It is lunchtime and at least a dozen people are waiting on the street to enter. The time is requested. And patience. At noon, at the entrance of Bogota there are always customers waiting: residents of the area, workers, office professionals, artists, gallery owners or writers. Everyone is looking for the same thing: the unbeatable menu of the day that this Madrid eatery offers for 14 euros, located on the border of the Chueca and Las Salesas neighborhoods.
The secret is none other than dedication and not straying from the path laid out almost six decades ago. The restaurant opened in May 1964 in the premises that had previously housed a well-known Basque restaurant, Eskerrik Asko. It was opened by a couple, Dolores Santos and Valeriano Núñez, who in the sixties was part of the wave of immigration that arrived in Madrid, she from Galicia and he from Sanabria (Zamora) in search of a better life. Those were other times, in which, despite the effort, a family could start from scratch in the center of the city, set up a business and survive. Today everything is much more complicated, due to the high rental prices of the premises and the irruption of large restaurant groups and investment funds eager to obtain fat profits in the heat of the splendid moment that the hotel industry is experiencing, at least in the capital. . They are still there, standing next to locals, which open and close to the rhythm of fashions and trends.
For 40 years, the founders were in charge of the business until in 2005, with retirement in between, they handed over to the next generation. It was then that one of the two sons took over the restaurant, Julio Núñez, who died in 2021, who undertook an important reform to adapt the establishment to new regulations and new times, but without losing the essence of what a restaurant should be. meal House. A pleasant place, without distractions, where the important thing is what is served on the plate. And that has not changed.
Most of the usual recipes are kept on the menu, those that bring back the memory of the family home. Infallible are the spoon dishes, such as Castilian or fish soup (9 euros), chickpea stew (8.50 euros), Galician broth (8.50 euros) or salmorejo (8.50 euros). A must are the beef meatballs (10.50 euros), with a pink and juicy meat that they accompany with some French fries chips homemade, which are always scarce, the battered aubergines (8 euros), the Madrid-style tripe (12.50 euros), a juicy veal escalope with a crispy batter (13.5 euros) the oxtail (18.5 euro).
Natural vegetables also have a place: sautéed artichokes with ham (9 euros, only in season), a vegetable panaché (9.50 euros) or the homemade ratatouille with fried egg (8.50 euros). In fish they offer different versions of hake: grilled nape (19 euros), Basque style (19.50 euros), Roman or grilled fish (18 euros). The desserts are also homemade, without frills: egg flan (5 euros), rice pudding (5 euros), custard (5 euros) or carrot cake (6.50 euros). The wine list is short, with conventional labels at moderate prices. Every day and at noon, in addition to the 14-euro menu, which includes three courses, bread and drinks, they offer a special one, for 16.50 euros. At night there is only a letter.
The relief of the house has now been taken over by the other brother, José Núñez, who takes care of all the administrative tasks and purchases, as well as lending a hand in the service when there is a loss of staff. About the formula, he is clear: “There is not much secret. I believe that we have a simple offer based on natural and quality ingredients with recipes that have been made in the same way for many years. The most important thing is the group of people who have been there for many years and who are very involved in making every day go as well as possible”. The service is another of its strengths: the attention is warm and very agile. You can tell that there is a trade and a desire to please the diner.
The absent brother remains, in addition to his imprint, the decoration and his fondness for photography. The gallery owner Juana de Aizpuru, a regular client of hers, who has lent some of the works that hang on the walls, has had a lot to do with this. Photographers like Alberto García-Alix or Chema Madoz also frequent the house. From the first are some of the images that adorn the room. And if someone stops to look at the beautiful photograph that occupies the wall of the entrance, in the background on the right, in which a woman appears seated on a rock, surrounded by water and looking at the horizon, it is Lake Sanabria and it belongs to to the Serie Paradiseby Carmela Garcia. A clear tribute to the father, to the origins.
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