Del Diego, the temple of Calle Reina: "We are the Rolling of the cocktail bar and we do, like José Tomas, whatever we want"

Eleven in the morning, Calle Reina, an untimely moment to meet the Del Diegos at their bar.

They do not offer breakfast, but it is possible to advance the time of the

.

Even so, the frequency of the

is missed , the natural soundtrack of one of the last living cocktail temples in Madrid.

Fernando

(50 years old) and

(44) are not on duty but for the photo they take the uniform bar, with their pin ties.

No tattoos showing.

"I was the first to start and by chance," starts Fernando.

"He studied Fine Arts. One day our father tells us that he is tired of working for others, he has been in

for more than 30 years and he has got it into his head to set up his own business."

Madrid in the early nineties was lively but a desert in cocktail bars and Don Fernando Sr. was a pioneer.

"He asked me if I would lend him a hand, I was a neophyte in hospitality. I was 18 years old and my brother 13. The plan continues and my father sets up this bar with the architects Álvaro Soto and Javier Maroto. He wanted a design bar, not the typical English pub.

A very New York bar, the photos of Luis Asín hanging on the wall prove him right three decades later.

He even walked through

.

"This bar in the 90s was a boom because Madrid was a very cool city," he says.

"It looked like Marbella"

So the father, an eminence, convinces the son and Del Diego inaugurates after two years of work.

An old dental deposit is transformed into a sophisticated premises of glass, wood and steel behind Gran Vía. "Earth, swallow me!", remembers that pipiolo who changed the brushes for the mixing glass.

"This looked like a Marbella party. I even blocked the cash register, my debut was an odyssey."

He quickly learned to serve the wine from the right, to brown the pill and to shut up in time.

David, who came into play early, also talks about the good boss: "He was a fabulous father, the bar was the link to be with us but then here he didn't give you anything, he was a very demanding boss. I have the festive image of leaving the school and go behind the bar where he had dinner.

The youngest of the Del Diego's began to run errands: "He gave me a little money. I had friends who had different bars. It started to sting me, I saw actors and singers, it wasn't serving the same drinks. Then I remember making them and getting frustrated. The I had to throw them out and do them again. I finished my second year of high school and told him I wanted to come to work every day. And here I am."

The Del Diego school was closed: "We had the best teacher and we were his only two students."

No one as jealous as him, just

and

dared to cross the threshold.

"He said that his bar did not prostitute itself, that it was ours," says Fernando.

"Now it's different, there is more compadreo, his was another time. He wanted us to read books and then he examined us. He said we had to know more than the client."

Talk about you, move away when it's time.

"Know how to fight. Learn to serve and respect."

Never offer one too many, never ask about the company from the night before.

In Del Diego those manners are still breathed.

Don Fernando drank from classical sources but at the same time had a groundbreaking imprint.

Del Diego is not a century-old bar but a modern classic.

"It's still up-to-date, it looks like

. And he was a genius, he took two bottles, he made plas plas and it was delicious."

Instant signature cocktails from which hundreds of handwritten coasters are preserved with improvised recipes based on the visitor's name and tastes.

There are those who branded it old-fashioned when today it would be a trend.

Gimlet, his best creation

The night before, a Monday in summer, the bar was busy.

Whiskey sour, Singapore Sling, Old Fashioned... And Gimlet, a simple drink with two parts of gin and one part of Lima Rose's, the cocktail that best defines them: "Del Diego is and will be a bar where less is more".

Temperature, solid ice, well shaken, balanced lime.

Few nail it like that.

"People have returned to classic cocktails," says Fernando.

Del Diego always guarded her.

Today the youngest ask for Margaritas and Pink Ladies.

"And the novice

see that we are not so serious. Sometimes there is a lot of noise and when there is not, it seems like a cemetery."

At closing they stop by the Wurlitzer, the Toni 2 or the Why Not and drink a mixed drink.

His life does not revolve around the cocktail.

They recognize the jump of the scene thanks to Diego Cabrera or Mario Villalón.

But they go free.

"Now we fly alone. We carry the bar with the cap, we could carry more but we don't feel like it."

The loss of his father in 2016 was hard.

The mourning was spent putting glasses to the friends who were queuing to pay him the last goodbye: "he looked like a handrail".

invited them to the Bernabéu box.

There are those who belong to everyone.

His was a natural relief.

Although many considered them amortized.

Today the Del Diegos continue without being a

and without moving on networks.

"He blows it up for us. We do whatever we want, like

We've had the greatest phenomenon in the history of Madrid's cocktail bar, Fernando del Diego. Today he would have rocked it. We are

, the Rolling Stones of cocktails Del Diego will always be Del Diego."

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• Jose Tomas

• Javier Marotto

• Alberto Chicote

• Secondary Education