Have you heard of Varra? It is the new fashionable food house on the outskirts of Serrano Street in Madrid. A high-end restaurant, we must emphasize, where there is no shortage of linen tablecloths, pedigreed cuisine and a visible wine cellar that houses hundreds of well-chosen references. Located on the first floor of the very chic Varrafina tavern, it is an almost secret dining room, with just six tables, which has become a favorite of gourmets who frequent the Salamanca neighborhood since its opening.
The names of both establishments can cause confusion, so let me clarify. Varrafina has nothing to do with that other wonderful illustrated tavern called Barra Alta run by the restless Barcelonan Daniel Roca just a stone’s throw from the Retiro. As for Varra, it is also not related to the star restaurant A’Barra that the ham businessman José Gómez and his partners manage in the vicinity of El Viso.
No, here we are talking about the dual proposal (informal below, formal above) well put together by two professionals with stripes like Jorge Velasco (former Ramón Freixa) and Joaquín Serrano (former Celler de Can Roca), who have recently been joined by the renowned maitre-sommelier Juanma Galán, after officiating in recent years at Estimar Madrid. With the appropriate reservations made, let’s go to what is eaten in both places and, more particularly – due to the novelty – on the main floor at number 7 Hermosilla Street.
If the bustling Varrafina has become a parish of followers of the ham croquettes, the patatas bravas, the Palamós prawn toast, the aged picaña steak tartare, the unparalleled crispy ear in two cookings or that potato omelet skewer which inevitably sells out mid-morning, in the quiet Varra our protagonists have wanted to put the emphasis on seasonal recipes and stews with long hours of cooking. Hence, by the way, those tasty funds that, on rare occasions, can become excessive. But mange gladly does not itch.
“Such is the success of the shrimp toast, the steak tartare and the ear, that they have had no choice but to incorporate them into the restaurant’s menu, although modified, to mark the differences. They have added lemon grass and ginger to the shrimp, which give it a fresh and casual touch. The steak tartare is accompanied with an emulsion of pigeon and truffle pâté. And the ear with caviar instead of brava sauce, a more than controversial decision,” explains Alberto Luchini in 7 Caníbales. “These snacks serve as a link and allow us to fully immerse ourselves in the restaurant’s menu. A menu in which seasonal vegetables, strong, consistent, tasty and very well-crafted backgrounds and academic sauces (bearnaise, hollandaise…) are the main protagonists, in dishes that never include more than three or four ingredients. There is cooking here, a lot of cooking.”
With these phrases written down by my colleague, I went expectantly to Varra, but not before duly reserving the table, since the capacity of the place is rather limited. And there we put ourselves in the hands of Galán so that he would give us food and drink according to the canons of the house. If you have never visited the ground floor, let us know so we can include some of your most popular bites as an appetizer on the improvised menu. And then indulge in a succession of highly comforting vegetables and stews.
In our case, the obligatory prawn canapé and the sumptuous ear were not missing – I have to go back downstairs to eat tapas without hesitation -, before concentrating on hearty dishes such as the delicate Maresme peas sautéed on the grill with escudella broth, the succulent candied artichoke with foie soup and smoked eel and a very curious chard with carbonara and cocochas. Flavors that demand wines with character in the glass. And the establishment’s recent wine cellar is not badly stocked with that, with a wide selection of generous wines served by the glass.
In the dessert section, the semi-candied apples with sherry and dairy products are of undeniable originality, as are the pears with wine and celeriac. But the creamy egg flan with cheese and chantilly – cooked for two hours at 80 degrees and resting overnight – wins by a landslide, having already entered my top 5 of capital flans.
For another time I brought with me dishes such as stewed cauliflower cream with hazelnut butter and porrusalda; onion soup with puff pastry, smoked Idiazabal cheese and truffle; pig’s trotters with tripe juice; Bresse pigeon with cauliflower and kale cream; the beans with pheasant and trumpets of the dead… We will have to return.
