Casa Botín returns, the oldest restaurant in the world, after 300 years without closing ... until the coronavirus

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It has not closed a single day since it opened its doors in 1725. Hence, Casa Botín , a few steps from Madrid's Plaza Mayor, is considered the oldest restaurant in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. He did not lock the padlock in the War of Independence. Not even when a few meters from the premises they tried to kill King Alfonso XIII and his wife Victoria Eugenia by anarchist attack.

Nor in the Civil War, when the family that owned the business was evacuated to Castellón with the exception of the grandfather, who was left alone in command of the stove so that the administration of the defense of the capital could continue using it as headquarters. Parishioners in the area also continued to eat every day despite the bombs, the mess, and the rationing . Someone refused to pay by putting their gun on the table, but that's another story ...

A world classics

The coronavirus had to arrive so that one of the 10 best classic restaurants on the planet according to the prestigious Forbes magazine , located in the middle of Calle de Cuchilleros, 17 in the traditional neighborhood of La Latina , had to close. From March 14 in which the state of alarm was declared until July 1, when it will finally reopen. Not surprisingly, that continuation in time with the same name and in the same place is what has earned him entry into the Guinness World Records. Of course, its mythical wood oven, standing since that 1725 and hallmark of the place (for some reason its star dishes are suckling pig and lamb roasted in the Castilian style), has continued to light up every day of the pandemic.

It has done so thanks to Marcos, one of the 75 current employees of the house, who came to light it every morning. " It has never been extinguished since 1725 and we did not want to risk damaging it if we did, so the pig's Olympic flame has been kept alive, as we say here," laughs José González, a member of the third generation. belonging to the second family that owns the place. And there are two of the fourth stomping.

His grandparents Emilio and Amparo bought the business in 1930 from the Remis, sole owners since the 18th century. Lo de Botín comes from an uncle of French origin from the first owner, Cándido, who worked as a cook in the area. A black and white photo of their descendants in front of the entrance taken at the beginning of the last century welcomes diners both on the business card and in the ground floor lounge . There are three in total plus the underground cellar , the descent of which is a kind of time tunnel as it was preserved as it was.

This hall at the entrance responds in true Galdosian style , with paintings from the 15th century, a pair of granite columns from when it was a portico, and neo-Gothic decoration walls that were once stamped in red and gold leaf. "My grandparents maintained the tradition of gold leaf, but over time we abandoned it because there were almost no artisans who worked on it and it was very expensive, of course," continues González, sitting, mask in the nose and mouth in between, in one of the ancient watchmen who now serve as tables.

The star dishes of the house

The restrictions imposed by the coronavirus have forced to reduce the capacity, which will remain at 15 tables, as well as to install body temperature detectors . In addition, for the first time, Casa Botín will have an outdoor terrace. The employees, meanwhile, have received training according to the security protocols of the Ministry of Health in recent weeks. Another novelty of the post-Covid era is the reduction of the dishes on the menu, although calm, the classics such as suckling pig and lamb will follow, as well as blood sausage, callos a la madrileña, gazpacho, croquettes of ham and chicken or baked hake. The price of the menu of the day: 44 euros.

For dessert, there will be no shortage of the Tart Botín (with several layers of cream) already eaten by the writer Benito Pérez Galdós , one of the assiduous characters in the place, who immortalized him in several novels, including his famous Fortunata and Jacinta , as one plaque on the facade. By the way, this year marks the 100th anniversary of his death and one of the obligatory stops on the Canarian author's route through Madrid is, of course, Casa Botín. He was not the only writer to refer to it. Ernest Hemingway was addicted to his suckling pig and his wine, coming to qualify the restaurant as one of the best in the world. "And the American was in almost all ...

Refuge of writers, politicians and artists

They also say that a very young Francisco de Goya served as a dishwasher upon arrival in the city from Zaragoza. "There is no real record, but the chronicles indicate that he worked in a restaurant next to the Plaza Mayor and there was no other at that time," says Celso Solís, current meter and establishment worker for 30 years, when he arrived from Galicia following the wake of several countrymen.

"Then one would come from the village [as he calls his hometown, Pazos de Mazaricos , in La Coruña] and he would bring us to the rest. We have become 29 Galicians and now we are 25," he recounts, recalling who some of them have been. of the famous visitors who have impacted you the most. "Everyone has passed through here: artists, intellectuals, kings, journalists ... I remember the President of the United States, Jimmy Carter , who has come several times, as well as Putin and his wife . Not forgetting that all the ambassadors make their presentations here officers when they arrive in Spain ", he tries to summarize next to the kitchen door.

Efrén Otero, a Filipino who has been lighting the oven on the first floor since 1988, beats him in antiquity . "On a good day we usually make around 60 whole piglets plus 20 or 30 lambs, " he explains with a tray of one of the first in her hands. Starting tomorrow, anyone can taste them again.

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