Although his family came from Jaén and lived in Madrid, Ángeles Blázquez was born in San Sebastián by pure chance. Or, rather, partly because of a battered hake that today is among the tastiest in Madrid and that his father learned to prepare in Zarautz. It is one of the star dishes of Casa Salvador, a business founded in 1941 by Salvador Blázquez, Ángeles' great-uncle, who was later succeeded by his father, Pepe Blázquez, who in summer closed the restaurant in Madrid to go to work at the Zarautz Golf Club. So the family was caught by the birth of Angeles -in September- installed in their summer destination.
But you have to rewind a little to understand the 82-year trajectory of Casa Salvador, a restaurant located on Barbieri Street, in the Chueca neighborhood. "When Uncle Salvador founded the business in 41, Barbieri was like Ponzano now, a street full of bars and with a lot of restoration, where many young people came," Ángeles Blázquez, third generation of the family and who is currently in charge of the restaurant – his father died in 2014, tells METRÓPOLI.
Born in Jaen, Salvador Blázquez had started working as a cook at the Belgian Embassy. When he undertook, he opted for a tavern format closely linked to the bullfighting world. His nephew, Pepe Blázquez, moved from Jaén to Madrid at the age of 14 to work at Casa Salvador. "They worked all season and, in July and August, they closed because they went to all the bullfighting fairs in Spain," recalls Ángeles Blázquez.
The famous battered hake from Casa Salvador.
To a lively street was added the proximity of the big banks -at that time, in the surroundings of Gran Vía-, which filled their tables with their presidents, part of an audience that was already very varied in those happy 50s and 60s: foreigners, including actors who came to shoot in Madrid, such as Ava Gardner or Charlton Heston; writers such as Ernest Hemingway; of course, bullfighters and bullfighting fans and, due to the proximity of Manolo Caracol's tablao, artists such as Lola Flores. In turn, from Casa Salvador they cooked for nearby spaces such as La Gran Peña or Museo Chicote.
Little by little, what was born as a tavern was transformed into a restaurant, gaining meters by adding other neighboring premises. "In that change, a beautiful ceramic bar style La Carmencita was removed, a shame because they are things that at the time were not valued and that now we would have loved to keep," says Ángeles Blázquez, whose father, Pepe Blázquez, took over the business in the 70s, after the death of his uncle Salvador.
Broad beans with ham.
The 'hits' of Casa Salvador
Over the years, Casa Salvador was building its offer that, with some changes, remains in force today. There are historical recipes that disappeared, such as the Salvador Breast, prepared in the oven with white wine and mushroom. "We removed it because chicken ceased to be a star dish, just as we were removing others such as the shrimp cocktail," says Ángeles Blázquez, who lists the hits: "The best-selling dish is battered hake by far; then, the oxtail and the tripe a la madrileña".
These bestsellers are no nonsense. Really juicy on the inside and with a fine batter on the outside, hake keeps a secret recipe, something that the owner of Casa Salvador downplays. "The key is how it is handled and how it is fried, but above all the secret is in the quality. There are people who think that we pour milk or something, but it is not like that, "clarifies this hotelier, who proudly tells how some customers proposed to her father to run the restaurant of the Zarautz Golf Club in summer. "That's where he met the world of fish and learned how to handle hake; It was when we started to make battered hake as we do now, around the year 73. We were pioneers in Madrid, even the Basques were surprised at how it was made."
The living room of Casa Salvador.
In Zarautz, Pepe Blázquez met a young – and not yet famous – Karlos Arguiñano. "My father was offered to take the kitchen of the Club all year round, but he could not because his main occupation was Casa Salvador, so he proposed Karlos to take it," says Ángeles Blázquez. For this reason, Arguiñano maintained the relationship with the family, even "sometimes, he sent a greeting to my father live on his program."
In the 80s, they began to prepare oxtail, a honeyed stew to enjoy dipping bread. The tripe is another of its star dishes within a proposal of traditional cuisine that at times could be called as castiza -in this case, deserved adjective, which recent openings abuse without justification-.
Cod fritters.
But Casa Salvador's offer has more signs of identity. One, "the main dish is the legume; Every day we change." That is, spoon recipes that, depending on the day, can be lentils, beans from La Granja, beans from Tolosa, white beans ...
Two, a section of vegetables difficult to find in the Madrid hotel industry: beans with ham, green beans, sautéed spinach, cauliflower, ratatouille manchego, mushroom with ham or a good panaché as a summary of the best seasonal vegetables.
In its menu of "traditional Madrid cuisine" -as Casa Salvador is defined-, you can also choose between garlic prawns, poultry and ham croquettes, cod fritters, fried chorizo, fish soup, consommé, tomato salad with belly, fried eggs with blood sausage, scrambled as the trigueros or the potatoes with egg, meat or hake meatballs, Grilled monkfish or in green sauce, Basque hake... And, for dessert, a succulent fried milk, caramel fan, apple rolled or cheesecake.
The average ticket is around 40 euros. Of the three bestsellers, you can order half a portion: battered hake -served with chips-, for 26 euros in the case of the abundant full ration or 14.50 for the average; oxtail, for 18 and 10 euros, respectively; and corns, by 17 and 10. In addition, there is a house menu, which, with a price of 25 euros, allows you to choose a first and a second among several options, apart from including drink and dessert or coffee.
As next novelties, Ángeles Blázquez plans to incorporate new dishes to the menu that used to have off the menu and that the client demands, such as chicken in pepitoria or stewed tongue. "We had removed them years ago, but now they come back."
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Changes in the neighborhood of Chueca
Not everything has been easy in Casa Salvador's trajectory. "The restaurant was becoming more and more famous with audiences of all kinds until the 90s. But, from 1992 to 2000, hardly any people came to the area; It was a neighborhood of drugs and prostitution. My father was about to close," recalls Ángeles Blázquez.
However, the conversion of Chueca into a gay neighborhood and, in reality, a world-renowned brand changed everything. "For me, it is one of the best neighborhoods in Madrid, where everything is very mixed, which is something I love," admits this 'innkeeper'. "We have been adapting and evolving; we have integrated into the neighborhood and, years ago, we decided to focus the restaurant on the history of Madrid, of which we are part. We are often told that our restaurant is so popular because customers feel good when they walk in; that's what we're trying to do," adds a rather discreet restaurant entrepreneur, who is usually found in the Casa Salvador room, where she mixes business and family clientele -some in several generations who have celebrated weddings and communions here-, classic and modern audiences -including C. Tangana-.
The oxtail is one of the 'hits' of Casa Salvador.
The Blázquezs had to deal with, among many others, the crisis of 2008. "We try to do our best," says the hotelier, who, after her father died in 2014, took over the business as an administrator, while her brothers dedicate themselves to other trades. "I have tried to give a more current air, for example, using social networks, but always without losing our identity. Casa Salvador is also like a museum."
Dining room or bullfighting museum
Decorated with bullfighting motifs, the space (with a capacity of 90 seats, which has not changed since the 70s) is full of beautiful old photos in which illustrious clients and paintings by Andrés Martínez de León, Juan de Palenque or Ángel González Marcos appear. "It is not only the gastronomic experience and being at ease, but also the cultural experience of more than 80 years," argues Ángeles Blázquez, who reopened as soon as she could during the pandemic, a stage in which "we endured as we could."
The typical tablecloths of Casa Salvador.
It is not uncommon to identify Casa Salvador as the setting for fashion productions, films or series, while at the same time hosting bullfighting gatherings, book and record presentations or appointments from the world of art and fashion. "We do all kinds of events and, if we give the space to record something, I mark the schedules so that it does not interfere with customer service, which is who I live from," emphasizes the restless Ángeles Blázquez, who launched the bullfighting prize 'Casa Salvador', which already has three editions to recognize the best remove in the San Isidro fair. In 2019, the Cross of May 2 distinguished Casa Salvador for "combining an excellent table with being an authentic bullfighting museum".
Anthony Bourdain, at his table
As a curiosity, the website of this restaurant in Chueca contains a Book of Signatures, with famous customers who have passed through their tables over the decades. Among them, there is Anthony Bourdain, television chef -who died in 2018-, who included Casa Salvador in his tour of Madrid in a chapter of No reservations. "It was in 2010. My father was not aware of the relevance of what was being recorded. That has brought us a lot of American and worldwide audiences," confirms Ángeles Blázquez.
And how is 2023 going? "The nights are working amazing. At noon, it depends on the day; I think it has to do with the fact that there are fewer business meals. If at noon we do five, at night we do ten," observes Ángeles Blázquez.
A recommendation if you dare to visit -like Bourdain- Casa Salvador: ask for half a portion of battered hake and a half of oxtail and, already put, a vegetable panaché to start and enjoy eating scandal in this dining room of tables dressed with red and white checkered tablecloths, surrounded by the history of Madrid and the hotel know-how won for more than 80 years, oblivious to any fashion. This food house without trap or cardboard is a survivor – and a jewel – in the 'circus' of current gastronomy – where the race to visit the penultimate opening exhausts the 'foodies' themselves. Because, in the end, there is still hope in a culinary market full of novelties that, in many cases, homogenize the offer or receive recognition within 'two days' of opening.
Learn more. Barbieri, 12. Madrid. Tel. 91 521 45 24.
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