Desde 1911 is an amazing restaurant in the centre of Madrid, Spain, which brings a tribute to the very best fish and seafood available. It was created with a single and clear aim: proof that Madrid can be considered as the best seaport in Spain. To do this, the team serves the very best fish and seafood which was caught on the day of the meal. The products are served it in the best possible manner, in a warm and atmospheric setting which directs the attention to the meal. And the team succeeded: in a short period of time, Desde1911 grew into one of the best fish restaurants in Spain. A must in Madrid!

Concept & Location

Desde 1911 is the family story of María Juliana Azpíroz and Evaristo García, both from families with a wide tradition in artisanal fishing, and of their children, the fourth generation of fishermen and maragatos muleteers. With Desde 1911, the García Azpíroz family fulfills a dream of creating a fish and seafood restaurant in Madrid, where the products, and only the products, are at the center of the stage.

The menu is based on the best available products from the ocean, proving that Madrid is still the best seaport of the Iberian Peninsula. It is precisely this aspect that the family wants to emphasize: the path that the fantastic products have to travel to the guests plate. In the past, often for up to 15 days, carried by the family’s maragatos muleteers. These muleteers stopped at locations where wells with ice had been developed, so that the fish was kept as fresh as possible. Today, four generations later, the very best fish and seafood can be found in the diners plates less than 24 hours after the catch.

The restaurant is unobtrusively located in a suburb of Madrid, a few kilometres from the tourist center. The interior consists out of three separate areas: a main dining room with views to the kitchen through a big window, an interior yard with plants and trees where the aperitif or after dinner drinks can be enjoyed, and the “Privado 1911” private dining area. The latter offers room for 20 to 30 people and is a great space for intimate private dinners with tailor-made menus.

The interior is truly unique and incorporates elements from Nordic design, with a mix of concrete, light wood, industrial accents, and more natural, raw materials. Brown and beige tones give the dining area a warm appearance.

Many chariots and items like fish presses (to extract the juices from the fish bones for the sauces) enhance interior atmosphere as well as the dining experience.

The Chef & the team

Chef Diego Murciego is responsible in the kitchen. Gastronomically, the great particularity of Desde 1911 is the daily preparation of the tasting menu based on the fish and seafood that is from the very best quality on that particular day.

Much of that best fish and seafood sold in the city, passes through Juan de Montalvo, a street where Pescaderías Coruñesas has its headquarters. Abel Valverde, manager of the restaurant Desde 1911, also is the director of restoration of the Grupo Pescaderías Coruñesas. Of all the fish and seafood that Pescarías Coruñesas manages, Desde 1911 has the first choice. That’s why Desde 1911 simply has an unbeatable product in the capital.

Gastronomy

The menu of Desde 1911 is the maximum expression of the seafood of the moment and completely depends on the catch of the day. Every morning, the Desde 1911 team meets and decides on the products and dishes that will be used and offered to the guests. A typical menu consists out an appetiser, a choice of 3 to 5 starters with lots of shellfish and crustaceans, a single fish as the main course (the best of all those that have entered Pescaderías Coruñesas that morning), followed by cheeses and/or desserts. The two latter are presented on impressive chariots in front of the guests, and the desserts are prepared in the dining room. To enjoy the fish & seafood at its best, Desde 1911 is committed to traditional craft techniques, with a special role for the wood-fired oven and the open grill in the kitchen. These are used to grill and cook the products to perfection, without letting the smoky flavor dominate.

Some highlights of our “menu of the day”:

• Ecological smoked salmon

• Asturias red mullet sashimi

• Quisquillas (small prawns) from Motril and sea urchin ceviche

• Grilled palomas red prawn

• Zucchini flower stuffed with Galician spider crab, baked in tempura and finished with pepper juice

• Cheese table

• Dessert trolley

Other great dishes from the menu included the Roses’ sea cucumber, egg yolk, pork jowl, artichoke and peas from El Maresme; Squid tartare with its ink sauce; Galician lobster “suquet”; “Our best fish of the day”, which was Ribera Bass in the wood oven, finished with sauce from the bones; and the delicious Petit-fours.

Example menu:

Service & Wine

The team of Desde1911 consists out of 20 people, led in the dining room by Abel Valverde and in the kitchen by Diego Murciego. Service is warm and professional, and craftsmanship and culinary pleasure are the common thread of what happens both in the dining rooms and in the kitchen.

Thanks to the agreements that the families have with several famous wine houses in Spain, the wine list at Desde1911 is really stunning. Guests can choose between 350 references, with prices ranging from 22 to 4,000 euros, and those prices are impressive (in the good sense). Several vintages are cheaper than you can buy them in stores (in certain countries), and many items on the menu are hard to find or cannot be bought anymore. If possible, try to sample one or more verticals or old vintages from an old Spanish winery. There is no real pairing available, but some wines are avabile by the glass.

Why go?

Product quality is what makes this places so unique. It is never compromised and there are few places in the world where the product can speak for itself so freely and straightforwardly. Rightly so, because at Desde 1911 you will taste some of the world’s best fish and shellfish in the plate, and impressive wines in hard-to-find vintages in the glass.