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L’Entrecote Café de París is now celebrating its first decade in Madrid with a new opening in the Chamberí neighbourhood, marking another milestone for the legendary Parisian bistro that generated a cult following for the world’s most famous entrecote. But first, let’s delve into the keys to the success of this gastronomic institution, taking a throwback to where it all began.
The bistro’s story begins in 1930, when Monsieur Boubier and his wife, owners of the restaurant Le Coq d’Or in Geneva, Switzerland, cooked up the magic formula: their iconic sauce that would end up captivating countless diners around the world.
It was the parents who passed on the sauce recipe to their daughter, who then married Arthur-François Dumont, owner of the Café de Paris restaurant, also in Geneva, and passed on the unusual recipe to him.
A single dish on the menu
Since 1942, having seen the impact generated by the proposal itself, Dumont decided to centralise his proposal to a single dish: a piece of filleted beef with sauce, served on a silver platter.
En los restaurantes instalados en la capital madrileña, que evocan el interiorismo y la estética de un auténtico bistró francés, con grandes espejos cubriendo las paredes, monumentales lámparas de cristal, y todo el romanticismo que lo envuelve, se puede solicitar precisamente ese menú por 24€.
Aunque de manera previa al inicio del ritual, los camareros proponen varios tipos de cocción de la carne: Bleu, Saignant, A Point, Rose y Bien Cuit. La fuente viene acompañada de un panecillo de estilo payés, una ensalada y patatas fritas artesanales.
The secret sauce
If there has been one thing for which Café de París has stood out, it has been its sauce, which has eclipsed visitors since it opened its doors in Madrid a decade ago by entrepreneur Pablo Caruncho, who is now directing the opening of his third establishment in the capital.
The legend suspended in the mysticism of its butter sauce with 24 other secret ingredients, which no chef has been able to recreate, remains codified to this day.
In this sense, not even the chefs in the restaurants have been able to decipher it, and so every day they receive the sauce from the original Café de Paris entrecote from Geneva, which is flown in early in the morning to arrive on time at the table.
The new opening
The restaurant located at number 13 Eduardo Dato Street joins its two establishments in Madrid, located in Conde de Aranda and Félix Boix, and another establishment on the Benabola quay in Marbella; all synchronised in the same line as its original in Geneva, sharing the identity, the menu, as well as that evocative aesthetic and its design elements such as the checkerboard floor or the burgundy leather benches.
The kitchen, with uninterrupted opening hours, will allow you to enjoy at any time of the day its famous dishes to be paired with its selection of national and French wines, to which you can add the icing on the cake with delicious desserts such as Crème Brulée or Crêpe Suzette.
