No wedding is just any one, but José Luis Martínez Almeida y Teresa Urquijo It is, if possible, the least any on this calendar. You can almost hear the bells of the Jesuit church of San Francisco de Borja, a neo-baroque temple in the Salamanca neighborhood that sealed the love between the mayor of Madrid and the young woman of noble birth. Applause at the door, bouquet in the air, congratulations, slaps; and after throwing the rice, it’s time to think about it in a different way. Food.
They have not wanted to take risks and have delegated the responsibility of the gastronomic section, as well as the decoration, to one of those restaurants that do not fail. Lhardy, property of Pescaderas Coruesas, feed the ceremony guests; challenge that, as difficult as it may seem for such a luxurious offer, is on the roadmap of their services: Celebrating a wedding is a unique event in which not a single aspect should be left uncared for. We offer a complete service to organize your wedding, from food and drinks to decoration.
From Proust to Almeida: two centuries of history
The first time Lhardy opened its doors in Madrid, the reunifications of Italy and Germany had not yet been completed, Queen Isabel II of Spain was 9 years old and there was a century before the Second World War broke out. It was in 1839next to Plaza del Sol.
Almeida’s nuptials are one more event and that, as we know, is not just any one: already in 1841 hosted the baptism of the Marquis of Salamanca. Inside, Alfonso XII met with the Duke of Sesto and within these walls intellectuals such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre o Marcel Proust. The personalities who have passed through this restaurant constitute a kind of historical walk of fame that compiles summits from different fields, very different from each other, all gathered between four walls and ready to eat. Madrid stew. Its culinary heart continues to beat in the heart of San Jerónimo, the artery of the traditional urban heart.
A cooked Madrid full of names
The restaurant has five different menus, to which we must add another four: the cooked men, the children’s, the cocktail and the breakfast. Of all of them, it is the cocido that has the most tradition of all its offerings, the most popular among its diners and its star option. This menu is presented as follows: The cocido madrileo, fundamental dish of our gastronomy, it is the result of the history of the citygrouping the best products and flavors from each area to create a popular and unique dish that represents the people of Madrid.
It is a soup with angel hair noodles, chickpeas from Brunete, from our farm, cabbage and carrots from Carabaa, potatoes from Granja de los Monjes, chorizo from León, black pudding from the Arn Valley, truffled sausage from Euskal Txerri pigs, Iberian bacon from Huelvacrispy Iberian ear with brava sauce, Iberian rib from Sierra de Villuercas and stuffed with cooked old clothes. With so many nicknames, one thinks that if it is customary to say that Madrid is a city characterized by making its population a family of Spaniards who come from other cities, it is because, precisely, stew exists.
All this is accompanied with a breath For dessert, a welcome appetizer and a kidney croquette or barquette. For drinks, as in the other menus, water, beer and soft drinks, the so-called Oloroso and luxurious options of white and red wine.
The wedding menu
And what will Almeida, Urquijo and company eat. The disbursement for the catering has amounted to a total of 90,000 euros, the meaning of which becomes more tangible than the gotel when visualizing that the expense per head is 175 euros. The catering has a cocktail of six different varieties, coming from the choice that the couple had to make between 31 different skewers. Highlights here are the cheek samosas with yogurt and mint cream, tuna tataki in marmitako, hake cococha in green sauce and the legendary croquettes (ham, idiazbal and carabinero). And, without a doubt, the most famous live skewer grillwhich will have everything from Santurce sardines to octopus legs.
The classic. First, second and dessert. After the starters, after having opened their mouths and to begin to carry out the vital function of nutrition more seriously, they have had to choose between 25 proposals ranging from salads to creams and consommé, from lasagna and ravioli to their famous roast Cantabrian lobster. As for the second, it is almost a fact that the option they have opted for has been the sirloin It seems that Proust’s champagne sole remains in the past; and as far as dessert is concerned, the sweet options are elevated by a Caramelized French toast with rice pudding soup and rabe tart. There is also a mini-burger dinner and a 9-hour open bar, which breaks the previous classic and select trend and gives meaning to what the body asks for after listening to that song that you didn’t remember existed.
The tentacles of Pescaderas Coruesas
The Lhardy tradition must be understood under the history of Pescaderas Coruesas, a company that was formally born when The company Lamigueiro y Jov was registered in the Mercantile Registry of La Corua. The share capital then was 200,000 pesetas, which today would be 1,200 euros. It was October 15, 1911.
Today its tentacles reach the capital from the Galician coast through several restaurants: The Palaceon Reina Mercedes Street; The fishermanin the area José Ortega y Gasset; Filandnon the Fuencarral-El Pardo highway; Lhardy Cateringon Vivero Street; Since 1911, also on Vivero Street and next to the previous location; and the aforementioned Lhardy of the San Jernimo race.
Proust, as far as is known, only took sole in the last one.
