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They’re not museums, but they feel like museums. For Madrid Art Week, which runs from 5 to 9 March, we’ve curated a selection of designer restaurants, bars and cafés where you can get stimulated and creatively inspired between exhibitions.
Bar FLUID
In the same space as the old YEITE cocktail bar, this new bar is now run by bartenders and entrepreneurs Marc Álvarez and Juanillo Falcón. In this fluid space, creativity is felt and expressed in different ways: both through plastic art and music, to connect with each of their works. Currently, customers can enjoy an abstract work that Rafa García has created for the venue. In the lounge, you can also find a backlit work by the Berlin artist Luis West.
FLUID’s menu features original drinks, such as the Pear and Sage drink, along with a tapas menu with dishes such as nori seaweed tempura or the speck sandwich with pesto and cheese.
Where? Conde Duque, 14, 28015.
Market at EDITION
The Market at EDITION restaurant at The Madrid EDITION hotel is accessed through a baroque portal designed by Pedro de Rivera. The concept of this innovative project revolves around its speciality: Spanish market cuisine, focusing on fresh, high quality ingredients sourced directly from local markets.
Each of its dishes is inspired by Spanish culinary traditions with an innovative twist reflected in dishes such as its Iberian ham croquettes, its bravas de market, its torreznos de soria or its fried aubergine chips. Dishes designed for sharing that coexist with other main dishes such as grilled sirloin steak with foie gras and celeriac purée with a port reduction. To end on a high note, we recommend choosing the Basque pistachio tart.
Where? Pl. de Celenque, 2.
Candela
The sacred temple of flamenco recently returned to Lavapiés with a contemporary ode to the arte jondo. The legendary Candela bar now presents itself as a combination of Madrid tavern, Andalusian tablao and Granaína cave decorated with works of art, sculptures and carnations that encapsulate its romantic and traditional aura, and visually stimulate its design that harmonises tradition and modernity. The acoustics of the venue have also been improved so that the music can be heard and felt better. So that it reaches the public more quickly.
All of them have joined forces to revive the bar and establish it as a new cultural reference point for flamenco and other disciplines that will end up resonating in the history of music. To achieve this, they decided to collaborate with the Hello Vebena team of interior designers and architects, with whom they restored some of the original elements of the bar, such as Miguel and his father’s iconic bulrush chairs, the green and white checkerboard floor and the walls full of old photographs that make up a generational portrait of the era.
Where? Olmo 2, 28012.
Los 33
The famous restaurant ‘Los 33’ stands out for the cuisine of its iconic chef Oswaldo González, and for its interior illuminated by fire and candles, among wooden beams and shelves with vinyl. This is the emerging project of the ideologists of the iconic Charrúa steakhouse and the guys from El Viajero, materialised in a design bar with high tables for snacking and a restaurant specialising in the art of grilling, where it is practically impossible to get a table.
On its stage, different scenes coexist throughout the day: from people sharing a coffee, to romantic dates enjoying a bikini and a Martini.
Where? Pl. de las Salesas, 9.
God Café
This trendy coffee shop or ‘work café’ that opened in late 2022 in Chamberí has two rooms, structured on two floors with high ceilings, full of natural light. It also offers a varied range of drinks with speciality coffees, matcha, smoothies, juices and delicious dishes such as toast, bagels, wraps and sandwiches.
GOD is also notable for its minimalist décor with retro influences, which can be glimpsed in its furniture where you can relax during Art Week.
Where? Galileo, 27 (Chamberí)
La Estrella
The devotion of the capital’s creative community to Chinchín’s liquid proposal and aesthetics also revolves around La Estrella, a cocktail bar created by the owners themselves, who have sheathed this space in beauty, blue velvet and eclectic works of art.
Amidst this nocturnal atmosphere, all the creative stars in attendance shine, as well as its solid menu designed by Giacomo Moroni with starters and pizza dishes, gildas and cocktails that dilute an infinite number of mixtures and flavours.
Where? Estrella, 3.
Pabblo
Pabblo is the design restaurant that in a very short time has attracted the whole of Madrid’s artistic and creative scene. Run by the Carbón Group, this restaurant is located in the Torre Picasso and is presented as the perfect symbiosis between Mediterranean gastronomy, cocktail versions and shows enlivened by the sounds of jazz or soul of its live band. A prelude that continues later with DJ sessions that transform the space into a club until well into the night.
From its ode to Mediterranean cuisine, you can work up an appetite with some of its star dishes such as its lobster salad, its croque-monsieur of prosciutto cotto au gratin or its carabinero fritters. From there, you can move on to a sumptuous banquet of French oysters served with different sauces to finish with one of its great dishes cooked in a wood-fired oven: lobster rice, together with one of its cocktails designed by its bartender Carlos Moreno.
Where? Pl. Pablo Ruiz Picasso 1.
Ikigai
Ikigai Velázquez’s designer igloo is presented as an enveloping space that transports us to New York in the 80s, inviting us to embark on a culinary journey that celebrates the ephemeral beauty of life through the exquisite flavours of the season. Chef Yong Wu Nagahira fuses Japanese tradition with creativity and his great passion for gastronomy.
The menu at Ikigai Velázquez is an ode to creativity and culinary excellence where you can find everything from starters such as Korokke with Wagyu jerky to main courses such as Landes duck magret, each mouthful is an explosion of carefully crafted flavours. All this is accompanied by a wine list with more than 175 references and 25 different sake proposals, for a complete and memorable gastronomic experience.
Where? Calle Velázquez, 136, 28006.
Thyssen
In the cafeteria of the Thyssen Museum of Contemporary Art they offer a culinary experience called ‘Art & Brunch’ to complement the art visit. But take note: it is only available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 1pm.
This brunch that activates all five senses, which can be enjoyed from its terrace, includes access to its permanent collection, the Carmen Thyssen collection, Proust and the arts, among many others. Consult the menu here
Where? P.º del Prado, 8, 28014.
Casa Salesas
In the heart of the Justicia neighbourhood, Madrid’s trendy gastronomic district, Manuel Campos and Iñigo Onieva have joined forces to open their own culinary space in the form of a bistro and cocktail bar. Based on an ‘all day long’ operation, they present a menu designed for an average ticket of 40 euros to present an exclusive experience but for all budgets; including elaborations such as bowls for healthy breakfasts, brunches at any time or reinterpreted classics of Spanish gastronomy along with other options such as salads, vegetables, pastas and grilled meats.
The interior design of the restaurant has been signed by the Lázaro Rosa-Violán studio, which has carried out other design projects such as that of DiverXO, and has decided to structure this new space by means of a two-floor layout differentiated between ‘restaurant’ and ‘cocktail bar’.
Where? Fernando VI, 6, 28004.
Younique Arts club
The art of fine dining can be experienced at YOUNIQUE Arts Club. With a refined and elegant atmosphere, immersed in the vibrant neighbourhood of Chueca, you can discover this ode to product and quality where art and gastronomy merge to elevate your experience.
In its restaurant you can put contemplative art into practice with temporary exhibitions that change depending on the season. Now, within the framework of @madriddesignf, @onlyyouhotels honours the legacy of José Antonio Coderch, one of the most influential architects and designers of our country. A unique and unrepeatable exhibition that invites you to immerse yourself in his creative universe. Discover his iconic designs edited by @tunds.es together with original sketches and historical documents.’
Where? Augusto Figueroa, 49, 28004.
ABYA
The ABYA restaurant has decided to enter fully into the art week by diluting three cocktails inspired by its works of art to celebrate ARCO. In addition, during the days that the fair takes place, it will offer guided tours -every day at 7pm and 8pm- to show the Palacio de Saldaña and its more than 100 works of art.
The cocktails designed by Abya’s Bar Manager, Alex García Vázquez, are De la Tierra, with Tequila Penca de Luz Blanco, beetroot juice, lime juice, peach soda and jasmine; Armonía, with vodka, fine green tomatillo (jalapeño) and spicy sauce; and a Long drink mixed by the client, with gin, lime, agave, ginger beer, raspberry cream, kiwi cream, mango cream and coconut cream.
Where? José Ortega y Gasset, 32, 28006.
