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In the flamenco tablaos circuit of Madrid there is a name that sounds very strong and not only because of the level of artists and shows that it premieres.
This is Corral de la Morería, a flamenco temple that also stands out for its gastronomic offer.
Precisely the latter has been decorated with
the three suns of the Repsol Guide in the last edition of the awards,
an award that adds to the Michelin Star with which they won in 2018. Not in vain Corral de la Morería is known as " the tablao de la Estrella" among those who frequent these spaces dedicated to art.
Its doors were opened by Manuel del Rey in 1956 under the premise of combining flamenco and gastronomy.
The concept is still valid and it is now his children, Juanma and Armando, and his wife, the bailaora Blanca del Rey, who are in charge of continuing to raise the stakes.
For this they did not hesitate to resort to one of the best chefs of our borders, David García from Bilbao.
The secret to his success lies in two culinary approaches that bear this chef's signature.
On the one hand, the gastronomic restaurant that serves only eight diners and is the smallest in Europe
and the tablao, which has capacity for 100 people.
In 2023 David has presented Gargantua, a new menu that delves into his Basque roots.
Image of the interior of the tablao
The chef exhibits a nine-course menu in which only two of the previous dishes remain, the pigeon and the intxaursalsa, the dessert
that literally "disappears" in the mouth when eaten.
"My idea with Gargantúa is to capture my memories. It has been months of work with my team that are reflected in a new menu that includes seven creations of dishes together with two classics that remain, as a tribute to all these years in Corral de la Morería,
a unique place in the world that is now my home",
says David García.
The chef joined the kitchen of this tablao in 2016, after a long career.
Before he turned 18 he began learning his trade at the family restaurant, the Thames.
He later graduated from the Eide Hospitality School, in Santurce, and as a result,
he trained with great kitchen masters such as Martín Berasategui.
He also did a
stage
at El Bulli and the last few years, before moving to Madrid, he spent in the Nerúa restaurant located in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
Detail of the Motril shrimp dish
The price of the Gargantúa menu is 85 euros and among the most outstanding novelties
are the Motril shrimp, the squid noodles or the sea bream and gilda.
It is not just the kitchen that causes a queue at the door of Corral de la Morería.
In February they premiered
Origen,
a show in which the bailaor Diego Guerrero overwhelms the audience with his art.
The show is of such power that even the wardrobe that is in charge of Palomo Spain suffers some damage between outbursts and outbursts.
In March the cartel has also been stomping.
"We are going to bring artists who are tremendous like Belén López, María Moreno, Giraldillo, Patricia Guerrero, national dance prize last year...
The best of dance that there is right now in Spain", Juanma del Rey tells Metropolis.
In addition to the fame of the artists, Corral is also the "most famous tablao in the world" due to the number of public figures that have come there.
From politicians to singers to numerous actors, no one has wanted to miss out on the experience that this tablao offers.
Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan, Che Guevara...
And of course the Rolling Stones and the Beatles as well as the entire
Hollywood
star-system : Nicole Kidman, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Matt Damon, Jude Law...
Jude Law in Corral de la Morería
After the pandemic, the tablaos sector has recovered and has even had the occasional joy.
"Fortunately we fill up every day and we even have a waiting list.
Having the opportunity to see a world premiere like
Origen
with an artist like Eduardo Guerrero in a space where you can enjoy him a few meters away is a very big plus. It's normal for tickets to sell out,
whoever misses out is missing out on something very big.
We have permanent
sold out
and the flamenco tablaos sector in Spain is already working at a very good level. They are even opening new ones, for example Flamenco de Leones and Tablao de la Villa".
And he adds:
"We are receiving a lot of public from Madrid, now even more.
This is also a source of pride and it is very good. All the public are wonderful but it gives us extra joy that the local public likes it".
Another of the hallmarks of Corral de la Morería is a wine list that has more than 1,200 references only to Jerez wines.
They are 30, 40, 80, 100 years old in the bottle and even belong to wineries that have already disappeared.
A wine archeology that also makes this place even more special for wine lovers and aficionados.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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