A new tapas restaurant is opening in Willesden Green with a "free glass of bubbly" to celebrate its launch.

The Star of Willesden Green, in Walm Lane, is hosting two launch parties on Friday and Saturday evening ( October 15 and 16) from 7pm to 11pm.

Guests arriving between 7pm and 8pm will be treated to glass of bubbly and tasty canapes will be distributed all evening.

The menu is "100% Spanish" with some 20 tapas dishes. The bar offers a dozen "proper cocktails".

Brent & Kilburn Times: The Star of Willesden Green top team: general manager Ramiz Semic, owner Niamh McBride and head chef Erold CazeneuveThe Star of Willesden Green top team: general manager Ramiz Semic, owner Niamh McBride and head chef Erold Cazeneuve (Image: The Star)

General manager Ramiz Semic said: "We are having two parties for our grand opening for our local businesses, head teachers, GPs, the manager from Sainsbury's, all our friends and families.

"We're inviting the public from 7pm to have a free glass of bubbly. Then all night is our food tasting, canape style, so we will not charge for food.

"It's our chance to show our beautiful tapas that our head chef managed to do."

The opening is good news for locals as the owner Niamh McBride is already known for her previous restaurants The Social and Two Doors Down, both in Walm Lane.

She said: "A few years ago in 2012 we opened the Social, a tapas place on Walm Lane, a cute little space for 40 people.

"It went really well for about four years then we were turning people away every day because we didn't have the space to accommodate so we moved two doors down and called the place, aptly, Two Doors Down.

"We offered Mexican street food which was nice but it was not as popular as tapas so when Covid hit we went back to the drawing board."

The former St Claudine's pupil said Covid was a "crazy, crazy year, really challenging". Parties including engagements and weddings had to be rescheduled.

"The star has the intimacy and cuteness of the Social and the big parties of Two Doors Down."

An added bonus is the proximity to Willesden Green tube station.

"I was born and raised in Willesden and my friends and I used to joke that the best thing about Willesden is how easy it is to get out of it because the transport links are so amazing for the rest of the city but there wasn't really anything for people here.

"But now, you know, we've got that changing so it's exciting."