Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Global Traditions
194
Casa Lucio
The Soul of Old Madrid
Madrid, Spain
This place looks like it has been around
forever—a cozy cellar haunt with rounded
brown brick arches, whitewashed plaster
walls, copper lanterns casting a yellow
glow, a line of cured hams hanging over
the bar, and a warren of small dining
rooms with close-set simple tables. In fact,
Lucio Blázquez opened his antique-looking
tasca
on this narrow street as recently as
1974, but his talent for schmoozing has
made his namesake restaurant an neigh-
borhood fixture where movers and shak-
ers love to relax over a meal of deeply
traditional Castilian food. You may still
spot Blázquez circulating around the
tables, genially greeting his guests, who
have included the king of Spain himself.
Service is so deft you won't even notice
it, and the menu strikes a great balance
between interesting regional specialties
and a reliable list of old Spanish classics
like suckling pig, tripe, Jabugo ham with
broad beans, shrimp in garlic sauce, hake
with green sauce, several types of roasted
lamb, the chickpea-and-sausage stew
called
cochido,
and a thick steak called
churrasco de la casa,
served sizzling hot
on a heated platter. The restaurant's most
famous dish, however, is something sur-
prisingly modest:
huevos estrellados,
liter-
ally “broken eggs” mixed with fried
potatoes, a sloppy and utterly soul-satisfy-
ing meal. Simple as it seems, it's almost
impossible for anyone to make it quite as
good as Casa Lucio, though cooks all over
Madrid have tried.
Laid back as it seems, unshowy as the
food is, Casa Lucio still isn't cheap, not by
any means. This is one of Madrid's most
sought-after dining spots, and you'll pay
Dining at Casa Lucio in Madrid is a quintessentially
Spanish experience.
for the privilege of dining here. But for top-
quality ingredients expertly cooked, reci-
pes that have stood the test of time, and
the reassuring sense of well-being this
place instills in you, it's worth it. Like a lot
of things in conservative Madrid, it's more
about tradition than trendiness, and more
about substance than show. You may also
want to check out the tapas across the
street at the casual sister restaurant
Tab-
erna los Huevos de Lucio
(Cava Baja 30;
&
34/91/366-2984
); next door there's also
