"The Artist" and La Gabinoteca

Yesterday I went to the movies and watched "The Artist", directed by Michel Hazanavicius, and it gave me a lot to think about. We could spend hours arguing about the correct definition of the concept "art" and about the necessary characteristics for a person to be considered an artist. 

By the same token, we could start arguing about the features that make up the goodness of a restaurant.  Well, it is definitely possible to catalogue restaurants into "good restaurants" and "bad restaurants", but I think there are a huge amount of elements involved in the evaluation of a good restaurant that it is hard to specify. Good quality food and a friendly service are a must; there is no doubt about that! But on top of the basics, do we consider a proper location to be essential for a good restaurant? What about the interior design including the furniture, cutlery, glassware, crockery? Does the visit have to differ from others in such a way to even be considered as a whole new experience? When does the restaurant experience start and when does it end? Heston Blumenthal sends a package to your own house with sweets and candies, which are supposed to remind you of your childhood, starting at that precise moment the tasting menu that will end after the 4 hour feast at his restaurant Fat Duck. 

I had my thoughts about this and other stuff analyzing my recent experience at the restaurant "La Gabinoteca".
The restaurant is located in a side road off Calle de José Abascal, that is a very busy road in a posh area of Madrid.
In my opinion the best part of this place is the facade. They got rid of the thick walls and enormous glasses were placed instead, which give everyone the chance to see from outside what is happening inside and the other way round. There must have been 3 floors before, but they have achieved  to combine them into a unique space of different levels. This design transmits you the feeling of not being discriminated against sitting at the bar or at the entrance instead of sitting at the table, because the costumes sitting at the table might feel they would prefer to sit at the bar or at the entrance. The designers have taken advantage of all available spaces, bestowing each of them with a privilege.

It was a Wednesday and the place was packed. On top of that, their reservation policy is "no reservations", that I always consider to be a signal that business works.
 Lara and me sat at the bar located in the lower level, enjoyed firstly a pretty good Mahou "caña", and we ordered 7 different dishes. The prices per dish are very reasonable so that you can make a proper selection of what you fancy that day. The main idea of their food, in my view, is to offer good quality products, that only need a quick preparation, presented in very eloquent packaging. One of the dishes is a hen's egg with soft poached potato and truffle oil, which is served in a glass with a lit, like the containers used in Spain to sell a type of yogurt called "cuajada". The monkfish burger and the pedigree hot dog are presented in their original plastic brown-grey coloured packaging.
The lady at the reception desk was welcoming and the service at the bar was professionally kind.
Our experience was great and full of surprises! Even if the food was not the Best, because it lacked some punchy elements like contrasts and stronger flavors, I can review it as a good restaurant.

Name of the restaurant : La Gabinoteca

Web page: http://lagabinoteca.es/1200.html

Head Chef: Nino Reduello

Address: Calle Fernández de la Hoz 53

Tlf : +34 399 15 00

Better than guide books

Nowadays it is much easier and cheaper to travel than ever. Lots of low cost flights, better and more comfortable public transport systems in metropolitan cities, a wide offer of hotels and a ferocious competition among them, which makes their prices shrink , an internationalisation in the world of gastronomy, etc. These are some of the reasons why the number of travelers has increased enormously in the last decade.

Because travelers are more experienced, they have changed their criteria in most aspects. Planning a trip must be faster than before and more direct than ever. Technology has made this possible, thanks to the globalisation of internet and the development in the mobile phone industry. Travel agencies have gone through a tough time, and the ones that have survived, have been forced to change their strategy.  Everyone with an internet connection can plan a trip by him/herself. A spontaneous travel can work out perfectly well, because you have the chance to plan "on the way", even if you are already at the destination. In the past, you used to help yourself to a guide book, to have a feeling for the restaurant offer ,but nowadays you just have to  switch on your smartphone or your laptop and you can check out the opinion of others. Will you trust those sudden food-critics ? In my opinion this is a tricky situation, because no one knows, which criteria those other people are applying. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this because it's not in my interest, but it is true.

How about having the experience before you visit the restaurant? Great!!  That was my feeling when I saw Anthony Bourdain's show " No Reservation" in Madrid. I think the selection of colleagues he picks and the places he is taken to, give the audience some worthy recommendations where to go in Madrid. Here is the link to the TV serie. If you suffer of bad appetite, this is definitely a good medicine.

Restaurant DiverXo

Yesterday I went to church and I must have been a good boy lately because God presented himself  to give me  my faith back: Yesterday I went to the restaurant DiverXo.

I know it sounds exagerated. Specially nowadays where the press describes the new creators as semi-gods, who after a quick period of fame, disappear forever. In this case, I'm not refering myself to a person, DiverXo's head chef David Muñoz, but to the whole concept of modern cuisine.

Everyone has given its opinion about the origin of "nouvelle cuisine" and it's brutal development since, thanks to Ferrán Adriá and other chefs. But,  where do we stand  now ? So many youngsters working toughly in kitchens calling themselves chefs, but, what are they producing to keep the pace with this progress ? Many professionals are talking about going back to tradition and devoting their energy to choosing the best quality products.  Is there no more space for creativity in this decade ?  Is the party over ?  No more fun eating ?

I have a small collection of menus from different restaurants I really enjoyed visiting, signed by the chef, the Maître d´ or someone else of the crew. As there is no such menu at DiverXo, I asked a waiter if David Muñz could sign me a text he himself had written  about the new methodology and philosophy of his food. 

He signed :  " The power of creativity. Refine and Redefine. Mariposas en el estómago."

He nailed it. It was exactly what I was thinking while feeling astonished by the 8 dish tasting menu.

Consider essentials: Inform yourself about what is going on, check on what others have done properly in the past, select what you think is appropiate, think of what you want to develop and offer, do some feasibility  calculations, position yourself in the middle of the huracan and then, if you are still convinced that you can offer something surprisingly good day after day, please open a vanguard restaurant.

Then and only then, it will be a real pleasure to invest my money in something worthy.

David's food is global, it's international, it's creative but understandable, it's light, it's deffinitely tasty, the combination of flavours is reasonably complex and it's a lot of fun eating because it doesn't require a technical understanding to fully enjoy.

The dishes are a melting point between spanish-asian-southamerican products and flavours are very well balanced between the sour-bitter limejuice and cest, the sweet-sour tamarindo, the soft spicy ají and the neutral paste of the dim sums.

One last thing. What really made this food a revolutionary experience  for me was the perception of the after taste in food. My tasting buts got hit after each bite several times by the basic tastes in a way it shocked the senses. 

As Anthony Bourdain  says: " It's rediculously good"

Name of the restaurant : DiverXo

Web page: http://diverxo.com/

Head Chef: David Muñoz

Address: Calle Pensamiento 28, Madrid

Tlf : +34 915 700 766