 months as the toughest of five challenging years as he tackled rising costs, increased taxes and a scenario where “hospitality, once again, is expected to charge you all more, at a time when people have even less.”
Nick added: “More than any of those reasons, the toll it has taken on me both physically and mentally, as well as on my family have become too much to bear.
“It’s been a dream come true to own a restaurant and serve the food I love to my fellow Hull folk and to the people that came from far and wide. The fact we released a cookbook still blows my mind.
“However difficult it has been, it has been a period of my life I’m glad of. I’ll be forever grateful to the people that supported us and to all of my teams that worked so hard to help us achieve everything we did.
“The Hispanist has been an immense learning curve that I will carry into my next venture, whatever that may be. I’m not sad that it’s over, I’m happy that it happened. I’m happy I can look at myself in the mirror and say ‘I tried’.
“For now, it’s time regather my long-lost marbles and spend some much needed time with my family, and maybe pop-up here and there.”