Pabú, the first project of a student of Alain Passard
Ajoblanco, tomato and melon, a creation of the Pabú restaurant, by chef Coco Montes.Hannah Hutchins (Hannah Hutchins)
Le Cordon Bleu, Azurmendi, Eleven Madison Park and L’Arpège, by Alain Passard. Coco Montes’ background is characterized by technique, elegance, French inspiration and vegetable cuisine. “Above all, I learned there that cooking is an ingredient and that a vegetable expresses one or another nuance depending on how it is used,” says the 35-year-old from Madrid about his time in the renowned Parisian restaurant, a benchmark in vegetarian food Kitchen. and vegan. He transferred all of this ballast, with particular attention to his interpretation of vegetables on the plate, to the table in his first solo project, which just opened last Thursday. “It’s easy to respect fish or meat,” he adds, talking about the difficulty of appreciating plant-based products on the plate.
Using cabbage as the main ingredient in a dish is not only unusual, but also a statement of intent. Montes’ proposal includes tubers such as potatoes, herbs such as parsley and rosemary, flowers, cereals, mushrooms, fruits and cruciferous vegetables. This happens, for example, in dishes such as parsley, new potatoes and wild tuber unicinatum; the one with crispy chard – the only way the chef eats it – pumpkin and buckwheat, or the one with roasted radishes and pomegranate. All the vegetables he uses come from Supernatural (with a garden in Cáceres), Cultivo Deterrado (Sanlúcar de Barramenda) and La Huerta de Abril (Bustarviejo, Madrid), “trusted producers and people”. And the chef’s friends and inner circle are a constant both in the room—paintings of his mother adorn the walls—and on the menu, adorned with illustrations of loved ones. The proposal also includes meat and fish preparations, such as wild sea bass with chanterelles.
Chef Coco Montes, pictured by Pabú.Hannah Hutchins (Hannah Hutchins)
In the large rooms – more than 100 square meters – but in which only 30 people are served, Montes develops a cuisine that he calls “micro-seasonal”. Therefore, it is pointless to talk about the dishes that are on their menu, as they change every day, not depending on the seasonal product, but on the best product at the time. He offers them all in two menus, Pate – named in honor of his father, seven courses, 150 euros – and Bubú – in honor of his mother, five courses, 110 euros – without having to be a full table, like that that every guest has the opportunity to choose freely, there is also the possibility of choosing two or three dishes from the daily menu (60 or 80 euros). The experience is completed with the cheese of the week, accompanied by a fresh salad, and the wine cellar consists of around 200 references of “still wine” of national origin and champagne, with an emphasis on “Pequeños Vignerons”.
Pabu. Calle de Panama, 4. 28036, Madrid. Telephone: 911 04 87 26. Closed on Sundays and Mondays. Tuesday to Thursday, open for lunch. Fridays and Saturdays for dinner.
Tramo, innovation with the Mo de Movimiento seal
The interior of the Tramo restaurant still needs to be completed with some details.
Tramo, like its older brother Mo de Movimiento, is not just a restaurant. “It is an innovation project,” says Felipe Turell, co-founder with Javier Antequera of a concept that has fed 350,000 people since the first establishment opened in 2020 on Espronceda Street and piqued the curiosity of Tim Cook, CEO of Apple , on his last visit to Madrid. “Nothing is a coincidence here, everything has a reason,” adds Turell, citing as an example the existing hole in which a photovoltaic lamp is installed at night, which only switches on when the guest sits down. And in Turell and Antequera’s projects, less is more and sustainability, positive impact and balance are pursued to the utmost, even if that means making some compromises, such as decoration or a certain level of comfort.
Tramo, in the Prosperidad district, is located in an old, abandoned warehouse, the work of which was carried out over 14 months and whose design was led by the studios SelgasCano and Andreu Carulla, who also collaborate with the Celler de Can Roca, but were there for the transport They provide, among other things, experts for biotechnology and integral sustainability and circularity. The result is a functional space that is temperature-controlled with a Provençal well – a natural air conditioning system – and in which all the materials have “second, third or fourth life”, relying on the circular economy and where even the dishes were made in the sand that was dismantled during the reform. “We avoid anything superfluous and don’t do anything unnecessary,” says Turell. “We don’t do decoration.” Even the uniforms were carefully chosen. The reception staff wear linen clothing from the Coruña brand Köhe, which measures the water footprint of the fabrics they use.
Artichoke with egg yolk and macha sauce.
But as a project goes beyond the culinary, Tramo – so called because it is part of the “journey” to the city of the future – is eating, an act that is full of consciousness in the restaurant. The letter highlights small farmers and producers. The meat products come from regenerative animal husbandry that binds more CO2 than it emits, the sea bass comes from Aquanaria – “nothing is wild, everything is farmed, but in its environment,” says the founder – the trout from the Pyrenees and the products the garden, organic, from Supernormal. The mention of the producers is also found in a menu divided mainly into starters, vegetables, meat, fish and desserts, with prices slightly higher than those of Mo de Movimiento: Cantabrian anchovy with smoked butter from Xanceda, 5.50 euros ; grilled artichoke, egg yolk and macha sauce, 5 euros; Mullet, suquet and mustard, 26 euros; and an Iberian pork with parsnips and chimicurri, 24 euros. In the sweet part, the flan (8 euros) stands out, made with fresh goat’s milk from Beee, a dairy company in Murcia where kefir is also produced. The winery has 125 references with costs ranging from 23 to 250 euros and the coffee comes from the Valladolid roaster Puchero. “We have a barista and the idea is that he trains the entire staff.” A total of 22 people work in the establishment at the same time, some of them coming from Mo de Movimiento, again as part of an integration and social reintegration project. “We want to bring a new hospitality model to cities.”
Section. Calle de Eugenio Salazar, 56. 28002 Madrid. Telephone: 620 09 98 81.
Mami Tacos, grandma’s birria, arrives in Malasaña
Gabriela Vázquez and Patricia Villanueva, daughter and mother, owners of the Mami Tacos restaurant. Jaime Villanueva
It’s called Mami Tacos, but Gabriela Vázquez, 36, warns: “It’s not a taco shop.” This new eatery in Malasaña pays homage to birria, a traditional dish from the Mexican state of Jalisco, although its juiciness makes it popular in cities like Los Angeles has made it a street food trend in the United States. Now they want to make it known in Madrid together with their mother Patricia Villanueva, 60, and have opened a “one-product” restaurant whose short menu is based on this stew, which they have perfected based on the recipe. from Vázquez’s maternal grandmother. Every day, the chefs at the restaurant – formerly Punto MX and Salón Cascabel – prepare birria with beef. First they prepare a sauce of tomatoes and onions, to which they add three types of chilies – “guajillo, ancho and arbol”. The mixture is then enriched with around 20 spices. The meat is stewed at a low temperature for about five hours, creating a honey-like and juicy consistency that is always served with a small glass of broth.
Birria tacos with consommé and two homemade spicy sauces. Jaime Villanueva
In addition to this main course for 2.50 euros per taco, the Mami Tacos menu currently offers two other preparations, always centered around the stew: wrapped in crispy grilled cheese – called “Quesobirria” (for 4.50 euros) – in a quesadilla with melted cheese (6.50 euros) and in a ramen that is eaten with chopsticks called “birriamen” (9.50 euros). Soon there will be a different taco every week, such as chicken tinga and shrimp, and a vegan one for those who don’t eat animal protein.
Mama Tacos. Calle de San Andrés, 31. 28004, Madrid. Opening times: Wednesday and Thursday, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 1:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.; Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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