There is a Madrid for every foodie
Cats say (that there are, there are) that there is a Madrid for each person, but it is not true. I insist: there is a Madrid for every problem, that's why there's no better place to find solutions than this three million wacko shortcut between the Manzanares and Alcobendas, which is said soon. And perhaps (also) there is a Madrid for gastronomads.
And it is that although it is true (because it was) that the gastronomy of the port of dry Spain paled (perhaps due to its lack of definition, its unique amalgamation of other cuisines, its lack of interest in haute cuisine) next to the most powerful restaurants in the country Basque or Catalonia, The last ten years have seen how Madrid establishments (from the bars to the crashed through those bars that we love so much) climbed positions, love and awards in the little hearts of all gastronomy lovers. It is true that there is a traditional Madrid of fried eggs, garlic and bacon. OK yes. But in Madrid there is DiverXO, in Madrid there is the tortilla from La Ardosa and in Madrid there is the perfect ginfizz from Del Diego.
And as in so many other things, what used to be a 'but' (heterodoxy, excess, unbridled fusion) today is the soul of a wonderful kitchen that is not one, but a thousand kitchens . A kitchen for every gastronome and every Madrilenian. For example, these:
FOR THE LAYING SEVEN OF THE SALES
Watch out. That we are talking about the most demanding, traditional, rigorous and ball-busting audience in the kingdom . The deafening silence of Las Ventas on a suffocating afternoon in May, the run run of the Bernabéu; the lawyer with a firm in Zurbano, shoes with tassels and that slightly crooked gesture before the eggs benedictine of the Embassy. Forgiving lives. He doesn't see it clearly.
For them, Coke . The best steakhouse in Madrid and (why not) in Spain. In Humanes, the Sandoval brothers (Mario, Rafael and Diego) recite an essential gastronomy based on popular Madrid recipes. **Insane is the suckling pig roasted in that oven (which is a treasure) ** built more than 35 years ago, with a 2 meter diameter wheel through which practically the entire Coque menu passes. Elegance, commitment, history and rigor.
Coque: the best roast suckling pig in Madrid
FOR JUAN BRAVO'S PETER PAN
Juan Bravo is the best street in the world. That because? Italian Embassy, the Milford (my home), the wood of Le Pain and some terraces where the most beautiful in Madrid devour claritas, peanuts and afternoons as silly as they are essential (this is not Barcelona, damn it) . And at his side -of course- that specimen so madrileño and so hostile: the thirty-long Peter Pan with a three-day beard , El Ganso slippers and the “I don't know what to do with my life” plastered on his forehead.
But I did not come here to talk about Juan Bravo but about ** La Cabra **, Javier Aranda's new gastronomic project that is pure Madrid because it is not one, but a thousand restaurants at the same time. In La Cabra there is room for a Minister, an editor of Traveler (present) and also a couple in their thirties asking for another round . Javier (previously at Piñera, Santceloni and recipient of the 2012 Revelation Chef award at Madrid Fusión) is screwing it up in this amazing multi-venue in the heart of Chamberí: tapería with 20 wines by the glass, breakfasts (yes, breakfasts), gastro-library with Wi-Fi, a cellar to shoot photos on Instagram and of course a room with a linen tablecloth where the gastronomic proposal (an essential cuisine, where flavor is left to experiments) of this kid who is going to turn Madrid upside down is showcased. At the time
La Cabra Taperia
FOR THE HIPSTER
Malasaña, that is, as the great Rafael de Rojas says: "beards, beards and especially beards; the occasional mustache; collars buttoned up to the throat; diners with hamburgers at two euros a leaf of lettuce; old bars that look like the exit of the school ; oversized bangs; flea markets of things; click-through t-shirt stores; unhorsed bikes and neon bars with gin and tonics like fruit salads".
And if we talk about bicycles (and if we talk about hipsters we have to talk about bicycles) what better example than the workplace called La Bicicleta. In the middle of Plaza San Ildefonso (the one with the girl) this epicenter of cuqui gastronomy with communal tables, yayo sofas and urban art exhibitions presents itself to the world with a magnificent brunch, led by coffees with El Magnifico denomination of origin and a menu of dishes between veggie and organic.
A brunch at The Bike
TO INVITE IRINA SHAYK TO DINNER
you arrive at ramses and two things happen. Or better, three things. The first, the terrace in front of the Puerta de Alcalá where all of Madrid boils, like a genuine review of Gatsby (champagne, red-soled shoes, Scalpers tailored suits, and mid-afternoon dry martinis) a hedonism unleashed in the Barrio Salamanca, in front of those sad runners who ride under the 23,000 trees of the Retiro. Or that very Madrid feeling that everything is happening here, now.
The second, **the kitchen of my compadre Ricard Camarena**. And the fact is that since he took over the gastronomic direction of Bistró de Ramses I have no doubt that this is one of the best tables in Madrid, just like that. I have already said it ad nauseam, but I insist: Camarena is one of the five most gifted, personal and passionate chefs of his generation. And his kitchen is here, seamless: Sweet potato and foie pastisset, flame-roasted tuna tataki with creamy green beans or that unforgettable coffee with burnt milk and macadamia nuts.
Third. David Lynch (Did I mention I desperately admire this wacko from Montana?). And it is precisely Lynch's work is the Dom Perignon Room. Champagne and David Lynch lock me up here.
The Dom Perignon Room, designed by David Lynch
LATINEANDO: THOSE FROM PROVINCES WHO LIVE IN MADRID
The Latin. Let me see how to explain it. Who has not latined on a Sunday or is a sieso or lies or is studying for notaries (I do not know what it's worst) . But (there is always a but) despite the peculiar beauty -the sad roofs, the bird shops or the cobblestones of the upper area- of this neighborhood so native, you have to plant on the table a huge "What a pity!" .
"What a pity!" by overcrowding, hangovers and deafening noise that floods every corner of every alley. La Latina is 'El Dorado' of that creative from the provinces who comes to eat the world between cane and cane in La Taberna Andaluza, of that pizpireta malagueña hurrying another mojito in the Delic. What am I going to tell you.
But here we have come to eat. And when it comes to eating, we can only surrender to the wonderful potato omelette at Juana la Loca: with caramelized onions, slightly pocha , with a slightly curdled egg (as it should be, damn it) and a crispy outer layer. **An omelette at the height of the great ones** (Gabino, Sylkar or La Ardosa) in the middle of Puerta de Moros square.