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The arrival of Santi Santamaria, presiding genius at the Recó de Can Fabes in Sant Celoni (Barcelona), is the icing on the cake of Madrid's restaurant boom. Santamaria's
cooking, like that of his deputy Oscar Velasco, who worked with him for years and now runs the Madrid end of the operation, is predicated on the quality of local raw materials. These are treated with maximum respect. Lobster from the Mediterranean coast is served simply grilled with a lemon-flavoured gratin, and accompanied with a scattering of the season' s first fresh peas from the Maresme. A cold poached egg is coated with an intensely concentrated puree of cauliflower and topped with oscietra caviar. Velasco's green salad, which includes green apple, pine nuts and
a generous shaving of black truffle, is as good an example of this much-maligned dish as any you will taste. The attention to detail is marvellous, yet somehow the soul of the
ingredients still shines through. The Gran Menu at €100, which changes each day depending on
available ingredients, is to be recommended as an expression of market cooking at its very best. Certain of Santamaria's signature dishes crop up regularly, however - notably the fabulous ravioli of sliced raw prawn with a filling of ceps.
The wine list, one of the best in town, takes particular pride in the new generation of Catalan wines from such denominaciones as Montsant, Costers del Segre and Empordà-Costa Brava. Sommelier David Robledo is happy to offer a selection of wines-by-the-glass to go with your chosen dishes.
The restaurant is housed in an annexe of the brand-new Hotel Hesperia, and shares the modern design style of the hotel with its hi-tech materials, natural textures and muted colours. The atmosphere in the dining room, with its battalions of besuited male waiters, may seem a little forbidding at first. As the waves of aperitivos begin to arrive, however, this impression fades into a sense of serenity and relaxation. You are in safe hands.
CONTACT
Santceloni, Hotel Hesperia, Paseo de la Castellana 57 (00 34 91 210 8840). Open noon-4pm, 9pm-11pm. Closed Sat lunch, Sun, and August. Menu degustación €85 per person
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