Day 1: Madrid

Arriving on a chilly morning in a mostly empty Plaza Mayor

Chocalatería San Ginés

Churros dipped in chocolate is actually a traditional breakfast. This place is the oldest near the Plaza Mayor. It was confusing because there were a million people (tourists and locals, or at least local tourists) in 15 different lines across three buildings. But it turned out all the lines got you the same thing — hot, crispy churros and semi-sweet melted dark chocolate. Good start to the day!

Wandering

Wandering around the Royal Palace and the Jardines del Campo del Moro .

EMi

Jumping in headfirst! My flight landed at 8am, and by 2:30 I’m sitting down for a 14 course tasting menu at EMi – a relatively new entrant to Madrid’s fine dining scene that quickly earned a Michelin star and has a lot of buzz.

There were no misses among the 14 courses, although some were a bit strange, like the cup of ancho chile broth with sage oil. I’d say the highlight were:

The “Singaporean” snack with white venison tartar, ginger and honey mustard (third photo above, with the flower on top)
Scallop with XO sauce, parsnip cream and crispy parsnips (photo 6)
The “takoyaki” with stuffed with wild boar and mushrooms and topped with demi glacé. Definitely not anything like a Japanese takoyaki. The printed menu (which I didn’t get until the end) describes it as a Aebleskiver, which I just looked up and it seems closer. I imagine translating from Danish to Spanish to English was difficult. Also, the server presenting the wine said that this was something the chef’s mother used to make when he was a child, which I… don‘t believe. Regardless, it tasted good!
Foie topped with lobster and duck broth (course 9)
Sea bream, cooked skin side down. Foam with pork belly and seaweed. Burre blanc with juice from white kimchi. Bread. Fancy butter. Award winning olive oil. (Course 10)

I did a wine pairing, so in addition to the 14 courses, there were 14 half pours of wine. I don’t know enough about wine to say anything intelligent about the wines, but there was quite a variety and they were all good in my opinion. Also, see above about the “buzz”.