A tour around the tapas bars with the most innovative proposals
The trendiness of Madrid is showcased by so-called gastrobars, designer venues where signature cuisine is applied to traditional tapas.
Rest assured that these top quality ingredients are prepared in the best chefs' kitchens, all at an affordable price and with a friendly atmosphere.
Many renowned figures of the gastronomic vanguard are embracing this new tendency and are modernising the concept of tapas, bringing them up to the rank of true delicatessen, whether through traditional or reinvented cuisine. They are all served in designer venues which make a nod to traditional bars by making use of some of their most basic elements.
We're now going to introduce you to some of the venues that have revolutionised the world of tapas in Madrid:
Estado Puro
Managed by Paco Roncero - awarded a Michelin star in the Terraza del Casino de Madrid - and with Alfonso Castellano in the kitchen, the restaurant bar of the NH Paseo del Prado hotel has become one of the pioneers of this gastronomic trend. Moreover, its choice location in the city adds even further to its cache.
The architecture firm James & Mau designed the colourful décor, which features mother-of-pearl traditional Spanish combs hung up on the walls. With room for 90 diners, the venue houses several different spaces, including a terrace - with its own orchard and a view out onto the fountain of Neptune -, high tables and a private room. Tapas on offer include tigres - stuffed mussels covered in béchamel -, Russian salad or 21st-century Spanish omelette, deconstructed and served in a glass.
Sula
At the entrance, huge French windows separate us from a restaurant, a bar and a delicatessen. Decorated with earthy and chocolate shades, the modern atmosphere is casual but elegant, as the staff's clothing, designed by Amaya Arzuaga, shows.
This restaurant offers a type of revamped traditional cuisine. You'll find plenty of high quality products here, such as Cathedral of Navarre tinned foods and the venue's star product, Gran Reserva Joselito Ham, served with oil, tomato and luxury chapata. Its cellar is also outstanding, complete with renowned national and international wines, as is the cocktail menu.
Aris Bar
Juan Pablo Felipe, the alma mater of El Chaflán, has refurbished the restaurant to gain more space and create a relaxed and casual tapas bar that still respects the high standards of quality that has always represented this venue. The chef merges his creativity with our cuisine's traditional flavours in making his quick bites.
The menu offers dishes such as Torta del Casar panini with truffles or sobrassada and lemon marmalade, a variety of Spanish sushi or classics such as fried squid tentacles with lemon, Iberian fillets or migas with free-range eggs. Breakfasts and set menus are also on offer. And don't forget to visit the modern cocktail bar, named Estación de Coctelería del Siglo XXI, and try out mixes as renowned as Bloody Mary, Dry Martini and Margarita.
El Plató
Pedro Larumbe is the chef of this original restaurant, whose huge French windows separate it from a television stage where we can see the live programmes of the Intereconomía TV channel. It is located in the Azca zone, the financial heart of the city. That's why among its regular patrons stand out executives who can see stock market information in real time, shown on the ticker located above the bar.
This is a modern venue decorated in white, black and red shades, where light and music are regulated depending on the time of the day. In its spaces, you can have a snack, lunch, dinner or the first drinks of the night. Its tapas and portions include fuet de Lerín with bread with tomato and olive oil, oily fish dices with teriyaki or duck breast fillets with pepper. Moreover, the wines, served by the glass, are as good as the food.
La Gabinoteca
The third generation of the Redruello family, which owns Las Tortillas de Gabino and La Ancha restaurants, is in charge of managing this project. To get it going, they have updated the vision of catering that has brought them so much success, in a bid to adapt to the new tendency of gastrobars. Even though the dishes are not cooked by a prestigious chef, the family has been able to maximise its resources. The quality of the tapas is boosted by the wonderful ingredients, all in a luminous and vanguard atmosphere.
This is a well-lit space with two different floors. Several recycled decorative elements designed by Pingpong Estudio stand out. On the one hand you have the ground floor, where you can have original tapas - the stairs also have stools and a bar -, and on the other you have the first floor, where you can have a more relaxed lunch or dinner. Its tapas include beef cheeks, Spanish omelette and peppers with salt cod brandade or pedigree hot dogs, in addition to a list of wines served by the glass.
Le Cabrera
Among the gastrobars listed here, Le Cabrera is the youngest as it was officially opened in January 2010. But it is by no means the least experienced. Its owners, Sergi Arola and Diego Cabrera, boast important professional careers. They both worked together in the Arola restaurant in the Arts hotel in Barcelona, as well as in Sergi Arola Gastro (awarded two Michelin stars), with Arola as chef and Cabrera as barman. Their new project is defined as a cocktail bar and gastrobar, combining the two spaces perfectly in a two-floor venue, whose interior was designed by Luis Gallusi.
The first floor features a long bar with stools where you can taste the refined tapas and snacks Sergi Arola offers on the menu. There is no reservation facility for this floor. On the other hand, the ground floor hosts the cocktail station, which Diego Cabrera himself is in charge of. The delicious snacks include marinated oysters, patatas bravas (or potatoes in spicy tomato sauce) and tubs of nuggets with Romesco. The cocktails range from classics such as the Cosmopolitan, Manhattan and Old Fashioned, to the venue's own creations such as Pompeya or Fresh Ginger.
via: esmadrid.com
