ANA DEL BARRIO Madrid

Madrid

Updated Saturday, March 9, 2024-00:03

Alfredo and Carmela, Carmela and Alfredo.

Fifty years surrounded by frying pans in oil.

Fifty years choosing the best eggs in all of Spain.

Fifty years manufacturing

150 tortillas a day

.

The García García García brothers -yes the last name is repeated up to three times-

have been wanting to retire for months

, but they can't.

The owners of the emblematic Sylkar bar are looking for a transfer that never comes.

-There is no good buyer.

Only vulture funds that have no idea! - Carmela laments.

Founded in 1970, this small tavern located in the Madrid neighborhood of Chamberí has ​​become a place of pilgrimage on days like today - when

World Omelet Day

is celebrated - but also the rest of the 365 days of the year. .

Not in vain does it hold the disputed title of making the best tortilla in all of Madrid.

Its recipe has remained intact for 53 years, when the couple formed by Alfredo and María - parents of Alfredo and Carmela - decided to open this place with a formula as simple as it is infallible:

juicy tortilla skewers

served at the moment at the price of 4.50 euros, accompanied by a coffee or a well-drained beer.

A cook prepares the tortilla undercooked.Á.

NAVARRETE

In short, traditional dishes of a lifetime.

«Our specialty is real home cooking.

We don't have a microwave

or deep fryer here.

The microwave deconstructs the food and spoils it,” says Carmela, 74, bluntly.

Located on Espronceda Street, this famous tavern is located in the epicenter of the Chamberí tapas area, but on a much quieter and

less bustling street than its neighbor Ponzano.

Don't expect to find any frills here.

No scallop carpaccio or textured stews or smoke foams.

At the Sylkar bar, the squid in its ink, the beef meatballs with ratatouille, the lean pork, the Russian salad,

the tripe and the torrijas are all triumphs.

Every day of the week they prepare a homemade stew: on Mondays, pochas with boletus;

on Tuesdays, lentils;

on Wednesdays,

Madrid stew

, on Thursdays, fabada and on Fridays, seafood stew.

700 eggs daily

Another of their obsessions is to take good care of the product, which is why they always look for the best suppliers in the country.

In Sylkar, a total of 200 kilos of potatoes

, 20 liters of olive oil and 700 eggs

are consumed per day .

And the million dollar question:

with onion or without onion?

Clients are clear about it.

"Nine out of 10 ask for it with onion because of the flavor and they also demand that it be rare," responds Alfredo in his bar, while the constant noise of forks beating eggs can be heard in the background.

After so many years dedicated body and soul to this family business, Alfredo and Carmela do not want to throw all their efforts overboard and are looking for a replacement at the height of the establishment's history.

"We need

a good professional who knows the sector

, who knows how to value what we do," explains Alfredo, 67 years old.

So far, no luck.

Last year they were on the verge

of finalizing a negotiation

, but it did not come to fruition.

Many customers were scared then and approached Sylkar thinking they were going to close, but it was a false alarm.

Currently, they receive offers from investment funds with little knowledge of the hospitality sector.

But Alfredo and Carmela's patience is not eternal and, if a buyer does not appear in the near future, they will be forced

to close the bar

.

livestock family

Unfortunately, no member of the García family has wanted to continue with the business.

Curiously, the patriarch was a rancher and

farmer in Guadalix de la Sierra

and, in fact, another of the brothers is dedicated to sheep in Zamora.

Of the five offspring, only three remain.

They still remember

Asun, who was a genius in the kitchen

.

Alfredo's only son is dedicated to professional horse training and his two nephews have not chosen to continue the family legacy either: one is dedicated to farming and livestock and the other to marketing.

Another of the big headaches for Alfredo García

is the lack of qualified professionals

to work in the hospitality industry and in Sylkar they do not work on Saturday afternoons, Sundays or holidays.

They have seven employees and they are missing two waiters to be able to serve that regular clientele that does not miss their appointment with the tortilla skewer.

Because everyone from

José Luis Martínez-Almeida and Isabel Díaz Ayuso

to Fernando Gómez-Acebo, the recently deceased cousin of the King, actors like Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth and artists like Antonio Flores and Camarón de la Isla, who sang in three occasions in the tavern.

If no one remedies it, the entire history of this inn may disappear like so many

other established establishments

that are disappearing from the city.

Spanish omelette dish.AN