“As a well-educated chef you sometimes are just bagging for something simple when you get sick of all the French/Spanish avant-garde cuisine”

Sitting here in the center of Madrid on a Friday evening with a good glass of “Vino Tinto” really inspired me to write down the following words. Let’s start with the very beginning of my time here in the Spanish capital. As you might know, since June 2018 I am a student of the world’s leading culinary school also known as “Le Cordon Bleu Madrid”. Honestly, I didn’t know at that time that I am going to stay for at least nine months here. Well if you are staying in such a nice city for this long, you simply can’t avoid eating very bad stuff neither of course very extraordinary food - fortunately. In this post, which is I think extremely honest, I want you to get in touch with my way of eating here in Spain.

Typically like in every other country of the world you start your day with breakfast. Due to one of my closest friends here you just need a “tostada” with some tomato pulp and extra virgin olive oil - very simple isn’t it? If you want something different than this, I highly recommend you the well-known kind of like boulangerie “La Rollerie” there you can find classical Spanish breakfast and of course international varieties as egg benedict.

La Rollerie

Calle de Atocha, 20, 28012 Madrid
larollerie.com
Rating: 7.5/10

I’m not sure if my next recommendation fits in a luxury fine dining blog but sorry Daniel I really do not mind about presenting my next place: its just a very basic pizza place in the district of Lavapies. Yes, as a well-educated chef you sometimes just bag for something simple when you get sick of all the French/Spanish avant-garde cuisine, so I found this tiny restaurant in middle of one the beautiful streets of Madrid. The chefs offers up to seven different types of pizza and pasta of course with a Spanish impact like chorizo or Iberic ham.

La Pizzateca

Calle del León, 35, 28014 Madrid
lapizzateca.com
Rating: 8,5/10

I don’t know if you know the nights where you just want to have one drink after work and go home, lay your feet up and relax for the rest of the day? Luckily on this night in August I didn’t go to bed early because otherwise I would have never been at Il Bosco de Lobos. This is by far one of my favourite restaurants here in Madrid. Honestly, it’s my dream kitchen in terms of equipment like a open wide stove top or the fire heated oven right in front of the main dining room. The chefs providing a Spanish & Italian fusion cuisine perfectly presented and seasoned, furthermore the wine menu fits flawlessly to the food which is served by the very nice waiters.

Bosco de Lobos

Colegio de Arquitectos, Hortaleza 63, 28004 Madrid
www.encompaniadelobos.com/bosco-de-lobos
Rating: 8,5/10

Madrid has got 15 restaurants with one Michelin Star, 5 with two Stars and 1 with three stars. In fall 2018, I had the pleasure to visit two of the 2 star awarded restaurants. In the chronological order I am going to start with the review of Ramon Freixa nestled in Salamanca the fancy district of Madrid at the Hotel Unico. The Catalan chef and his team are serving the same menu for lunch as for the dinner (Same price though), so it really doesn’t matter when you decide to get the experience of having a two starred meal. My three friends and me decided to order the “big” menu including ten plates, a really nice detail of this restaurant was that the chef Ramón Freixa itself took our order and he even recognised a friend of mine in order to change the menu that he is not going to eat the same within two weeks. Lucky him that he is one of the selective ones to eat here twice in such a short time. The sommelier kindly recommended us a few nice bottles of wine which were perfectly fitting to the different starters and amuse bouches. The menu contained everything what you expect in such an extraordinary establishment, staring from foie gras, different verities of tomato, pulled Iberian pork with a very special Mexican impact or even the bread which is house-made tasting almost like directly imported of a French bakery. Honestly it was worth every single cent which we spend there. Plan some time, we left the place at 6.30 pm.

Ramón Freixa

Calle de Claudio Coello, 67, 28001 Madrid
www.ramonfreixamadrid.com
Rating: 9/10

Located in the very center of Madrid at Plaza Espagna - not easy to find if you don’t know it - nestled in an impressive old building called Casa Gallardo, “El Club Allard” opened its doors in 2003 to the general public. According to the webpage it is one of the most prestigious gourmet temples in the Spanish capital. Not a surprise that this stunning place is affiliated to Relais&Chateaux. Chef José Carlos Fuentes, the creator of the menus who worked with some of the most iconic chefs especially in Spain and in Tokyo, is managing to get all his experience in his own food at El Club Allard. This dinner was very emotional and inspiring as well because I shared the table with my parents. My dad - a great chef himself - was just taking notes in order to adapt some of the techniques in our own hotel. Like at Ramón Freixa, we ordered the grand tasting menu which included ten courses as well. Starting with enormous choice of different Spanish tapas like croquettes or some mussels presented on a marbled bear which is a sight here Madrid. At this time my family and me decided to enjoy the wine paring, one of the best food and wine pairings I’ve ever had in my life. One of the details that my dad noticed was that some of courses where directly prepared and presented at the table in front of us, so the consommé double combined with wild mushrooms and 60 minutes egg was one of the dishes I still remember weeks after I went there. The main-course a perfectly seasoned and cooked duckling with corn and whisky was one of the highlights of a unique evening. One of the most important things by creating a two-star menu is that you guests not get overeaten so the final of this was a candy-bar which met all the last wishes you might have.

El Club Allard

Calle Ferraz, 2, 28008 Madrid
www.elcluballard.com
Rating: 9/10