This. In your house. Whenever you want.
If there were any doubts about what the latest gastronomic trend was, **Carbón Negro** has just opened in Madrid to discard them all and confirm it: the grill, live embers, red-hot charcoal is not just another culinary tool or technique, it is the hit of the moment. And in Carbon Negro, as its name suggests, it was the origin of everything.
Carbon Negro was born from the union of several well-known Madrid hotel businessmen (Chiqui Calleja, Fernando Nicolás, Charlie Saiz…) with the idea of “bring the traditional Basque embers closer to Madrid”. To achieve this, they contacted one of the most experienced chefs in front of a grill in Madrid: Gonzalo Arms, trained in the Basque school of Luis Irizar, raised in Subijana, Santo Mauro, Goizeko Wellington and settled in the first restaurant in the capital that had given importance to this technique, Filandon.
The embers are the protagonists.
“Seeing my career and my last years of work, they called me and told me what they had in mind: they wanted to take the raw material and coal and embers to the center of Madrid, which are at a critical moment; and starting from that base look for the products, the seasons, travel around the peninsula to find the best products”, explains Gonzalo Armas.
They called him when they were still building the place. The gigantic place. The corner of Juan Bravo that he occupied for many years The Arrow cafeteria, of which there is no longer a trace because the design, in charge of unique project, has taken advantage of the windows to fill the space with natural light, which is transformed into a mountain house, with stone walls, wooden floors and warm colors. And like a good mountain house, and although it has more isolated and private rooms, the main rooms on its two floors and the large central bar They have as their total protagonist the fire, the great grill of embers that Armas directs.
A huge bar that never closes.
“At the moment when they trust me and give me all the possibilities and tools to work together with Josper, the kitchen, the architect… It is like a dream, as if you are given the pieces of a puzzle to create whatever you want”, says the cook, who has placed those embers in the center where you can watch the show of a live kitchen.
In those embers, as he learned and saw in the Basque Country Gonzalo Armas and his team They "throw" sole, turbot, hake kokotxas, monkfish, sirloin and old cow chop from Jaizkibel, farmhouse spicy chicken, suckling lamb chops, fresh asparagus from Navarra, red prawns, razor clams... The best product cooked in the most faithful way, as best it preserves and enhances its flavors. Product that they bring from all over Spain.
"We have divided the map looking for the best raw materials, we have gone to each place where we thought the best was to see how to bring it to Madrid in good condition," says Armas. "In the end The idea is that the client knows that the supplier is an important part of the business, that we are committed to our suppliers and they are committed to us. This transmission of value is demanded by today's client: not to hide but to show it”.
The seafood is from Galicia and Huelva, the fish from Burela and Pasajes. Vegetables from Huerta Carabaña and Guzmán, meat from the Basque Country and Segovia. Selected raw material with which it also offers stews, good casserole. And that he will fill out a letter totally linked to the temporality.
Cococha trilogy.
“My career and influence with the people of the Basque Country has been important when it comes to taking off my career and they are the ones who They make me think of cooking in a different way, the reason for things, the importance of dedication and the search for raw materials, which is the most important thing for me”, says Armas.
A raw material that can also be tasted at the Carbon Negro bar, a chapter apart from the ambitious project, with a separate menu, more of a bar, with marinades, cured meats... and a very powerful cocktail proposal designed by Carlos Moreno, Head barman of the Larrumba Group, which bets on the classics and among which, according to Instagram, there is already a winner: the bloody mary
WHY GO
Because you have to know the place that everyone talks about and will continue to talk about. They haven't been open for more than a month, but word of mouth is flying. Their grilled fish well deserve that screaming rumble.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Two very important: the terrace (as soon as this weather permits) and desserts. Gonzalo Armas highlights them very especially as a recognized "greedy". "I love confectionery and I really like the sweet moment, the culmination of a good meal with a good dessert makes the experience completely different and I think that in Madrid we sin a lot that there is no good end to the party," he says. “It was important to me and we have created own pastry workshop, I have recovered old Basque and French recipes. With butter, cream, real Italian ice cream”.
BLACK CHARCOAL CHEESE CAKE TO GO
Rice pudding, Santiago cake, flan… whatever you want but Madrid has already spoken (on Instagram) and has a favorite: the creamy cheesecake. "It's the hit," laughs Armas, aware of the likes that his recipe accumulates on the networks.
**“We started from La Viña in San Sebastián ** and working with my friends and former classmates from Luis Irizar's school we started to get the recipe out and do tests: to remove starch and thickeners... and we got a super creamy cake of the day that you can't even put it in the cold room, or go too far over temperature or cooking... It's the biggest nonsense, ”he says. But all a success.
Such has been the success since the opening of the restaurant in 2018 that since February 2019 it has already been you can reserve the cake to take her home. What you have to do? Reserve it 24 hours in advance by calling 910 885 860 and pick it up at the restaurant itself. Price: 50 euros. And the ten wonderful portions will be yours.
This. In your house. Whenever you want.
*_Article originally published on June 11, 2018 and updated on February 28, 2019 with the new custom cheesecakes _
Address: Calle Juan Bravo, 37 See map
Telephone: 97 088 58 61
Schedule: Sunday to Thursday from 12 to 2H. Friday and Saturday from 12 to 2:30 p.m.
Half price: €50 (and €50 for the order of the cake)