Three Kings in Madrid

If you happen to be in Madrid for Three Kings celebration on January 6, you're in for a treat.  Not only is this the real Christmas celebration for Madrilenos, but there is lots to do, staring with the Three Kings parade on January 5 the day before.  (Note: If you are traveling in Madrid during this time, there will be bars and restaurants open on the 5th and 6th, but you may want to make reservations ahead if you've got a favorite place in mind).

While this blog is supposed to be about food and wine, we couldn't help but note the truly silly cultural antics of Spaniards at parades, namely carrying ladders to watch the festivities.  In 2012, the parade lasted about two hours long, starting with huge animal floats, followed by jugglers, girls spinning on a trapeze, floats with people tossing hurling candy in the air, and of course, ending with the finale -- the arrival of the Three Kings.  This was an especially sweet moment, with most children truly in awe of the Three Kings' arrival.  If you decide to go to the parade, get there early (with your ladder!).

Families arrive at the parade route several hours before the 6:30 pm start time with ladders in hand.

Note the ladders lining the parade route

On the morning of January 6th, the food item to get is roscón de reyes, or the Kings' Ring (for the record, ours would have gone better with coffee than juice pictured below).  In Spain, roscón de reyes comes in several varieties. Our local bakery had several cream fillings you could get layered in between the sweet cake topped with candied fruit and sugar.  If you decide to venture out for your own cake, our recommendation would be to go to the bakery early before 10 AM to get the best selection!

Much like the tradition of King's cake at  Mardi Gras in Louisiana, there is  a wrapped toy and a wrapped fava bean inside the cake.  In Spain, if you find the toy like this little Santa figure (above), then you are "king" or "queen" of the festivities, and if you find the fava bean, then you buy the cake next year.  Throughout December, some version of this cake was available at most coffee shops, but the cream version was a fun treat to end our long holiday season.  Now, time for the January sales or rebajas...

El Tártaro

At the end of a harder day at work, we just wanted a stiff drink in a classy joint.  One of our co-workers recommended a place on Velazquez with a big mirror.  We ended up at El Tártaro, which turned out to be the wrong place, but is still a lovely find.  We hung out in the bar for a couple of hours, happily chatting and munching on great food.




The first sign that something is cool about a bar (aside from the bike) is when professional-looking photographers are taking pictures of every piece of decor.  And this place is just cool, from the walls decorated with (yes) a huge mirror and cool groupings of photos, to modernist chairs and a Chesterfield (leather button) couch.  Very chill.  No wonder their website notes that the space was designed by a Spanish design firm.  For more pictures, click here.



The waiter was great.  He didn't accept our "vino tinto" request without a discussion about which vino tinto would be right.  He made the decision for us and while we don't actually know what we got, it was still excellent.  The tapas were very large and filling.  As is often the case, two drinks and a half racion was more than an adequate dinner.  We had huevo estrallado con jamón ibérico at the recommendation of the waiter.  We'd seen this often on other menus, but he suggested it.  Terrific. It inspired us to try our own version at home a few days later.  At our waiter's suggestion, we also tried the medallón de foie sobre chalotas confitadas en Pedro Ximénez, which was also something we probably wouldn't have tried on our own.  At least one of us isn't really a foie kind of guy, but it was quite good.  We're pretty sure that we won't be trying this one at home.

The bill exceeded the typical 4 euros one might spend at other places, but we'd return again with friends for cocktails and dinner. The restaurant looks just as cool as the bar, so it's on our list.  Maybe it should be on yours as well.

El Tártaro
Velázquez 102
91 154 22 33
www.eltartaro.es

Restaurante Everest View

One of our great friends in the world has a life-long relationship with Nepal and he's dragged us to more than a few mediocre to excellent Nepali restaurants.  When done poorly/marginally, Indian-Nepali food is greasy, bland/over-spiced, and served with something bordering on apologies by over-worked waiters.  But, as our friend has shown us, when it is done right, it can be one of the most satisfying culinary and cultural experiences.  So, when we saw this place advertising comida hindu y nepali, we had to give it a try for lunch one day.



And lunch was great.  We partook of the daily special, a three course meal, beginning with thin crisp crackers and three delicious sauces.  One of the sauces was almost sweat-inducing spicy, but not painful.  We also ordered some standard naan, which was not too buttery.  A great start to the meal.

Our main dishes were sag paneer and chicken tikki marsala.  Although we weren't served at precisely the same time, we still were happily sharing our dishes in a few minutes.  The portions were reasonable for one person.  The jasmine rice on the side was perfect, not too dry as is sometimes the case with fast Indio-Nepali foods.  The meal finished with two standard desserts: a sweet honey ball and a small yellow cake.  We also enjoyed some tea.

The restaurant is small and we only saw one waiter (who was actually from Nepal), who was very busy.  But, he took some time to chat with us and helped us order with confidence from a fairly long list of options.  The cost of the daily special was something like 11 euros per person, which seem reasonable for the quality.

When our Nepali-phile(?) friend visits us in Madrid, we'll bring him to Everest View and let him try out his Nepali language skills.  We'll also shoot for a dinner and see how they fare outside of the lunch hour.  But, this is a promising start for something a little outside the normal Madrid fare.

Restauarante Everest View
C/ Lagasca, 115
91 210 94 06
www.restauranteeverestview.es

Try a Ribera del Duero

For the last two months, when we've been out at tapa bars, we've gotten by with just asking for "Vino tinto," or a glass of red wine.  If you're not too picky, you will usually get a decent glass at a good price (around 1,50 - 2 euro with something to eat).

Then, we stumbled upon a great wine shop called La Borboleta, where we met up with the owner Antoine.  Recently, Antoine suggested that we pick up a bottle of Ribera del Duero, which he said might become our go-to house wine.   

And, Antoine might be right.  This Tinta del Pais from De Blas Serrano is a Tempranillo.  It's a full-bodied, spicy wine that paired well with the roasted chicken we made for dinner.

After doing some googling, we found that the De Blas Serrano Winery opened in 2005 and is defined by "respect for the earth, tradition, and the client."  We also located the Ribera del Duero region, where the wine comes from, just south of the more well-known Rioja region. (We mentioned that we are complete beginners, no?)

 

The upshot of our discovery is that we can now ask for a "Ribera del Duero" at our local tapa bar, and get one step closer to feeling more like locals in Madrid.

Pizziccheria

Once in a while, only a pizza is going to do it.  Unfortunately, not all pizzerias are created equal and usually it requires some trial-and-error to find the right pie-slingers.  So, we're happy to have found Pizziccheria (Salamanca District, C/Castello, 85), sort of by accident on a random stroll through Salamanca.

When we resolved to actually go there, we the first customers at 8:00pm.  We ended up splitting a Menu del Noche, with a nice salad, a cheese and tomato pizza and a little tiramisu dessert.  We dropped maybe 20 euros, which for two people, isn't bad.  The place has got the bordering-on-a-cruise-ship Italian homage decor, but is pleasant.  It's a big dining room with lots of tables, but smartly laid out to make each table feel intimate.  (Next time, we want to sit by the wall, with some cool classic Italian photos.)  By the time we got up from our seats, we were slightly surprised at how packed the place had gotten.

And the service was friendly, efficient ... and we didn't have to tackle the waiter for the cuenta.
The wine was good.  We liked how the waiter thought about how dinner choices before recommending a wine.  They're proud of their wines, with a large light-up wine display by one wall.



Jury says: the pizza passed the initial crunchy crust (but not soggy in the middle) test.  They do take-away, which can be a disaster in Europe with the prevalence of thin crust pizzas.  But based on the pizza that we had, it can be done (subject to reheating in the oven at home, of course).

Pizziccheria
C/Castello, 85
www.grupopizziccheria.com
91 435 755 33