A reason that I skipped dessert at LAKASA was that I thought I could make a small detour back to my hotel and pop into ALEX CORDOBES, whose name has become synonymous with cheesecake in Madrid for a few years now. This would be my second attempt but, like the first, it came to naught as the bakery was closed by the time I reached it. (The first time I went, the line was too long for an this impatient traveler New Yorker to even contemplate…customers were exiting with the giant, trademarked black bags that looked as if they contained 5 or 6 full cheesecakes…I had never thought of Madrid and cheesecake in the same sentence before being alerted to Alex Cordobes
The following day, Sunday, I set my alarm and walked through the hotel lobby with a mission to buy an individual slice of cheesecake that I could enjoy for a finale in my hotel room, after my main course of RIO FRIO caviar (in my mini bar, with ice packs, all delivered Saturday afternoon, packed on ice, by the fine MANTEQUERIA BRAVO emporium. I wonder how many know that Spain is a top caviar producer and although my knowledge is pretty much nil, I felt quite decadent when I did, in fact score the cheesecake and with it, closed my lunch of caviar with cava, and Alex’ lemon cheesecake. But that was on Monday.
For anyone with an interest in local food, like myself, I would advise looking into tours of the RioFrio estates, in Granada province…that’s one food tour I would like to take!
Meanwhile, Sunday night proved to be a problematic choice. Both the day, Sunday, and the time of meal, dinner, combine to limit the selection of restaurants that open their doors during this date and hours. It is probably the worst time to plan dinner out in Madrid (as it is in many Spanish cities and in many Italian ones as well). Monday is not too far behind.
One well-reviewed restaurant, in Salamanca, on Calle Jorge Juan (an elite street; on the order of the far west Upper East Side in Manhattan…but with much more interesting architecture, is LA BIEN APARECIDA, which Maribel so kindly alerted me to after my Sunday dinner favorite, RAFA, was no longer open so late on Sundays. Entering this neighborhood is leaving your canned impressions off Madrid behind…here you might be on the Via Borgognona, or the Via Montenapolene, or other of that ilk.
This is an address to keep on your list, should you find yourself hungry and despairing on a Sunday night. Of course, there are probably hundreds of Madrid restaurants open on Sunday night but I am very focused on finding the “best,” for food but not luxury, and willing to try almost anyplace if the recommendation comes from a trusted source. I am not going to drop into a tapas bar that gets raves on TripAdvisor.
Bash me or ridicule me, that’s the way I work with restaurants whether they be in New York, in Medan, or in Madrid. I am certain that I miss spontaneous discoveries…I will take that chance…
LA BIEN APARECIDA
Sleek contemporary restaurant with obvious money spent not the decor. You will not receive the welcome that I enjoyed and LA CATAPA OR LAKASA, but once the back and forth with the waiter, begins, it’s kind of up to you. Ask some questions, espztblish some kind of rapper, and you feel right at home, At least that was my experience. It does seem a bit like a corporate entity but that comes with swift and attentive service and, as I said, if you can forge an interchange with the wait person, all the better.
Street sign:
La Carta, #1 page:
La Carta, #2 page:
