Restaurateur Adam Hegsted opening de España in space formerly occupied by Incrediburger & Eggs

Local chef and restaurateur Adam Hegsted is bringing Spanish-inspired fare to downtown Spokane.

Hegsted is opening de España, a tapas restaurant and bar, in the space formerly occupied by his restaurant Incrediburger & Eggs at 909 W. First Ave., Suite A.

“We’ve had pretty good success with Gilded Unicorn and wanted to create a destination restaurant,” Hegsted said of de España. “The inspiration came from Barcelona. It’s really one of my favorite places that I’ve been to.”

Hegsted operates Le Catering and several restaurants under Eat Good Group, including the Gilded Unicorn, Baba, the Yards Bruncheon and Francaise, which opened in June in the South Perry neighborhood.

De España will serve Spanish-inspired tapas with a modern twist. Dishes will include local and seasonal ingredients from the Pacific Northwest, Hegsted said.

Tapas are small plates, snacks or appetizers that originated in Spain and are typically served with drinks or combined with other tapas to create a larger meal.

The restaurant’s menu will feature paella, ham and cheese croquettes, patatas bravas (spicy potatoes), Ibérico ham, dried chorizo, bacalao (dried-and-salted cod) and deviled eggs, among other items.

De España’s cocktail menu will have several varieties of sangrias and Spanish wines, Hegsted said.

“Any wines that aren’t from Spain will be from the Northwest, but they’ll be Spanish varietals,” he said.

The restaurant’s interior will give a nod to Barcelona via old street posters, art prints and a mural painted by North Idaho-based artist Alexandra Iosub, who also created an Eiffel Tower mural for Française.

Incrediburger & Eggs closed in July after more than four years of operation. The closure was driven in part because the restaurant relied heavily on lunchtime crowds that haven’t fully returned to downtown Spokane since the start of the pandemic, Hegsted said.

“Our lease was up in January, but we chose to stay downtown. It’s a good location and we thought that the space fit the idea (for de España),” Hegsted said. “In Barcelona, there’s these little tapa bars in alleyways, and that’s the vibe we are shooting for.”

Hegsted aims for de España’s ambiance to be “upper casual” yet comfortable, he said.

“You can eat there every day. It’s not very expensive. Or you can do a special date night with a more expensive bottle of wine, steak and other tapas,” Hegsted said. “So, it’s kind of like you get to create your own experience.”

De España will have a late-night happy hour with cocktail and tapa pairings to appeal to the evening crowd, Hegsted said.

“We are creating a late-night vibe. We are sort of missing that in downtown, so I’m hoping that it’s going to be successful,” Hegsted said.

De España is slated to open in late September.