20 NOV 2017: It takes a mere ten minutes by taxi to go from the Hotel Principal Madrid to the Hotel Único, yet it feels like entering another world. While the former is in the action filled somewhat frenzied heart of the city, the latter housed in a former 19th century palace in the upscale Salamanca district oozes elegance and serenity.
Our room overlooked the private garden and outdoor lounge area, as quiet as a countryside. On the streets surrounding the Único were the poshest shops in Madrid. This is the city’s “golden mile” featuring iconic luxury brands such as Etro, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Armani, Miu Miu and Manolo Blahnik. Retail therapy is sophisticated and expensive here. I stuck to window shopping and fantasising. www.unicohotelmadrid.com
The Barrio de Salamanca is also home to all sorts of eateries, wine bars and tapas bars including restaurants bearing Michelin stars. Following the release of their 2017 edition, the city of Madrid now boasts 14 restaurants with Michelin stars. Ramón Freixa Madrid in the Único is one of only five that have achieved the heights of two stars. (DiverXO is the sole Madrid eatery to get the highest award of three stars.)
The Catalan chef launched his career in Madrid with his namesake restaurant Ramón Freixa. Chef works from a base of tradition but experiments with new ideas to create recipes that surprise and astonish while remaining delicious to eat. He states, “The reason I cook is because it’s a way to make people happy.”
As is the custom in Madrid, our dinner did not start until 9:30pm and while the pacing was perfect, our symphony of 20 moments with each course telling a “story” took until at 1pm to reach its finale. There were three separate appetizer presentations – all inventive and beautiful to behold. For example, the first featured a peach Bellini, baby prawn cones, a chip ‘take’ and bread with tomato and spiced sausage.
Among the main courses were ‘tomato theory 2017’ in three parts: liquorice, courgette and tomato; tuna, cured beef and tomato; and green tomato with parmesan and berries. Surf and turf was sea cucumber and turtledove. Scorpion fish was dressed up with a buttery puff pastry and eggplant-corn puree. Baby goat was triple cooked with yuba milk. www.ramonfreixamadrid.com
We had planned to resist the breads but they were Ramon’s fathers hand-made recipes served with arbequina olive oil and Normandy butter which melted our resolve. Dessert called “An American Trip” was equally irresistible. Canada maple leaf, USA lemon pie, Mexico spicy tequila chocolate, Brazil coconut, lime and rum jelly and Argentina dulce de leche.
Madrid, like all great cities has a large central park with water features and hundreds of acres of green. After that long night extravaganza, we strolled the next day to the nearby Parque del Retiro to walk off the calories. The park which belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until 1868 when it became a public park, has beautiful sculptures and monuments, open air cafes and a lake busy with boaters who have paid for the pleasure of paddling around.
Suitably refreshed we were ready to take on more dining in Salamanca though of a somewhat more modest nature. Amazónico was styled with the greenery and tropical flare of the Amazon rainforest with food inspired by tropical, Asian and Mediterranean cuisine, including a nod to Brazilian gastronomy, the country of origin of the chef Sandro Silva. We had tapas at the bar while savouring flavourful cocktails made exotic ingredients like soursop and pitaya (cactus fruit). www.restauranteamazonico.com
At night we went to the ultra-trendy Ten con Ten, which we later learned from locals is considered a pick-up place. It certainly was jam packed with beautiful people. Past the long bar near the entrance, were more intimate and elegant rooms perfect for a date night. The menu was contemporary and quite extensive with dishes such as butter fish with truffle butter, tacos of red tuna, squid in its ink with Filipino rice, zucchini salad with goat cheese, suckling pig with roasted apples and rabo de toro (oxtail) hamburger. www.restaurantetenconten.com
For our final day we chose the traditional. The Mercado de la Paz, first built in 1882 is a popular local market which combines the classical iron structure of the old community markets with modern design. It has about 60 stalls, many which supply the top restaurants with fresh produce, and others which offer Spanish tapas, Mexican street food, croquettes, Spanish hams, baked goods and more. http://mercadodelapaz.blogspot.ca
La Trainera, opened in 1966, where we had dinner was the epitome of old school seafood tradition. We walked past a large display of fresh fish and crustaceans and into a rabbit warren of small tucked away rooms. There we dined on artichokes, asparagus, seabass and sole. It was a simple but comforting meal of familiar well-loved flavours. http://www.latrainera.es
Our short stay in Salamanca has convinced us our next visit must be longer. We hear it almost never snows in Madrid and even frost is a rarity.