"Canchanchán" is a linguistic term used mainly in Latin America, which has different meanings depending on the country in which it is said. While in Cuba, according to the RAE dictionary, it is a person who "flatters or flatters in a servile way", in Mexico it is a "buddy, accomplice or partner", according to the definition of the Association of Academies of the Spanish language.
Under the name of Can Chan Chán, the chef-entrepreneur Roberto Ruiz has just opened, on the third floor of El Corte Inglés in Serrano, a gastronomic space with an informal vocation that focuses on “non-traditional” Mexican cuisine –according to his own explanation. Roberto–, that is, it condenses in a contemporary key the trajectory of our protagonist in the two decades that he has officiated in a city as open to Latin America as Madrid is. As is obvious, the meaning of the name, in this case, alludes to the complicity with the team and with the diners.
Clients from the capital will undoubtedly remember Ruiz's professional itinerary, from the founding of Punto MX –the first Aztec cuisine establishment to obtain a Michelin star in Europe, now closed–, to the Barracuda MX that currently triumphs two steps from the iconic Puerta de Alcalá, going through that Salón Cascabel that shared an attic for a few years with Dabiz Muñoz's StreetXo until El Corte Inglés decided to close and transfer its headquarters at Serrano 52.
Now both places have moved a few blocks north to continue living on the same landing. But, by going from Cascabel to Can Chan Chán, Roberto and his partners –his wife María Fernández, Alex Pérez de Alburquerque (Grupo Escondite) and the Colombian group Takami– have also wanted to emphasize a change in orientation, which goes one step further there in its gastronomic ambition and that some veteran followers will undoubtedly compare to that Mezcal Lab that functioned as a cocktail bar-craving at the top of Punto MX.
Already, from the door, we perceive that we are in a very different concept, also by price -the average RRP is between €70 and €75-, from the usual Mexican restaurant: an interior design based on geometric lines, bright and austere, Conceived by Carlos Mezquita and María herself, which takes us back to that brutalist architecture that triumphed in Mexico City during the second half of the 20th century: dining room for 45 people, large terrace, bar, private lounge and the largest kitchen they had managed to date Roberto and company.
Veterans Tatiana Allard, Pablo Pérez and Víctor García lead this team, which is completed with the return of Rebeca Bellido (formerly Punto MX) as room manager after her time at L'Atelier Robuchon Madrid. We sat at one of the tables in the main room, with views of the glass façade of the neighboring Rosewood Villamagna hotel –a favorite with Mexican tourists! So the location here is not trivial– and we were initially surprised by the A mixology proposal that, under the title 'Vuelve a la Vida', includes quite a few unexpected drinks created by David Guerrero, always with tequila, mezcal, sotol or raicilla as protagonists: maybe a passion fruit margarita with cucumber? and jalapeño or a mezcal-based quetzaliña with ginger and lime? We ended up opting for that version of the Bloody Mary baptized as Bloody María, where the classic vodka is replaced by Humo, the chipotle chile distillate in whose creation our host has participated.
And eating? Well, the patron's "cooking cuisine", based on that local product that he has been integrating into his offer over the last few years, from Galician meats and seafood to Iberian cuts or cheeses made from the skin of toro, which are impeccably mixed here with chili peppers such as the Sonoran chiltepín, the Veracruz costeño, the meco chipotle or the cascabel.
Some dishes to whet your appetite? Delicious oyster with pineapple, chiltepín, celery and with blood orange and piquín; fantastic guacamole, crystal shrimp and shrimp omelette; refreshing aguachile divorced from scallops, shrimp and stiff taco; original baby squid taco, black pico de gallo and macha sauce; tasty snapper marinated al pastor, cooked on the grill and with fresh green tomatillo sauce; addictive taco mar y montaña of confit pork carnitas and soft shell crab marinated in ancho chile; a txuleta taco with citrus serrano chili sauce that is already pointing to a new hit or a daring zarajos taco with grilled razor clams and guajillo brava sauce that will not leave anyone indifferent. And the classic marrow of Roberto? It's not served here, but who cares with a menu as suggestive as this one!
