Those succulent beans from La Bañeza that you can taste in the photo – with veined white grain and oval kidney shape, stewed with their sacraments (Leonese chorizo included) and accompanied by a pickled piparra to lighten – is one of the dishes that are dispatched for 12 euros in El Capricho. You can dip bread, if you want, because the tribute – it does not matter if it is winter or summer – deserves it in this restaurant located in the town of Jiménez de Jamuz, well known for its carnivorous offer.

The restaurant room.

Can you visit José Gordón's house without asking for a chop? Power, you can and with good results -and more affordable-, because its menu is extensive and, although the ox and cow raised by this cook-griller-farmer are protagonists, he adds many more and varied recipes. To the beans of La Bañeza, you could add other recipes -with prices of 12 to 16 euros-, such as croquettes, tortilla (with the surname "de Elvira" name of Gordón's mother), tasty tripe -of course, beef-, a cod ajoarriero or frog legs (in the latter case, 32 euros). They are recipes that have reserved in the letter a chapter called Our cultural landscape, justified by the objective of "recovering dishes and customs of the land".

A vegetable section (prices from 6 to 11 euros) allows you to choose between roasted red peppers, sautéed spinach with butter and nuts, onion ember, eggplant tatemada or fried yucca, among other options.

Ox tripe.

It is not about rebelling against one of the most famous chops in Spain. But those beans and corns deserve attention... or, at least, perhaps, first course, before the tribute in the form of an ox.

Of this animal, El Capricho offers, in any case, a wide range of dishes. Starting with the sausages -the restaurant also sells them online, apart from hotels and shops-, its cecina with a minimum of three years of curing in the winery has some renown (price of 26 euros), without ruling out the cured tongue -marinated, cooked and with a touch of smoke-, blood sausage, chorizo or sausage.

With Vertical de crudos, El Capricho brings together in its menu from a trowel carpaccio (cut that comes from the front hand of the animal) matured 180 days with oil and salt or this same piece presented in tataki with fermented radishes to a low loin tiradito with almadraba tartar -recipes that attest that Gordón likes to travel- or his classic hip steak tartare.

José Gordón and his famous chop.

Surnames of the ox

And, for whom makes the trip to Jiménez de Jamuz and wants ox? First, we must remember that El Capricho was born as a family picnic area, where Gordón, as a child, "carried and brought jugs of wine between the tables". Until he was curious about the grill and began to experiment, while a trip to Galicia he discovered the ox, which gave rise to what seems to have been almost obsession with looking for the best animals, selecting breeds, raising them in the field, supervising their feeding, subjecting them to the maturation that decides for each specimen and applying the perfect roast point on a two-height grill, with uses firewood and holm oak charcoal.

Beef jerky.

And, second, this family restaurant dispatches the meats of selected animals, raised and matured by Gordón and his team. Apart from sausages, raw meats and other recipes (such as roast strip bites, stewed tail or marrow with paprika toast), the menu reserves a section for His Majesty the chop.

The diner must choose between five surnames, from less to more, at least in the price: cow, for 60 euros per kilo, and if this animal is premium, it goes to 85 euros; ox, for 96, which if it is premium costs 120 or, at most of the maximums, the beef chop Selección José Gordón quoted at 160 euros per kilo.

The chop already cut.

The customer, who is made clear that the best piece is the latter, is shown raw just at the beginning of the meal. When it arrives already roasted at the table -after the starters that it has ordered-, it is cut in front of him on a side table, while the room team tells him about the age of the animal, the maturation time, the marbling of the meat, the fat -which they recommend to try-... Sometimes, when the command contains the most luxurious pieces, it is Gordon himself who is in charge of the cutting and explanations.

For those who do not want to think and want to take a tour of some hits of the house, ending with the beef chop, there are two tasting menus, with prices of 130 and 180 euros.

The porch area.

Gastronomic destination

Accessible from exit 303 of the A6, El Capricho occupies an underground cellar, excavated by Gordon's grandfather following the construction style of this area of Castile. With bar and dining area almost cave under the cellar, it also has tables under a pleasant porch and an outdoor terrace.

This business was chosen years ago by international media such asThe Guardian and Time as one of the best gastronomic destinations in the world to eat meat.

Apart from online store and meat industry, the family has the Hospedaje Doña Elvira to stay in the area.

The Caprice. Carrobierzo, 28. Jiménez de Jamuz (León). Tel. 987 66 42 24.

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