Two Turkeys in Spain - Part I: Where They Stayed, Ate and Drank

On a whim, we decided to take a trip over Thanksgiving to take advantage of the short work week.  Our criteria:  a non-stop flight from DFW and somewhere we had never been before.  The result:  Madrid, Spain. 

Arrival

We arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport which I highly recommend.  After flying overnight for 10+ hours, getting in a fight about how to get a train or cab or quite frankly how to even get out of the airport is no way to start a vacation!  Most hotel desks will arrange this for you in advance and charge it to your room. 

The international terminal at the Madrid airport is new and very well done.  Even in our zombie like state, we were able to find our way to the tram, through customs and out to baggage claim with no problem.  I'm not sure if this is due to an arrangement with American Airlines or if we unknowingly entered the country illegally but there was no customs or immigration paperwork to complete upon landing.  We simply showed the immigration officer our passports then we were on our way. 

Hotel

We stayed at the Westin Palace Hotel which is located across from the Prado Museum.  The Palace is a beautiful building with lots of history (including a Starbucks for the less historically inclined).  The prices were comparable to other luxury hotels and the location was about four blocks from the Atocha train station (the main one in Madrid) and within easy walking distance to Plaza Sta. Ana, Puerto del Sol and if you are ambitious, Plaza Mayor. 



Westin Palace Madrid



You also get a "free" cup of coffee each day which is far more civilized than the Keurig one-cup you find in most U.S. hotels.  Simply call down to the front desk and within minutes a full coffee service appears, complete with a silver service and fine china.

Even if you don't eat there (which we did not), you must see the stained glass dome of La Rotonda restaurant which is located immediately up the stairs from the lobby.  It is breathtaking.  

The Bar Palace at the hotel is also a great place for a drink before or after dinner (or as in our case...both!).  They have a great selection of spirits and know how to make most traditional American cocktails.  The dark wood interior and plush couches create the perfect upscale yet comfortable ambiance.

Most of the staff at the Palace speaks English and the concierge desk is one of the best we have encountered in our travels.  They did try and send us to a couple of "touristy"restaurants (i.e. Hard Rock) but once we told them we wanted to experience places they might go themselves, they suggested some great things to see and do.

Restaurants and Bars

If you are used to a set meal schedule, it may take you some time to adjust to Spanish eating.  Breakfast can be a quick muffin or pastry with lunch being a longer affair that usually involves wine (at least in our case it did).  Many shops and businesses close for siesta from 2pm to 5pm so workers can go eat but this is not as common in central Madrid as it is in some of the smaller outlying towns.  Dinners typically do not start until after 9pm.  No wonder everyone needs a nap the next day!

So much pork, so little time

Tapas restaurants are everywhere.  If you aren't familiar with tapas, it's basically a variety of hot and cold appetizer sized portions and often includes olives, manchego cheese, ham and potato cakes.  Iberico ham is very popular and in fact, there is even a restaurant chain called Museo de Jamon.   

Two of our favorite tapas restaurants were located in Plaza Sta. Ana.  Lateral is located closest to the Melia Hotel and has indoor and outdoor seating.  There are heat lamps and blankets in case you get chilly.  Slightly off of the square on Calle de Manual Fernandez y Gonzalez is a great little place called La Trucha.  The artichoke hearts were sauteed in the perfect blend of olive oil, salt and garlic.  So simple but so, so good!



Sangria in Plaza Sta. Ana



Plaza Santa Ana is overall a great place to go any night of the week.  There are lots of bars surrounding the plaza with Thursday through Saturday nights being busiest.  If you are looking for a great place to sample Spanish wines, try Vinoteca Barbechera.  They offer flights of different varietals and have a nice selection of tapas to pair with the wine.  The furnishings are made out of old wine casks which adds an extra flair to the experience.

We also went to Sabrino de Botin which claims to be the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world. I'm glad we went from a historical standpoint but if you are looking for a culinary experience, there are better options.  Suckling pig is what they are most well known for so we got that as well as sauteed artichokes.  Both were good...not great. 

Hands down, the best meal we had was at Pandelujo which is located in the upscale Salamanca neighborhood.  It is a very modern restaurant with a hip vibe that is felt before you even walk in the door.  During the warm months, the doors open to a patio with several "ponds" complete with giant rubber duck statues.  Even in the winter months, it is a very unusual and fun setting.  If you try nothing else in Madrid, try the grilled Iberian pork at Pandelujo.  It is definitely in the top five pork dishes I've ever had and believe me, there have been a bunch!



Come Priva

 By our last night, we had grown tired of tapas and Spanish style cuisine and we wanted Italian.  We found this awesome little place right off of the Plaza Sta. Ana called Come Prima.  It is very small with about ten tables overall.  The pasta was made fresh, the bread was amazing and it was the most reasonably priced meal we had in Madrid.  In fact, it was hard to believe we were in Spain and not Italy. 

The biggest surprise about Madrid was the cost of food and wine.  We found everything to be quite reasonable compared to other major cities.  While we don't eat at the most expensive place in town every night, if we have flown 5,000 miles to get somewhere we are certainly going to enjoy ourselves.   Our average lunch (including a bottle of wine) was around $40 US each day and dinner was a little higher at around $60 US.  The wines were reasonable and surprisingly good especially for the price. 

On a final note, several have asked if we found a place that served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  While a little surprised by the question since it isn't a particularly big day for Spaniards, our hotel did have a flyer about a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  So, I guess if you are in Madrid on Thanksgiving Day and can't live without dried out turkey and canned cranberry mold, you can find it! 

Barton G's Miami - More kitsch than kitchen but still worth it

I love to go out to eat and I am always reading up on new restaurants and visiting as many as I can.   While in Miami recently, we were looking for a fun place to go with another couple. After doing my usual research, I discovered a place I had not heard of despite it's being in existence for ten plus years.

Barton G. Weiss is described as an "event concept designer" and the website for his restaurant Barton G's claims to provide "an experience like no other".  It seems like every decent restaurant I go to these days is promising "an experience like no other" so needless to say, I was a bit skeptical about this one.

We showed up a few minutes early for our 8:45 reservation and the walk up appeal of the restaurant is immediate.  The host stand is located at the entrance of a tropical garden dining area with white lights running throughout.  There is also a smaller inside dining room that is decorated in a very crisp but comfortable manner.  We asked to be seated outside and we didn't even make it to our table before we had our first "experience".

A table of four was enjoying their dessert of a chocolate fountain at their table.  Why did this stop us in our tracks?  Well, this was a two foot tall fountain...the kind you would expect in Texas instead of Florida.  They were dipping mega-sized marsh mellows (the size of the Stay Puff Marsh Mellow man's fingers), pineapple, cherries, cakes and more in the chocolate.  There was so much to dip they began handing skewers out to other patrons.

Once we realized we were gawking and holding up traffic, we moved on to our table.  The discussion was "Wow, dessert looks pretty cool, let's make sure we save room" but we didn't really think much more than that.

Our server did a nice job of describing the menu...just like they do at every other restaurant.  He gave very detailed descriptions of what the food is and how it's prepared but was radio silent on anything else.  **SPOILER ALERT**  If you want to be surprised as well, don't read any further, book your table and go have fun.  For those of you who might not be on adult spring break in South Beach any time soon and want to hear more...

I started with the Tipsy Tuna which was a fun name to describe the tuna crudo marinated in vodka.  My husband choose Boarnie Madoff's Bucket of Bones which made us laugh and was pretty much exactly what it sounds like...an assortment of legs, wings and drumsticks of animals you might find in a small zoo.  Our friends ordered Lobster Pop-Tarts and Crispy Voodoo Shrimp Rolls which may have had slightly more boring names but believe me, were far from boring.

Tipsy Tuna

First up...Tipsy Tuna.  Had I realized what was in store for me, I would have taken a camera so you could actually see what the dish looked like but here's a picture from my iPhone.  The tuna was in small pieces with lots of fresh cilantro and great color.  In an airplane mini bottle was the "tipsy" portion of the dish which was a refreshing combination of vodka, cucumber water and sesame that complemented the tuna perfectly.  It was all served in a bottle shaped dish "suspended" on a piece of rope.  Visually this was a very interested and pretty presentation but nothing too over the top

Lobster Pop Tart and
Crispy Voodoo Shrimp Rolls

Our friends got their appetizers next.  We weren't expecting the toaster that the Lobster Pop Tarts were served in or the smoking "cocktail" sauce that accompanied the shrimp rolls and it was at that point we realized we were in fact in store for the "experience" that had been promised so many times before but never really delivered.

Boarnie Madoff

Each dish is presented in a unique and fun way and Barton G's does a very nice job of staggering the presentation of each dish so you can discover each one individually.

After the appetizers, we weren't sure what to expect next.  Everyone opted for seafood entrees.

One Potato, Two Potato was a good take on sea bass but other than the potato pierogi, the accompaniments were hard to identify.  It seemed like someone had gotten a good deal on the 24" potato peeler rising from the plate and the chef just tried to come up with something to match it rather than vice versa.

One Potato, Two Potato
(and some REALLY big peelers)

The other seafood dish was Lured by Grouper.  It came with a two foot tall fishing lure but the lobster tater tots were the most alluring thing on this plate.  Big, flavorful and cooked perfectly...we wished we were still five years old so we could just have the tater tots for dinner.

One of the other fun things we saw go by with the chicken entree was a knights helmet complete with a feather plume.  It is interesting how many seemingly normal people will put that thing on their head.

Chocolate Indulgence

Dessert was a treasure...literally.  We ordered the Chocolate Indulgence and that is certainly what we got.  A small treasure chest arrived at the table with a chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream set upon graham cracker "sand" complete with gold bouillon.  It was good (what chocolate dessert isn't) but once again, the presentation won out.

A couple of others things of interest.  If you are looking for a great wine experience at Barton G's you will be disappointed.  The selection is limited and the price points suggest that they think the list is a little more inspired than it really is.  Most of the alcohol energy is clearly directed towards the speciality cocktails that we saw going by in clouds of smoke and bubbles.  They also claim to not accept children after 6:30.  Unless the people next to us had two hours of cocktails (which is certainly understandable), this is not the case.  The cute little girl we saw when we sat down soon became the screaming child from hell for the next hour.

All in all, this was one of the most enjoyable dining experiences I have had in a while.  If you are in Miami and are looking for something a little different, check out Barton G's.  If you are in Los Angeles, he is opening a restaurant in West Hollywood this year.