Faraday is a vinyl and curio shop where you can have a good coffee.
At number 9 of the central Madrid street of San Lucas we found a new one record store and curio and antiques in which to drink a quality coffee.
A complete three in one that has just landed in Chueca by the hand of Rodrigo Caretti and Michelle Balietti, the couple that owns ** Faraday ** and architects of this new concept of specialty coffee present in other areas of Madrid and, on the other hand, a pioneer in this neighbourhood.
"We wanted not to be a typical cafeteria. In reality, the main role is given above all to the 'record store', a store specializing in vinyl where encourage their listening and with a very special selection of music. The other pillar of Faraday is the store of objects and antiques, of which Michelle, my wife, is in charge," Rodrigo tells me with a telltale Argentine accent of who, although he was born and raised "right here, just around the corner" , has lived for some time in Argentina.
"The two stores are the ones that invite you to enter, coffee is an 'accessory', it is the third world, Faraday's third leg, but not the most important ", explains the owner of this spacious retro-style venue with recovered architectural details, such as white-painted brick walls, an exposed steel beam and ceilings so high that they have created a mezzanine just above the bar.
At Faraday, original retro furniture comes from flea markets and auctions.
THE RECORD SHOP
The careful selection that vinyl for sale is the work of Rodrigo, who draws mainly from a Dutch distributor, "which has almost everything I need, and what I don't look for elsewhere", he clarifies after reminding me that, with the wide variety of styles –From the 1940s to the present– that rest on the wall shelves, what he intends is "reflect the eclectic spirit of music through its history".
In Faraday there are albums of all genres: rare orchestras, contemporary, classical, ambient music, film music, jazz, rock, indie, electronic, funky, rhythm and blues... everything you can think of.
Rodrigo and Michelle, he is in charge of the records and she, of the curious objects.
Just below the new titles is a drawer with a section for used records.
It is Rodrigo's personal collection, who leaves them there with the intention that his clients click and listen to the music they want on the house's record player while he drinks coffee.
"There are many people who are not used to it and do not fully appreciate the auditory difference between a vinyl and an mp3 ", Rodrigo reminds me, knowing that "listening to vinyl records is as engaging as taking photos with an analog camera".
THE STORE OF CURIOUS OBJECTS AND ANTIQUES
Wicker baskets, mid-century lamps, earrings, antiques, Boru ceramics by Madrid-based ceramist Alejandro Martín Calvo, pins brought from the United States, vintage prints... merging objects in Faraday it is as varied as the musical styles of his records are varied.
"The store reflects who I am, it reflects my personality, my innate curiosity to find curious objects ", confesses Michelle, who locates the pieces both in flea markets and on the websites of collectors and antique dealers.
They also have a short but select collection of books from the Argentine publisher Caja Negra Editora, essays on philosophy and aesthetics related to art, music, cinema...
The objects in the store reflect the personality of Michelle who likes to mix the modern and the old.
THE COFFEE BOUTIQUE
The concept of specialty coffee is not new in Madrid, but it is in Chueca, where there was a lack of a place to have a quality coffee in a relaxed environment.
Its coffee supplier is Toma Café, which in addition to being a business with stores in Malasaña and Olavide, is a bean roaster. For this reason, in Faraday the blend is of origin: from Africa, Central America, South America... it changes depending on the season.
They also offer four types of teas: "They are from Tetere, our supplier in Barcelona, who brings them from their origin: from Sichuan and other Chinese provinces," Rodrigo reveals to me, who also wants to make it clear that the only accompaniment for coffee is a Belgian chocolate truffles and a homemade sponge cake what a girl does to them, "that's why we are not a coffee shop, we are a boutique cafe , to call it in some way, where quality coffee and a quality product to accompany it are offered", he concludes.
Bar and coffee area, in Faraday, the new 'place to be' in Chueca.
THE PICTURE
It is likely that when you go to visit Faraday, you will pass it by, just exhibit a small sign on the outside with the face of the physicist that gives its name to the premises (they will soon put the name stamped on the glass).
It is the work of Rodrigo, who is an illustrator and artist and passionate about the figure of the British scientist and self-taught genius Michael Faraday, who discovered electromagnetism. "I don't know if you know that the operation of the turntable capsule is based on electromagnetic induction?", he asks me.
The truth is that I did not know, but it does not matter, because that is the good thing about Faraday, that there is always something to discover within the four walls of it, from the album with which David Bowie started the Berlin Trilogy to a glass vase from the 50s. And, best of all, accompanied by a good specialty coffee and the 'thick' sound in the background of vinyl spinning in the turntable next door.
Address: Calle San Lucas, 9 See map
Schedule: From Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 12 to 9:00 p.m.