5/3/2008

Do you ever feel like you need to add a teaspoon of sugar to life? Sometimes I wish I could walk around with a little spoon of sugar, just mix it into the negativity that sometimes pollutes my airwaves... Maybe that's not so much wishful thinking... In fact, Madrid is filled with places that have fabulous recipes for adding a spoonful of sugar to life... Here is a list of my favourite dessert spots:

For splurging:

Piu di Prima: I begin with the luscious Piu di Prima, my favourite Italian in the city. It is a luxury meal if you know what I mean, but just the tiramisù is worth it. Tiramisù, by the way, means “lift me up” in Italian...

Hortaleza 100, 28004
91 308 33 72

Viridiana: Patricia Wells from the Herald Tribune, is quoted saying that "eating in Viridiana is like a rollercoaster ride"... This is a luxury restaurant, and the menu changes according to the day's and week's best ingredients. Abraham Garcia is the amazing chef, and I can't imagine any of his desserts ever disappointing...
But if you're lucky enough to go on a day that he serves homemade cuajada, my favourite Spanish dessert, you might be tempted to rethink your entire relationship with dairy
Juan de Mena, 14 / 28014 Madrid
viridiana@restauranteviridiana.com
Tel • 915 234 478

Sake: A great Japanese restaurant. Exquisite in the details. And a funky rice cake filled with vanilla ice cream and strawberry jam dessert. Delicious.
Tamayo y Baus, 1.
91 360 50 13

For everyday treats:
La Paninoteca D'E - Sergi Arola is a star chef in Spain. If you're not ready to splurge on going to try his inventions at La Broche, just sneak into his luxury sandwich shop, and try one of my favourite renditions of the famous melting chocolate cake dessert in the city... You know, the one that the chocolate melts inside the little round cake, and the spoonful combination with vanilla ice cream reminds you that hot and cold, dark and light, are made to mix...
Calle de Velázquez, 32 - 28001 Madrid
91 426 38 16 Metro: Retiro

Delic Cafe: The Delic has the best, without a doubt, the best, seriously, the best cakes in the city... Their carrot cake with cream cheese frosting... Make you go hmmmm!!!.....
Costanilla de San Andres 14,
91 364 54 50, metro Latina

Ecocentro: If you are a dairy free, sugar free, wheat free food lover like me, the Ecocentro is your Mecca in Madrid. The best vegan and vegetarian desserts in the city... My favourite: Bavaroise de fresas con su espuma y helado de queso de cabra. Yum.
Esquilache,2,4,6. Near Avd. Pablo Iglesias,2
91 553 5502 28003 Madrid
Metro Rios Rosas,Canal,Cuatro Caminos

and finally...
Zara: the best Cuban restaurant, cozy, homey, and the food is so good, I'm not going to tell you where it is, you'll have to find it yourself... You can't reserve at the Zara, first come first served, and we'd like to keep it that way... Anyway, they have a talent for picking fruit here, and the sliced mango dish, or the prepared pineapple, are both a reminder that mother nature always beats out any of our human inventions... So is their frozen strawberry daiquiri... But that's a story for another trippy diary....