Mackerel and Luma snails
We used to go to this place a long time ago, the old meating , next to Puerta de Alcalá, to eat fantastic meat and some first-class hamburgers. More than a spatial reference this means a good start, a gesture of complicity to taste memory to welcome the new visit.
Although it is no longer about steaks , rather than ceviches , tiger milk granitas, oysters and exotic fruit trompe l'oeil; because here the one in charge now is the ** Peruvian chef Omar Malpartida **, who has returned to surprise you (yes, again) with everything that he had not already surprised us with in his other Madrid adventures: Tiradito, Barra M and Chambi.
Omar Malpartida, chef at Luma
The restaurant in question is called luma , which mixes (we already started!) the two names of his two grandmothers, whom Omar considers his origins and also his first memories.
From that, in three words, Luma goes: of gathering, of origins and of memories. “Mothers are the origin of everything, and grandmothers are even more so -he explains- and the last memory I have of my origins is my grandmothers, lusmilla and maria That's why the restaurant is called Luma”.
In addition to them, the origin of the cook is products, raw material that his kitchen arrives from various points and that resets the adventure counter to zero.
He brings them (sometimes literally) from the most remote corners of Peru, to show them to us in the most recognizable way possible, to show us the most unknown side of Peru, which here has the form of those stones of pilluana salt that is on the table and function as a primitive salt shaker or collection of kombuchas, chichas, kefirs , which is visible on the shelves and present both in the kitchen and in the Luma's cocktail bar
luma bar
The thing of joining (not merging) comes from uniting two cultures in a single bite, the Spanish and the Peruvian. Hence In the same dish Piura coexists with Ondarroa, León with Incahuasi or Tarapoto with Extremadura.
“The union is much purer than the fusion, it is done in a natural and simple way without overshadowing the flavors of the product so that when you try them together something rich comes out, such as, for example, the Souvenir of a cevichería in Lima , which is a granita of leche de tigre with an oyster from Galicia, but when you try it it reminds you of ceviche”.
This idea is clear from the first bite, crispy yucca and saffron, accompanied with a chestnut cheese and a huacatay sauce, which is served as an appetizer baptized as Pachamama.
Nothing more Spanish than saffron and nothing more Andean than yucca to kick off a meal that brings surprise after surprise with each dish, especially if you opt for one of the tasting menus (Recollections Menu and Origins Menu, with 9 and 12 courses, respectively) .
luma avocado
Regards It starts with a very tasty broth of churos and periwinkles presented inside the shells themselves and continues with dishes such as potatoes with baby squid, black garlic and lime; the plantain patacón, Iberian pork, mishquina, charapita chili and tomato sacha (difficult to concentrate so much flavor in a single bite) and the very fine poularda with yellow chili, hazelnut, olive, which practically melts in the mouth and where the capital of Peru and Vera shake hands.
The menu origins includes passes like cute lime (avocado, scorpion fish, lemon zarandaja and lemon pepper) ; Asadito, (monkfish, yellow chili ferment, orange and beer) and La Robla (moron, morel and Incahuasi mushrooms) or Wild Sauteed (deer, sweet chili, casho nut, cumin butter and pad choi).
Ode to corn in Luma
Malpartida's obsession with discover us and make us travel does not end with the salty and continues with the desserts, a new excuse to introduce ourselves “Peruvian products that are not even consumed much in Peru” , As the false tumble , "an exotic fruit that we could not eat directly here because it would spoil on the trip, and that we reproduce with the same original shape and appearance so that we can recognize it as it is".
oyuco squab
The same happens with the coffees and infusions , to which this restaurant does give them the attention they deserve. They are not served directly, they are brought to the table in a cart to give you the choice of the type of tea or infusion , to which dehydrated fruits, spices, etc. have been added, or the method of artisanal extraction of coffee, V60, Chemex and cold brew , to get the maximum aroma from the coffee, exclusively brought from Catamarca and Villarica (Cusco).
The wine sommelier is in charge that faced with the challenge of accompanying a gastronomy that historically gets along better with beer, bets on “ sparkling and white , from the youngest to the most structured, traveling the world, but above all in Spain”. Which does not mean that it leaves aside Atlantic-style reds, “ very tannic and a little lighter to hold the food ”, and winks at the generous, “his weakness”.
Like the food, the space itself, which have a part of bar with tapas menu and dishes to share , another of gastronomic restaurant and a listed table in the kitchen; also plays with the origins of Spain and Peru.
The colors that decorate courtyard Murals, for example, they represent the neighborhoods of Lima; there are several yucca plants in the dining room, and the bar counter is made entirely of granite, which reminds us that we are in Madrid.
The union of both cultures is also seen in the garden with aromatic plants from the patio And in the lamps that decorate the entire restaurant , created by Latin American women with recycled material and the help of a Spanish contemporary artist.
luma's room
Address: Valenzuela, 7; 28014 Madrid See map
Telephone: 910 691 205 / 686 740 724
Schedule: From Tuesday to Saturday from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from Monday to Saturday from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Closed Monday noon and Sundays
Half price: Average entrance price: €35. Short menu: €60. Long menu: €90