Antojo, new restaurant in Madrid

[pedro]

César Rodríguez, who spent a large part of his career with Abraham García (Viridiana), but who has worked also with Juan Mari Arzak (Arzak), has opened his own restaurant, Antojo, at the Calle Ferraz in Madrid.

This young chef has conceived the restaurant as a two people show: just him in the kitchen and his wife Cristina managing the dining room. When the trend seems to call for grandiloquent settings and expensive operations, is comforting to find people who have a clear picture about how to start a restaurant which they can control and develop their own ideas. As you can imagine, the capacity of the dining room is not large: no more than 20 seats, I'd say, in a nice and clear setting with remarkable lightning.

César's cuisine has a personality of its own. Perhaps it could be ascribed to that style that, lacking of a better term, we call fusion cooking. A few dishes showed Asian influences: the gazpacho with salmon in a slightly hot sauce or the carrillera in a galanga sauce. Others, like the grilled foie with a cabbage pastela introduced themes from our North African neighbors. A cuisine which treats ingredients with respect, escaping from the display of technique with no other reason than showing the abilities of the chef.

The only issue we had in the long menu César prepared for us was a cod fish dish, where the cod didn't live up to the quality of the rest of the meal, something that I knew later had to do with an issue with the package of pre-desalted cod used. Nonetheless, it was a minor issue in a very consistent meal.

A chef and a restaurant to keep a close eye to, I'd say.

[Luis Gutiérrez]

Pedro, I liked it very much, but I think that right now the influence of Viridiana is quite big, and that he needs to develop a little bit more his own style. We will be back.

[Bux]

For the occasional tourist, it may not be a destination restaurant, but for someone who lives in Madrid or expects to spend a lot of time there, it sounds as if it's a restaurant worth the initial investment of one's time for a few early meals for a number of reasons. As discussed in the General and New York forums, it can be wise to get to know a potentally fine restaurant with a young chef, early. The early diner who becomes a bit of a regular, will be noted and remembered. It's also very exciting to watch a restaurant mature when it does so successfully, at least in my opinion. Last night we had dinner at a restaurant we've loved since it opened. It opened to a good start and has been consistenly rewarding to us as diners, but last night the meal took a slight shift in a new direction from time to time. It's a suble restaurant with very subtle food and the shift could not be noticed by a first time diner, nor might it be that exciting a direction had we not been following the food over time.

[pedro]

Pedro, I liked it very much, but I think that right now the influence of Viridiana is quite big, and that he needs to develop a little bit more his own style. We will be back.

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Influences are a difficult matter. One thing is clear, it's not that copy of Abraham's cuisine that the now defunct "i" was. No single recipe in the menu came from Viridiana. The closest, I'd say, would be the gazpacho with salmon: not that I've ever been served this dish in Viridiana, but it reminds of some gazpachos prepared by Abraham, though the texture and taste of César's was quite different.

For instance, César is using techniques like sous vide that Abraham would never think of using (at least in the foreseeable future). And then the overall style could be categorized as fusion, which is the category we usually place Viridiana lacking of a better one. But to me that's not necessarily the same as influence.

Anyway, upcoming visits will clarify the issue. Or maybe not.

[vserna]

Last night we had dinner at a restaurant we've loved since it opened. It opened to a good start and has been consistenly rewarding to us as diners, but last night the meal took a slight shift in a new direction from time to time. It's a suble restaurant with very subtle food and the shift could not be noticed by a first time diner, nor might it be that exciting a direction had we not been following the food over time.

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Mmmm... What place could that be?

Sometimes, the arrival of a new, gifted sous-chef (from Puerto Rico, for instance...) can have a very positive effect in that the established chef and the newcomer establish a dialogue which helps launch the restaurant in a couple new directions and reawakens the customers' interest. The proverbial fresh blood!

PS No relation at all to all of this , Bux, but a passing thought. New Yorkers are very fortunate to count on such quality restaurants as Blue Hill, which are not frenziedly covered and exalted by the dominant media, which seem to seek more raucous styles (in the kitchen and in the dining room). Yet these places are the real proof that fine dining has come a long way in NY - not so much the 'in-your-face' school championed by the likes of Forgione and Portale 15 or 20 years ago, but truly subtle, ever-evolving fare that real food lovers from any place in the world will appreciate.

[pedro]

Since it will take some time for the contact information of Antojo to make it to the guides, right now is not particularly easy to get hold of its phone number. I think it will be useful to post it here:

Antojo, C/ Ferraz 36

Phone: +34 91 547 40 46

[pedro]

I returned the other night with some friends to Antojo. César Rodríguez proved to be in a very good shape and this could have been the best of the meals I've enjoyed there. When a chef starts with his own version of caldillo de perro (dog broth) and sopa de gato (cat soup), combined in the same recipe in the most refreshing way adding some bread with spices, you know that he knows his game.

The ravioli of pepitoria hen was excellent as it's always been, so the vieira (scallop) over a cream of chirivías (parsnip). A dish of blood with sweetbreads was received with divided opinions in the table, though I think it was very good.

Hopefully, Rogelio will complete the list with the rest of the dishes we had that night. On the whole, having visited Antojo a handful of times, I'd definitely recommend a visit to it.

[vserna]

Ill have to concur, Pedro - one of the best two or three new restaurants in Madrid this year.

[Rogelio]

Hopefully, Rogelio will complete the list with the rest of the dishes we had that night. On the whole, having visited Antojo a handful of times, I'd definitely recommend a visit to it.

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The other dishes were a very good red tuna and salmon sashimi and an abrahamesquian rabit with huitlacoche. Both very good but my favourites were the caldillo de perro (a fish soup with orange) and the scallop with truffle and chirivías.

A wonderful meal at a nice and charming spot, I'll definitely visit them more often.

[vserna]

Chirivía = parsnip.