Cooks: Cristina Oria, from jet chef to thermometer achiever
In Madrid, in addition to infections, ertes,
chickens
between Ayuso and Illa and a majete mayor who does what he can to encourage the staff, there are also people who are lucky enough to continue opening businesses during the pandemic.
This is the case of
Paco Quirós, founder of Grupo Cañadío
, who opens his latest restaurant, La Maruca de Castellana (Castellana, 212) this Monday.
The Cantabrian chef thus injects a necessary optimism into the inhabitants of the capital, who feel more and more plagued and trapped in their newly stipulated second confinement.
His exquisite anchovies from Santoña, his artichokes with ham or
his lemon cake at a good price seduced the locals in 2011
and since then he has not stopped cooking for them.
"I have already reinstated all my employees (more than 120), who were in charge during the state of alarm. I confess that
I am working well at the moment," admits Quirós
in conversation with LOC.
The cook cannot complain, he has overcome the economic debacle of the first wave.
"Let's see, I've always done what my mother told me, which was to save a little in case it comes bad. Also, I have to admit that being a friend of Ana Patricia Botín has helped me a lot in this situation," he says without a filter.
And he adds, with the intention of avoiding getting into flours other than those to batter hake, "I do not enter into any controversy or belong to any political party.
My only objective is to keep my businesses full
. The politicians who come to my house, yes , but to eat ".
This is not the first time that Paco Quirós has successfully overcome a difficulty, the last the divorce from his wife, Teresa Monteoliva.
They separated a year ago after almost 30 married couples and a common child.
"But we get along great. We remain friends and partners," he says.
"Today I am single, I have not remade my life," he clarifies.
"But I don't know if I will marry again ... Never say never."
With his wife he started in Madrid nine years ago, in the midst of a crisis.
They were branded as crazy.
But they launched themselves; they ran together with great success the original Santander store, Cañadío, which they opened in 1981 and today she runs and combines with the choice of the wine list of all the stores.
Cañadío was inaugurated in Madrid in 2011, but in reality everything arose "by chance" and a bit of unconsciousness.
A year earlier,
his son Francisco Javier, who is now in Cañada Santander with his mother, went to study in the capital
and they were encouraged to invest.
They also had many friends there who spent the summer on the Sardinero beach and they trusted that they would give them a hand.
In any case and just in case, they did not make the jump alone.
They were associated with another Cantabrian friend, Carlos Crespo
, owner of restaurants such as Bodega del Riojano, Vermutería Solórzano and Pandecuco, in Santander (with two other partners), and participations in La Frontera, Little Cueto and La Casona del Judío.
The three of them did so well together that two years later they opened
La Maruca, a nice place in Velázquez full of beautiful people
and an average price of 28 euros.
It was followed by La Bien Aparecida, in 2015, on Jorge Juan Street, and shortly after La Primera, this time outside the Salamanca district, on the first floor of the historic Grassy jewelry building on Madrid's Gran Vía.
The Castilian Maruca
Now it is La Maruca's turn in La Castellana, an act of courage because it is located in an office area and there
are
still
many people teleworking
in the city.
Of course, it is not the only place that they plan to open in the remainder of the year.
Last year, the Cañadío group took over
the legendary Santander Cafeteria
in the Alonso Martínez roundabout, which was closing after more than half a century serving breakfast and snacks.
An emblematic place in Madrid that they plan to open in two months if the pandemic allows it.
The decoration of the cafeteria, whose name they will respect for obvious reasons, will be carried out by the interior designers Tarruella Trenchs, who also took care of putting
La Primera and La Bien
Aparecida
beautiful
(La Maruca was designed by the Zooco studio).
In general, minimalist environments perfect to eat well at an affordable price, see and be seen, something just as important for your audience.
With the question of whether he will open another Maruca in López de Hoyos (he has registered a company with that name) Paco Quirós continues to live between Madrid and his native Santander, where he usually
looks out over the Picos de Europa on foot and makes excursions on a motorcycle
.
He is no longer that man who started cooking at the age of 15 at the Hotel Valdecoro de Potes.
In Madrid he has become rich
and has merit because, as he says: "I do not belong to lobbies nor do I have Michelin stars nor do I pretend to."
He is not a typical restaurant investor either, he is a lifelong cook who has done really well.
"I don't need publicity, and I'm not saying it in a conceited plan. I think my best publicity is made by my croquettes, that's why I invest time and money in them."
Be careful to choose the fish you have, and for business too.
Its restaurants had hundreds of thousands of euros in profits until the pandemic hit.
Perhaps he would not have dared to open these new stores if he
knew about the sprouts, but Quirós is a man of his word and wants Madrid to regain joy.
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