Is there life after Santceloni? Of course! The legendary restaurant created by our much-missed Santi Santamaría in Madrid's Hyatt Regency Hesperia managed to overcome the death of the Barcelona chef (2011), but not the months of quarantine caused by the covid-19 pandemic (2020), added to a radical change management at the hotel.
The abrupt end of that iconic space of the capital's haute cuisine – which today houses Dani García's Leña – left its main managers in dry dock for a time. But everything ends up being overcome. Today Abel Valverde exercises his master's degree as director of Desde 1911 (Pescaderías Coruñesas Restauración), while David Robledo is the sommelier at Robuchon Madrid. And what has become of chef Óscar Velasco and pastry chef Montse Abellà? Well, together they opened VelascoAbellà last summer, which is, according to Helena Poncini in El País, “the dream come true of two chefs with two Michelin stars who were left without a restaurant.”
Indeed, this couple who are both in professional life (25 years working together) and in private life (a similar length of marriage and two children together) have found a new culinary home on Víctor Andrés Belaúnde Street, in the district capital of Latin America, Chamartín neighborhood, where since last June 12 they have been receiving quite a few followers of their previous professional stage who had been waiting for a long time for the inauguration of what is undoubtedly, from the beginning, one of the restaurants of the anus.
In this two-story establishment, with a bright naturist decoration and curved shapes, based on light woods, stone, cement, linen and lime, an open kitchen and an interior patio landscaped with olive trees, signed by Aitana Miñambres from the Novomueble studio, the duo It literally feels like home. That is why they have decided that Montse, in addition to signing the desserts, acts as hostess, receiving visitors in the main room with capacity for 51 diners and taking orders. A formula – just like the chosen neighborhood – that distances itself from the haute cuisine, in which they have been trained, to approach the concept of a chic bistronomie. It is the sign of the times, where luxury – except for some wealthy expatriates – has become something else.
A recent visit, at noon in September, gave us a fairly clear idea of what this restaurant already represents, with just three months of filming: one of the most solid gastronomic proposals of the Villa y Corte. And they have just started!
At the entrance, facing the kitchen, a stone bar with stools for informal dining where anyone can sit without prior reservation. Good idea! In the basement, a private dining room that they have named The Apartment, with a separate kitchen and the possibility of discreetly hosting around twenty people. In an unlit corner, a small office with a shower and a sofa... which will probably accommodate the duo's two teenage offspring for more than a day. This, more than a business project, seems like a life project.
And as such a project there is a word that the two repeat at every moment: freedom. Freedom to organize work as they want and freedom, above all, to propose a style of cooking forged in four decades of Santceloni's career, a style that has ended up being their own. “Our cuisine is unrelated to trends, from the market and from seasonal products cooked in a very personal way. A cuisine that identifies us, that marks our own path and that manifests our character,” reads his website.
With an average ticket of around €100 and a tasting menu at €110, the brief menu announces fifteen savory dishes and five sweet ones. The initial idea is that the menu evolves depending on the seasons, recovering when appropriate some recipes from the old days such as smoked ricotta ravioli with anchovy and caviar or dark chocolate and coffee curd cream with cocoa ice cream. Precisely one of those historic bites, the marinated and roasted mackerel, cauliflower and green apple jelly, starred at the start of our menu, perhaps to remind us of that “whoever had, kept”. What fond memories!
Afterwards, we continued with an original combination of smoked young onions, octopus, grapefruit and almonds, which was followed by another impeccable bite such as baked eggplant with hazelnut, black garlic, tomato and basil. Along the same lines, some lettuce hearts with roast beef, hollandaise sauce and red wine.
The white shrimp with garlic with fried egg and potatoes deserves a special mention due to its family background – it is his son's favorite – and its almost tavern-like spirit, which are not at odds, however, with exquisite execution and fine dining presentation. The sautéed squid and green beans, salmorreta and cured pork jowl certify Óscar's good hand for the funds and that sea and mountain cuisine elevated to perfection by the Can Fabes school.
More debate was provoked at our table by the boneless hake, onion soup, smoked cheese and lemon gras, due to the daring mixture of such a mild white fish with a sweet onion soup and the smokiness of the cheese. With the chicken wings – boneless, naturally – with lobster and spinach, however, there was not the slightest doubt: it is already a modern classic.
We closed the agape with a refreshing melon marinated in Manzanilla with creamy vanilla and basil granita and an unctuous and tasty dark chocolate mousse with olive oil, hazelnut and brandy. Good room service, young and attentive. Good wine list, still under construction, full of interesting bottles from small producers – chosen by the couple, passionate about wine –, among which we opted for an ancestral sparkling wine from Xarel.lo Noguer Baix 2021 by AT Roca for the aperitif -Ánima Mundi and, for the menu, a white La Pola 2019 from Ribeira Sacra and a red Dominio do Bibei Brancelhao 2019 from the same winery, which went wonderfully with the dishes. Go without hesitation before it becomes impossible to get a reservation!
