Booty’s Nephew
Sobrino de Botín Restaurant, in Madrid, Spain
The Sobrino de Botín, in Madrid, is full of legends, ghosts and priceless works of art, which make it a living museum. As befits it, the food is also quite good — and doesn’t need to be hidden beneath other flavors.
Legend has it that the 18th century romantic painter Francisco Goya There he worked as a loader.
Ernest Hemingway placed the final scene of The Sun Also Rises on a table in an upstairs dining room, and the signatures of Spanish kings over the centuries decorate one of the walls.
There is also, without a shadow of a doubt, a ghost in the wine cellar.
O Booty’s Nephewby the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest restaurant in the world, has just celebrated 300 years of a sparkling story.
Opened in 1725 in the center of Madrid, it is the restaurant in operation continuous for the longest time on record: kept the soldiers fed during the Spanish Civil War and, when the world was confined during the Covid-19 pandemic, he continued to light the flames of his 300-year-old oven every day.
But this upscale home, known affectionately as Bootsis not revered for its sophisticated cuisine. On the contrary: the food, especially the famous slow roasted suckling pigwhich Hemingway’s characters requested, and his classic style are, on purpose, simple.
“To Casa Botín It’s about traditional flavors. We lasted this long because we have great respect for authenticity”, he says. Antonio Gonzalezthird generation co-owner, at .
Located in the historic neighborhood of Austrias and on Calle de Cuchilleros, a tree-lined street whose name refers to the knife manufacturers who, as early as the 17th century, sold their products to local butchers, the first thing that catches your eye at Botín It’s your brick facade do Botín.
The four-story building, originally a private housedates from at least 1590, shortly after Philip II transferred the court to Madrid.
In the 18th century, a man named Candido Remis He kept the building and opened a tavern, naming it Sobrino de Botín, or “Botín’s nephew”. The French cook Jean BotínRemis’s famous uncle by affinity, had worked at the Habsburg court.
At the time, the restaurants were very different of today’s establishments. The Botín it was a food housemade to welcome tired merchants and traders who sold their goods in the nearby Plaza Mayor market, just outside the city walls.
“There is a myth that people feared that if taverns served food, the men would never come homewith their wives”, the culinary anthropologist tells Smithsonian Floriana Gennari.
To eat at a food house, travelers brought their own ingredients and the cook prepared their meal. Only in the 19th century did Botín become a confectionery and, later, finally started calling itself a restaurantfollowing the new style of dining in France, marked by table service and a more refined menu — a luxury reserved for the upper class.
“In truth, they made pastries and sweets before focusing on suckling pig and in the meats of the land”, explains Gennari.
Botín remained in the Remis family until 1930, when it was sold to González’s grandparents, Amparo Martín and Emilio González. They started with 7 employees. In 300 years of history, Botín belonged to only two families. “This is a huge responsibility,” admits González.
Enter a living museum
Above the discreet entrance, small balconies attract attention. “One of them is departure because of the shrapnel of the Civil War Spanish”, says the historian and guide Alfonso Muñozfrom Walks, the only company that simultaneously offers a behind-the-scenes visit and a meal with a Botín expert.
Upon entering the dining room on the ground floor, we immediately encountered a head waiter who, in detail, “plays the Spanish violin”, local expression for the art of carving a leg of Iberian ham.
A few steps further, it is impossible not to peek into the room where some of the 20 thousand piglets served annually customers are placed on platters, ready to enter the wood-fired granite oven that burns non-stop — practically a living artifact. González says the restaurant serves about 800 customers a day, roasting around 60 whole piglets daily and 20 sheep.
As you go down the wooden steps to the wine cellardamp and musty smelling, the oldest part of the building, it is as if we were crossing a non-tempo portal. There are traces of the old bakery and dining tables with white linen tablecloths on one side and the other of the large brick room with arches. At the extreme, there is a secret passage.
Anyone who has the courage to enter that claustrophobic space will find bottles covered in a black fluffy moldfed by humidity, and a hidden door to a tunnel that once connected the city.
Muñoz explains that these tunnels gave easy access to merchants to introduce goods, but they also served much darker ends. “We know that, during the reign of Fernando VII, in the 19th century, it was here that liberals persecuted by the government and the Inquisition hid”, he says.
E This is also where the ghost remainsadds Muñoz. Legend has it that the spectral presence is that of a disgruntled customer who broke dishes and is condemned to remain forever in Botín’s cellar, as penance.
But it’s not just ghosts that visit Botín. If we go up the stairs maybe we’ll be lucky enough to sit down on Chimy. “Botín has a important relationship with writers”, says González.
Com royalty, political figures and celebrities in the honor book, the guest list sounds like the red carpet: the spanish royal familya, King Hussein of Jordan, Jackie Kennedy, Henry Kissinger and actors from Antonio Banderas to Catherine Zeta-Jones have already broken bread there.
On one wall, there is a framed letter from Nancy Reagan and the famous painting The Royal City of Madridby Russian artist Pierre Schild. The work depicts the old Royal Alcázar of Madrid before the fortress burned down in 1734, and is considered one of the most faithful paintings of the city at that time.
The strong dish
The story and art are just part of the plot. You simple disheswith Spanish and Moorish inspiration — garlic prawns, squid, partridge and seasonal gazpacho, among others — are more based on freshness and quality than in heavy spices, and have stood the test of time.
Much of the original menu remains. “Many restaurants in Spain have started to modernize and innovate, and there is a big movement towards fusion cuisine“, says Gennari. Botín’s culinary choices stand out for follow the opposite path.
Until the 1960s, dictator Francisco Franco kept Spain isolated from global influences, which made it hard to find eclectic and spicy food. Instead, the basis of Spanish cuisine is based on unassuming dishes and high standards.
There are ingredients of the best possible quality and recipes handed down over the centuries, but There is nothing whipped, foamed or emulsified in Botín. The restaurant continues to follow this philosophy. “The idea is that if the food is fresh, it doesn’t need to be hidden beneath other flavors,” says Gennari.
This year, the restaurant took a leap into the digital age with a renewed image, including a new logo. There’s a special 300th anniversary menu, featuring some of the most iconic dishes, including baby eel, and new cocktails. “The menu has adapted without losing its identity,” says Muñoz.
As the family looks ahead, there are things that won’t change, like the famous oven, pride of the house. It has maintained a constant temperature for centuries, because any fluctuation can cause cracks, keeping the flames burning without ever letting them go out: “We stole fire from the gods”, says González, in reference to the Greek myth of Prometheus, who offered fire to humans.
The metaphor is revealing. To join Botín is to witness the evolution of human innovation and the radical creativity required to remain relevant in a globalized world and constantly changing.
González, his family and the next generation are ready for the challenge. They know that today’s success does not guarantee tomorrow’s. But González makes one thing clear: “Botín has its own personality, and it has to continue like this”.
