Roast shrimp with orza butter from Cañitas Maite
In a place La Mancha whose name -I hope- we all remember (the town of Casas Ibáñez, very close to Alcalá del Júcar ), you will find a gastronomic revelation. Is named Straws Maite and, in addition to a family hotel , it's a restaurant which is going to put the area on the foodie map.
The architects of this revolution are Javier Sanz and Juan Sahuquillo who at the tender age of 23 -yes, 23 years- have passed through great restaurants in the country and are very clear about what they want to achieve: Turn your hometown into a gastronomic reference.
Javier Sanz and Juan Sahuquillo from Cañitas Maite
CAÑITAS MAITE: FROM TOWN BAR TO GASTRONOMIC REFERENCE
60 years ago , Juan, Javier's grandfather, It started with a hotel-restaurant on the town road . Soon he made a name for himself and that first space, already in the hands of his son Joaquín, was joined by hotels, apartments, an event hall and a disco. In fact, the plan was and is to sleep there Yo. Now the third generation of the family , represented by Javier Sanz and his 'almost his brother' by him Juan Sahuquillo, picks up the witness of that good eating that the grandfather standardized and takes it to the top. In fact, they are nominated in the category of Revelation Chef for the next edition of Madrid Fusión.
They are not brothers, but as if they were. "We've been together all our lives. We studied together at the School of Hospitality in Toledo. I went to work at Atrio Y Juan to Andreu Genestra . After a while we came back and studied a master's degree in Gasma”, explains Javier Sanz to Traveler.es. They didn't stop there. After finishing this new batch of studies, Javier went to Casa Marcial and Juan, to Mugaritz . The blood draws and they thought: why not continue developing their professional career in his native land? A) Yes, a year ago they decided to return home . “We formed a team of young boys, with whom we had studied or worked. I am the oldest, 23 years old,” Javier tells us.
A year that has served them well position the restaurant on the gastronomic map . “It has always been very good, but it was more for the people here. Us we wanted to give it a push ”, they explain. Now it is not strange to find people there who come from La Roda, Valencia or even Madrid , just to see them and let yourself be pampered with their kitchen know-how.
Eye that Cañitas Maite comes to revolutionize the Spanish gastronomic scene
PRODUCT OR TAPAS? THE OPTIONS OF CAÑITAS MAITE
Who would have thought that at such a young age they would have things so clear? With a maturity and good sense that many of us would like to have, this duo has created several successful proposals . And they do it from the most deep honesty and freedom , to do what they consider, with self-demand and always going beyond. "When we opened, we were not looking for people to talk about us, but to go home and work well," they say. And now they are on everyone's lips.
In Cañitas Maite one can indulge in the pleasure of take a menu made with pure and hard product or have a fun time with creative tapas. Everything in the same space. In addition to a delivery that came with the lockdown and of which they continue to exhaust all the quotas (of 20 orders) today.
Roast shrimp with orza butter from Cañitas Maite
They could have bet on him. kilometer 0 and they will do it later with their next step on the road, but Javier and Juan have created an important network of suppliers, who supply them with the best of each house . The seafood mostly come from the Ría de Arousa and the fish markets of Huelva and Altea. The fish come almost daily from O Grove, Ribeira and Vigo . The meats They bring them, either from small Galician farmers or from Cárnicas LyO, which serves the best restaurants in the country. Cheeses from small producers, rice from the Albufera de Valencia, herbs collected by themselves from the Júcar mountain range...
And all this in the same space, without the demands of full table menus. One can order some croquettes or an informal tapa and continue with wild fish from the market . One menu is intertwined with the other, but they are two totally different menus. Only by reading them does one realize that there is something important here.
The product card is presented as an ode to simplicity, to essential cuisine . not missing Iberian ham Joselito, anchovies from Santoña, Galician beef cured meat from Cárnicas LyO either national artisan cheeses , to open mouth. Among the hits on this menu, you can try some diving knives from O Grove with a light touch of embers, some spectacular roasted artichoke flowers, previously candied, accompanied by Joselito Iberian yolk and jowls, or a Denia red prawn , which is roasted inside a fig leaf, which preserves all its juices.
Saam of suckling pig and Norway lobster on shiso leaf from Cañitas Maite
There is more, much more. Another of the star dishes is a Carabinero de Huelva, which open 12 hours before the service and rest with orza butter , to later cook it with a blow of ember. Every day wild fish come in, grilled on vine embers (remember, we are in the territory of La Manchuela), like a wild turbot with purple garlic. Of the meats you can try matured steak and other cuts of Galician blond cow, such as sirloin or low loin or an Iberian pork feather cooked with garum and accompanied by tomato in aguasal (brine).
From the product menu , just for the rice It's already worth the trip. There are three recipes, made with that bombita rice from the Albufera that we were talking about , which matures for 12 months and is 60% polished, just like the Japanese do to make sake and remove the heart from the rice. they prepare them shrimp, baby squid from the estuary and artichokes, matured Galician blonde beef cutlet and suckling kid chops and grilled garlic sprouts. Valencian little word which is one of the best you can try, because they are not rice dishes with things on top where they have nothing to do with anyone. Each background is made with the products it carries. Thin, barely half a finger thick, tasty, not at all heavy... outstanding.
Desserts here they range from a delicate Sheep cream shortbread custard and milk ice cream , up to a cocoa melt cake and tonka bean ice cream , going through a creamy Manchego cheese tart.
Totally different is your bar proposal , all designed to peck and eat with your hands. But of course, leaving nothing to chance, because they could have put some bravas to use , for example, but here what they do is a potato waffle, with a crispy baked potato crust filled with homemade brava sauce and egg yolk mayonnaise. Or they could have served a ham croquette and already, but hers had great aspirations and is nominated in Madrid Fusión to the award for Best Ham Croquette in the World . They make it based on butter and fresh sheep's milk with acorn-fed ham. With this same crown and accompanied by small airbags crispy of your bacon . The ultimate kibble.
Joselito Ham Croquette in Cañitas Maite
Among this more informal bet, there is also a delicate ninoyaki (doughnut) of Granizo goat cheese, from the Wheel of the Cabriel and black truffle, the red tuna katsu sando on a brioche bread with smoked chili emulsion or a suckling pig and Norway lobster saam , with shiso leaf as a taco and tartar sauce, among others. To finish off, a textured raspberry and white chocolate ice cream lolly. You will never want to eat a commercial brand polo shirt again.
If the kitchen is important, so is the living room . In hands of Carlos Martin , which is committed to being close to the diner and to a winery with many references to the area.
WHAT'S COMING: A FOOD RESTAURANT FOR SPRING 2021
Ambition does not lack an iota. Almost for the first time, Javier showed us what they have in hand. If everything goes fine, by March 2021 they will open a gastronomic restaurant on top of the current restaurant . “Here we want to show our way of seeing the kitchen, more dedicated to the environment. We want to have our own format, beyond something that the general public likes”.
With its own entrance from the street, one will think that they have entered those great Nordic restaurants, with spaced tables, crafts, a natural environment, fireplace... Because that is precisely what they are looking for, being able to put, both in the kitchen and in the living room, their personality and that of their land . “We are in a sea of vineyards”, referring to The Manchuela . The space is designed entirely in pine and vine wood and for just 4 or 5 tables. The tables are dressed with handmade linen tablecloths and on them will be a unique tableware that they have been designing for a year, tailored and for them only, by the hand of 15 Spanish artisans.
The kitchen will speak of the environment, of the return to the origin, of the ancestral ... with all the techniques learned from his time in restaurants such as Casa Marcial or Mugaritz and some that have been lost, like an oven to cook kids underground . They will also do so by praising the pure cuisine of spaces such as Bagá, Picones de María or Kaleja. Simplicity above all. In the drink, they will bet on preparing their own fermented products, such as kombucha or keffir and pairings and wines from La Manchuela varieties , which are forgotten and little known.
Address: Address Calle Tomás Pérez Úbeda, 6. Casas-Ibáñez (Albacete) See map
Telephone: 967 46 10 54
Half price: Bar menu €30-35; Product menu €60