For the Love of Food
Madrid offers a fun array of uniquely Spanish restaurants for dine-arounds or full or partial privatization for groups considering the city.
By Allan Lynch
STROLLING THE CROWDED STREETS OF MADRID, YOU WONDER WHEN ITS RESIDENTS SLEEP. They seemingly work all hours, then have the energy to gather in cafes, bars and restaurants late into the night. Midnight in Madrid sees tables full of people, whether dining in the arches around the Plaza de Mayor, crowded in cafes in the lanes leading to the plaza or crammed along the walls of the courtyard and alley outside San Gines, where people gather to dip churros into a stand-your-spoon-in thick cup of dark, delicious hot chocolate.
In European terms, Madrid is a fairly modern city, built up mostly over the 500 years since Felipe II moved the Royal Court from Toledo in 1561. It has broad boulevards, grand parks and a 2,700-room royal palace that dwarfs London’s Buckingham Palace. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia only use it for state occasions, preferring the intimacy of the 17th-century Palacio de la Zarzuela on the northern outskirts of Madrid.
There are four things to know about Madrid: It’s a late-night city, it’s clean and efficient, it has a relatively small central core and it’s a town for foodies. People love to eat. They love to gather and linger around the table. While there are fast-food outlets in the city, Spaniards have their own types and styles of fast food focused around small stand-up cafes where you can grab a calamari sandwich and beer for less than US$5.
While the $5 option may be a little too down-market for a foreign group, it’s good to know that Madrid is a destination that doesn’t gouge individuals paying their own way. Equally good to know are the multitude of restaurant options available to groups. These range from the modern, fine-dining room at Real Madrid Stadium (home to the legendary soccer team) to the Baroque-styled opulence of Casino de Madrid.
The Casino (www.casinodemadrid.es) is not a gaming establishment. It’s an old-world private club for Madrid’s elite. The club has existed since 1836, but the building dates to the early 20th century. It is decorated in Baroque style with free-floating swirling marble staircases and licorice-like rails on Juliette balconies overlooking a soaring centre atrium, and it is filled with elegant banqueting and event rooms with natural light, gigantic chandeliers, ornate fireplaces and otherworld formality. Floors are connected via an elegant paneled elevator with beveled glass and a red plush bench. On top is a small, trendy restaurant operated by three-star Michelin Chef Ferran Adria, which, with its large terrace, can be hired for exclusive use. The Casino is capable of playing host to intimate dinners from eight to banquets of 550 and receptions of 1,000. Then, guests can descend a flight of stairs to dance the night away in the Casino’s two, fully equipped private discotheques. Change venues and centuries without leaving the building.
For groups considering Madrid, it offers a fun array of uniquely Spanish restaurants for dine-arounds or full or partial privatization. Many restaurants have a small private dining room or two, or a converted wine cellar, which provides atmosphere, privacy and traditional menus that present an opportunity to introduce guests to an authentic style of dining that isn’t threatening to those who are cautious with their diets or palates.
The following places are popular with groups.
Corral de la Moreria, which opened in 1956, is included in the books 1,000 Places to See Before You Die and the 2009 Michelin Guide to Spain and Portugal. The Corral is a flamenco club that has played host to everyone from Ernest Hemingway and Samuel L. Jackson to King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. It can be hired exclusively during the day for special programs or sectioned off in the evening for a typical Spanish meal spiced up by the stomps, shouts, songs and passion of flamenco. (www.corraldelamoreria.com)
Another Hemingway haunt, which he included in several of his books, and a place you might still find Antonio Banderas when he’s in the city, is Restaurante Botin. According to the Guinness World Records, this is the world’s oldest restaurant. While inns have been on this site since 1590, the actual Restaurante Botin has operated in the same place, with the same name, since 1725. It’s old, it’s fun and the food is great. It’s also where a young artist named Goya washed dishes to make ends meet. Groups will be entertained by the history, as well as the food. Hire an upstairs room or the wine cellar. Botin’s house specialty is roasted lamb and baby pig (cochinillo), which are cooked in the original, tile-covered wood oven. Guests can look in and see the cook with his long wooden-handled paddle shoving dishes in and retrieving perfectly roasted cuisine. (www.botin.es)
Close to Botin is Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas. Las Cuevas is named for a bandit who is considered the Spanish Robin Hood. Before he was caught and executed in 1837, Candelas hid in the rabbit’s warren of vaulted caverns below the Plaza de Mayor, which have become the restaurant. Waiters dress like bandits of the period. The restaurant has five rooms available. (www.lascuevasdeluiscandelas.es)
Posada de la Villa is a favorite of the Mayor of Madrid who, like other celebrities, has his own chair here. Built as an inn in 1642, guests can sip local wines at the bar under the hanging hindquarters of the famous dried Spanish ham, before slipping into one of the restaurant’s four dining rooms. It has a private dining room for up to 16 and a room capable of seating up to 180. Posada also has a traditional wood-burning oven used for roasting and serves a Madrid stew cooked in fireplaces in the dining rooms. (www.posadadelavilla.com)
Around the corner from the Posada de la Villa is Taberna del Captain Alatriste. Named for a famous literary character, the Taberna has the same owner as the Posada and Las Cuevas, which makes it easier to coordinate a dine around or progressive evening program. (www.tabernadelcapitanalatriste.com)
Finally, what’s Spain without paella? One block off the Grand Via is the Restaurante La Barraca. Insiders rate it as the best paella in the city. It has five rooms that can be hired individually or altogether. (www.labarraca.es)
Skeptics who worry that famous old places live off past reputations rather than quality can be assured that these Madrid landmarks are as fresh and competitive as the day they opened. The service is crisp, elegant and anticipatory. The food has real taste and is not buried in fusion-styles or sauces. And they’re even trendy because long before the 100-Mile Diet became eco-chic, Spanish chefs were already working with the best local ingredients, cheeses and wines. The result is a marriage of the best of the old world and new ideas.
Ole!
ALLAN LYNCH has written extensively over the years about the meeting & events industry. He lives in Canada.