Estefania Ruilope

Updated Tuesday, February 13, 2024-09:10

Ignacio Jarava

is the new king of kebab in Madrid. He and his three partners are the owners of

Jekes , a

gourmet

kebab shop

in the Castellana Alta area that enjoys long lines at the door and that next month, will expand its family with a second headquarters in the Atocha area. Ignacio comes from another world that has nothing to do with the hospitality industry, "

I studied economics, did consulting and ended up working at the Ferrovial company, buying and selling airports

," he reveals. As in many other cases, the pandemic also took its toll on their sector, since since there were no flights there was also no possibility of making any type of transaction.

Jekes premises, the new kebab temple in Madrid.

Instead of sitting on the couch thinking about his sadness at not having a job, he decided to turn his life around and embark on something he liked. "

I'm a kebab fanatic, wherever I go I look for a place to have one

. In addition, I have always liked to spend time in the kitchen innovating with dishes and trying recipes." From the day he had the idea, he saw clearly that there was an investment opportunity in our country, because, in his opinion, there are no good kebab chains in Spain.

Its main objective was to demystify its bad reputation, which "is associated with poor quality, unhygienic spaces and moments of hangover

. We want to give it a spin and make it clear that it can be a clean and delicious meal, made with good ingredients." quality. That doesn't mean that people want to get dirty and dirty; it's the way to eat it, but that doesn't mean it has to be dirty." In view of opening its first location last December, the great reference was Kebab House, on Menéndez Valdés Street, "one of the best temples in the capital, and where we learned a lot about this dish."

A kebab from the new Jekes place.

Logically, he also did a market study and, he assures that, "if there are more than 3,000 points in Spain, there is demand. There is a kebab even in Llanes! The problem is that there are not many good ones." So he got to work renting two small premises, "it is important that they are small", one in General Perón and another in Méndez Álvaro, which will open within a month, and a third in the center, but of which still doesn't give any clue.

He demystifies that the birthplace of the kebab is Istanbul; He states that it is Berlin

, "my partners and I took a tour of the German city and, along the way, we brought an expert to give us the keys." His plan is to grow without dying of success, for which "it is essential to lay the foundations and pillars. We can still improve and be more professional." The name Jekes means what the word itself is, because "we offer popular food at competitive prices. We want everyone to feel like a real sheikh when they come to eat."

At Jekes, they make the meat by hand.

The history of reaching the kebab they serve today has gone through a process of many tests. "

We started buying the processed meat rolls because we wanted to learn everything from scratch

. When we learned the technique well, we moved on to the homemade one. We have a formula that is 75-80% but we continue to evolve. We marinate the meat for 24 hours, and we pierce it every days in an artisanal way. The complexity is high, since homogeneity is vital and it is essential that all the jekes have to taste the same."

They have a choice of chicken or beef, as well as two breads, one burrito type or another muffin type

. "The most popular is the mixed one," he says.

Ignacio recognizes that, to learn well, you have to go through all the positions in a business, "You can find me inside the bar, and to know if the product is good you have to train and try them all." Among his partners are

Carlos Esteve

, formerly of Glovo,

Alejandra Ansón

and

Miguel Bonet

. "They loved the project and decided to get involved from day one." As an anecdote, he tells us that they went viral on social media due to

TikToker

Nieves Felipo

, who uploaded a video and brought people from all over Madrid. In less than a month the reception has been incredible, and they hope to be the same with the rest of the stores.

Jekes:

Edgar Neville, 39. Chicken costs 6.50; 6.90 for the mixed one and 7.50 for the beef one. To avoid the queue it is best to go at 1:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.