Two little horses guard the terrace.
Democratizing Italian cuisine was the main objective with which they created the gastronomic group Big Mamma. To that end, in its expansion between France, London and Madrid, They have not stuck to a single idea, each restaurant in this group is different and has its own style, concept and decoration.
In Madrid they started with Bel Mondo, "a fun chaos", a party that took Raffaella Carrà as muse and it focused on traditional Italian recipes with a modern and, sometimes, Spanish twist. Then they opened napoli gang, a concept that they had already tested during confinement in France and London, quality artisan pizza at home, which has already earned its first recognition by Top 50 Pizza. and now it comes Villa Capri, very different from the previous ones, but without abandoning the DNA of the group: quality products, from small, local producers, artisans; transparency, honesty and lots of fun.
70s, Capri, vintage and vacations.
For Tigran Seydoux, one of the founding partners of Big Mamma, "Villa Capri is a very personal project." "I have a very strong relationship with the Amalfi Coast, with Capri, Naples... I have traveled a lot throughout the area, I proposed to my wife there, I have many memories and when we thought of this place they came to the surface."
Located in Alonso Martínez (in Calle Hortaleza, 118), Villa Capri is “a vacation trip by the sea”. The idea is that Let's travel to the Amalfi Coast without leaving Madrid. But not at any time or place, to Capri, around the 70s.
Around that idea, they created the aesthetic concept of the restaurant, a large venue (for 160 people inside, plus 40 on the terrace) in which the vintage furniture and decoration, motley, but without frightening, leave their mark. “We have old collections of magazines, photos of Capri… Almost all the furniture is from antique dealers, we have a couple of stone seahorses, some mermaids on the stairs that we brought from an old theater in Florence... The central bar is surrounded by more than 2,000 old bottles. It's all very vintage, but still modern”, says Seydoux.
The antipasti, everything to share.
A JOURNEY IN STAGES
Villa Capri is divided into four spaces marked chromatically and aesthetically. The first is the terrace, "with many flowers, like the central square of Capri, with lots of vegetation." Inside, the first zone is the most marine, of blue colors. "There's the bar, we have a very strong bar bet, of creative cocktails”, says Tigrane. An area guarded by a merman and a mermaid.
Next, you step on the shore, the next area, which is decorated in yellow tones. “With boat-inspired benches, striped fabrics, pink and green flowers, marble tables made by hand by a craftsman,” continues the French hotelier. And finally, we enter the land: with greener tones, more greenery and tables around an open kitchen. Without forget the aquatic world: the bathing area, on the first floor, "it's like walking under the sea."
Marine luxury in full land.
“Unlike Bel Mondo, It is a slightly more intimate, more welcoming place.” he says. "It's an antidepressant, to forget the problems of the city, not only because of the decoration but also with the team of waiters and cooks, all Italian, with a very good atmosphere”.
AND THE STAR DISH IS…
Big Mamma has come to Madrid to stay for many years, as they say. And in this time they have learned that customs are somewhat different. Perhaps that is why in Villa Capri they have put More emphasis on antipasti or entrees, plates to share. and keep the nod to Spanish cuisine in some new recipes: like some bravas potatoes revisited Italian style, a gazpacho made with San Marzano tomato…
F*ck Me, I'm Famous! The one that will be the most famous dish.
But they warn: Villa Capri will be very dogmatic with this trip to Italy that they propose. For example, there will be no Spanish wines on the menu. "It's an Italian restaurant and we don't have as much knowledge of the Spanish." And for the already fans of Bel Mondo, the menu of this new restaurant of the group is “98% different, it is a very summer menu, very fresh, very light, much more than Bel Mondo”.
After the antipasti, the primi piatti are the most important: Fresh pasta made by hand daily, lots of stuffed pasta. In fact, Seydoux is quick to point out what could be the star dish of Villa Capri: if the carbonara served in cheese was Big Mamma's, here it will be the ravioli stuffed with carbonara. Fck Me, I'm Famous They have called the dish, in case there were any doubts.
But it also stands out the sea risotto to share, the lobster pasta… "It's a menu with more sea than land, but it's still an Italian restaurant, with fresh pasta and pizza." Of course, Neapolitan pizza and that award-winning artisan recipe.
Award pizza.
Address: Calle Hortaleza, 118 See map
Schedule: Open every day.