Sacha

[Eduardo]

I might not be very objective with Sacha (both the restaurant and the formal owner, from who the restaurant takes his name), as he’s a very good friend of mine, but I subscribe every single word on Fernando Point’s review on Metropoli’s last issue (see last digest by Rogelio).

Sacha first opened about thirty five years ago, and was initially run by Sacha’s parents, Carlos Hormaechea and Pitila Mosquera, a very peculiar couple who converted their restaurant in the place of reunion for the less official gourmets and night owls... After her husband’s death, Pitila entirely run the business almost until she passed away a few years ago, when she was already helped by her soon Sacha.

If you ask Sacha what is his profession, he’ll probably tell you that he’s a photographer. And even though he hasn’t taken any culinary studies, he’s grown up in a kitchen and has a terrific traditional gastronomy basis, the heritage of both Galician and Catalonian rots.

I would consider Sacha as a great cook whose biggest virtue is to know what he’s doing and what he wants to do. His cookery is very much out of the latest craze, what doesn’t mean it’s stuck. And tries to maintain in our days a lot of traditional recipes without renouncing to introduce some new ideas under that traditional basis.

I think that Sacha represents the restaurant that any of us would be looking for in the next years. The culinary scene will move again, in my opinion, to this kind of places, “family restaurants” (in the same way of the “family doctors”) where the client and not the cook plays the leading role.

In my last visits I’ve enjoyed tremendous dishes as (I need some help here with the translation) as guiso de butifarra con colmenillas, caldeiro de morcillo del Valle del Esla, risotto de perrechicos o ensalada de pulpo.

Well, I would consider Sacha as a must visit in Madrid.

[Rogelio]

Great post Eduardo, Sacha is worth a thread.

In my last visits I’ve enjoyed tremendous dishes as (I need some help here with the translation) as guiso de butifarra con colmenillas, caldeiro de morcillo del Valle del Esla, risotto de perrechicos o ensalada de pulpo.

Butifarra sausage with morels stew, Leg bone fleshy part of Valle del Esla's veal, Calocybe gambosa risotto or octopus salad.

[Chloe]

Great post Eduardo, Sacha is worth a thread.

In my last visits I’ve enjoyed tremendous dishes as (I need some help here with the translation) as guiso de butifarra con colmenillas, caldeiro de morcillo del Valle del Esla, risotto de perrechicos o ensalada de pulpo.

Butifarra sausage with morels stew, Leg bone fleshy part of Valle del Esla's veal, Calocybe gambosa risotto or octopus salad.

Calocybe gambosa being St. George's mushrooms in English, just in case somebody thinks they are prawns

Chloe

Ponte de Lima

[pedro]

I think that Sacha represents the restaurant that any of us would be looking for in the next years. The culinary scene will move again, in my opinion, to this kind of places, “family restaurants” (in the same way of the “family doctors”) where the client and not the cook plays the leading role.

That well could be the case. There's a risk that at some point in time the current trends lead to a major disconnection between patrons and cooks. The cooking becoming so complex that only cooks could appreciate it. There are examples of similar patterns in other fields. Free jazz immediately comes to my mind: music for musicians (basically).

Technique has to obey a superior goal. Taste. Naturally, IMHO.

[Bux]

I think we'll continue to see a greater variety of restaurants. I think this is true for Spain, France, and American where I have the most familiarity and probably in many other places, particularly in the English speaking world. We'll not only see a variety of restaurants to suit different people's tastes, but to suit each of our own different tastes and different moods. Just as we read different sorts of books and listen to different kinds of music, we have a desire to eat differently when we go out. This may be more true in urban centers than in the rural areas.

[pedro]

Bux, I agree with you. But my point is that we'd feel in a mood to go to El Bulli's heir not that often and not that many people. Of course, this is highly speculative, but there're plenty of examples of this kind of pattern in almost any field, ranging from science to arts, where once a given level of complexity has been reached, the number of disciples who are willing and able to access/experience the subject is sharply reduced.

I would agree, though, that top level restaurants have a force that probably in the end would lead them to balance: economic success.

[vserna]

What does this Point guy know, anyhow?

(Note to non-Spanish eGulleters: local joke here...)

[Rogelio]

A visit to Sacha last week showed the restaurant as good as always or even better.

Sacha cooks eclectic recipes with a galician touch but always with a deep gourmet feeling. From the simplest cockles perfectly cooked in Vapoonde (a vapor microwave oven) with olive oil and ground pepper to the absoltely must marbled tuna belly with jabugo fat and miso sauce all the dishes are tasty, perfectly cooked always with a surprising twist.

Highlights apart from the above mentioned were a renewed empanada de xoubas now a sardines mille feuilles or a lobster with escalibada (roasted vegetables) essence.

And you can try here the delicious and almost impossible to find Emilio Rojo Ribeiro.

All i all a delicious experience that is sometimes overlooked here and deserves more than a visit a year. Mainly in the summer when they open the romantic terrace. (this year it's been delayed due to some street works).

[vserna]

Well, you know the reason for the street works - the next Rubaiyat seafood palace being built underground, next door!

It's pretty clear in my mind that Sacha is now even better than 20 years ago. Sacha's mother was a wonderful cook, but he's added the extra dimension of modernity and originality to the dishes. In this category of 'friendly bistros with great, ambitious food' there's only Arce that will compete with Sacha in Madrid. And it's not a category that's chock-full of members in Spain or even in Europe!

[pedro]

I'm not sure if they're going to open the terrace finally this year. It seems that the neighbor is taking longer than expected to complete their work.

[Paco]

I just ate there a week ago with my wife. The appetizer given for free is a sample of his classic shrimp skewer with the "house sauce". Excellent.

We ordered berberechos, with a touch of olive oil and lemon. Fabulous, huge pieces, extremely fresh, no sand, and cooked to perfection.

Our second starter was "fake lasagna of txangurro", which was basically a very thin crepe filled with a good amount of txangurro and a sauce on top. Superb.

A little dissapointment came when ordering our main dish. We heard that steak tartare and solomillo are two classics from the menu, so I asked about them. The waiter said that that day he wouldn´t recomend neither of them. He told us to order "chuleton" instead. We did and it was good, but just not as good as it can be in Asador Pelotari or Julian de Tolosa. The taste not as good and a bit taugher than in these 2 places, but still good. I thought it was original that they served it with a baked potato and gravy sauce on the side.

2 desserts and a bottle of Campillo reserva 98 and mineral water came to 116 euros. Overall highly recommended.

[Eduardo]

A little dissapointment came when ordering our main dish. We heard that steak tartare and solomillo are two classics from the menu, so I asked about them. The waiter said that that day he wouldn´t  recomend neither of them. He told us to order "chuleton" instead. We did and it was good, but just not as good as it can be in Asador Pelotari or Julian de Tolosa. The taste not as good and a bit taugher than in these 2 places, but still good. I thought it was original that they served it with a baked potato and gravy sauce on the side.

Paco, are you sure it was "chuleton" what they offered you?? (no bad intentions on my question). I go quite often there and I have never seen it on the menu. I wonder if it was “chuleta de ternera del Valle del Esla” (veal from Valle del Esla), which some days is included on the menu, but has not much to do with what we consider a “chuleton”.

[pedro]

Eduardo, I think Paco might be referring to the Villagodio with tuétano (bone marrow) sauce.

[Eduardo]

Eduardo, I think Paco might be referring to the Villagodio with tuétano (bone marrow) sauce.

←

Yes, I thought of that after posting my comments. I’ve never asked Sacha about it, but I think that what he serves as Villagodio is more “lomo bajo” (low loin??) than “lomo alto”.

I’m going there for dinner tonight, so I’ll try to find out about this and also about the terrace, that, as far as I know, it should be ready by this week.

[Rogelio]

Just another wanderful meal at Sacha.

Escabeche oyster.

Vapoonde cooked cockles with olive oil and ground pepper.

Skate with vinagrette.

Changurro (crab meat stew) with sea urchin.

Lobster with little octopus stewed.

Old style cooked potatoes with marrow and leek cream and truffles.

Pigeon and mushrooms rice.

Steak tartare.

Black and white. Ice cream with coffee sorbet.

Pictures talk by themselves.