The Japanese word itamae (in kana syllabary, 板前) is used in the Land of the Rising Sun to designate a master in the art of cutting raw fish on a board, behind a sushi bar. Unlike the grill in our European gastronomic culture, itamae is not born, but rather made. And, as in the ancient trades, years of learning are required to achieve the excellence that the degree implies. First, observing; then, taking on secondary tasks such as preparing rice, which require following the technique learned from the teacher to the millimeter.
I explain all this because both the Michelin guide and Repsol – two references that make me increasingly lazy – have granted their favors to David Arauz in the last year and define him with great ease, on their respective websites, as itamae. So get familiar with the happy term, since we will soon see it applied to any novice who sets out to make sashimi without entrusting himself to God or the devil. And the boom in Japanese cuisine in bull skin does not seem to subside. Quite the contrary, it is going from strength to strength and there are already large sushi bars not only in the Madrid-Barcelona axis, but in places as unexpected as Logroño, Valencia, Marbella or Tenerife.
Our protagonist, David Arauz, precisely obtained his first macaroon from the red bible when he was officiating at the Abama Kabuki in Guía de Isora (Canary Islands) and then revalidated it at the 99 KŌ Sushi Bar in the capital, until the pandemic put an end to the project. . Before, he had earned his stripes at that longed-for Suntory on Paseo de la Castellana, where aspiring gourmets of my generation learned the clumsy use of chopsticks and discovered that wasabi was not some industrial powder the color of hell, but rather a precious root.
Arauz, we said, is surely the least media itamae in the country, perhaps because he interprets this activity as a path of prudence and discretion. “Eating Japanese has a meaning between the ritual and the philosophical when approached with depth and truth. David is a chef who has been building with great rigor his very personal interpretation of Japanese gastronomy,” my friend Andrés Sánchez Magro defines him, and then compares his cooking style with nothing less than a haiku. How great, Andrés!
Personally, Arauz had already impressed me at his previous address at Marqués de Villamagna and, at his current one, he confirms expectations in a more refined version of what a luxury sushi bar should be. Zuara? It's the boss's last name backwards. A way of expressing that he is no one's employee here.
We had already gone to eat at number 28 Calle Pensamiento, in the northern district of Tetuán, more than a decade ago, when Dabiz Muñoz took his DiverXo to the top, before moving to the NH Eurobuilding Collecion. The space has changed radically, of course, to house a comfortable waiting bar in a style between Japanese and Scandinavian that then gives way to a large bar with a kitchen visible behind, identical bare decoration and capacity for 12 diners.
At the door, we are greeted by the sommelier and waiter Álvaro Prieto, whom we had met in previous destinations such as the Lágrimas Negras at the Puerta América Hotel or the Allard Club. For the curious, we will say that Álvaro and David coincided working – each in a restaurant – at the Ritz-Carlton Abama Resort in Tenerife. The friendship was maintained when both moved years later to Villa y Corte and complicity was forged during Covid-19, half-organizing private events to counteract the hardship of the ERTE. From there, to this project that has been open for just over a year.
“Try to be punctual,” they had warned us when making the reservation, since the menu starts at the same time for the entire bar (2:15 p.m., during the lunch shift). Upon arrival, you only have to choose between two omakase menus – which means you trust the chef –, named Zuara and Shibui, at €145 and €165 respectively (without drinks). To drink, there is a wonderful selection of wines from small producers around the world, as well as good sakes. The best thing, in any case, is to put yourself in the hands of Álvaro and express to him in advance the affiliations of each one. Sparkling wines, sherries and mature whites? We couldn't think of anything better. Let's start!
A bento box of appetizers arrives, with four versions of Japanese-style pickles: neriume eggplant; oyster with cucumber and green apple sorbet; zamburiña with radish; Pickled monkfish liver with sea ox and ponzu… With a very old Fino, the umami puts the taste buds to work. Next is a king crab gratin with miso hollandaise and its coral, sweet, unctuous and with a very long flavor. The subsequent kamado eel is accompanied by a sauce of fermented vegetables, saffron and mussels that is a feast of smoke, iodine and spices. We conclude the first chapter with an exquisite loin of raó, lorito or galán (Xyrichtys novacula) washed down with a delicate dashi broth flavored with yuzu and soy macerated in cedar.
The second part of the sapid guateque is a full-fledged festival of sushi pieces, mainly absolutely academic niguiris in small format and with millimeter-cooked rice in a traditional wooden container, the kind that makes you understand the difference between what is acceptable and what is excellent. . Here, the Koshihikari variety grass is left with a perfect point and, far from caking in the mouth, it melts into grains that conquer the palate with its flavor and texture. Pompano, horse mackerel, squid, shrimp, scallop, sardine, tuna, bonito, sea bass, tuna belly... Some pieces have been previously matured for days or cured to give their best, but the diner does not have to know it to be tremendously happy.
A spicy tuna backbone temaki puts an end to the salty party, before giving way to a delicate tonyu (soy milk) ice cream with yuzu and praline soil that closes the agape. One comes away from the experience convinced that there are very few Japanese-rooted establishments with this level of precision and purity; not only in Madrid, but throughout Spain. I count them on one hand and I have fingers to spare.
Call it itamae or sushiman – which is more vulgar but more understandable – but David Arauz is, at 46 years old, a teacher of teachers. And, when it comes to nigiris, he has no rival in these parts...
