Ávila, gastronomic destination. In just two and a half years, the walled city, both inside and outside the walls, has awakened with the arrival of new chefs eager to conquer the world and add value to the culinary scene. “We have to thank Carlos (Casillas), who decided to open a restaurant like Barro in the capital Avila, with haute cuisine objectives, and also Caleña (the restaurant located in the President’s House and managed by chef Diego Sanz),” explains Guzmán Sánchez de la Parra, head of the kitchen and partner of the Vereda restaurant (Ávila).
It was the last to settle – it opened on October 30th – in the same street where, among others, the stars Barro and El Almacén also live, the house where he worked as a chef and where he learned to prepare classic dishes and cuisine. Previously, he studied at the Hotel School of Ávila and did an internship in Zalacaín (Madrid), where he understood the importance of seasonal cuisine. He also visited the Fontecruz (Ávila) and Incosol (Marbella) hotels.
He readily admits that he has not worked in any Michelin-starred restaurants. He’s not too worried either: what this 36-year-old from Avila has always wanted is to cook to be happy. Nine years ago he opened La Querencia, a small restaurant in Villanueva de Ávila, with market cuisine, with the air of a village bar, the kind that serves breakfast in the early morning and drinks at midnight. He maintains his headquarters there, with a moving team and a loyal clientele who order his classics: the socarrat with bacon, mushrooms and quail, the pepper and partridge salad or the low-temperature goat.
“My body asked me for more,” she says. A year ago he began to entertain the idea of settling in Ávila, in the very place where he ended up. To do this he collaborated with Rodrigo Acebes, a businessman linked to the hospitality sector and owner of the building. The place is warm and welcoming, spread over two levels, with the lights shining directly on the eight tables, where around thirty diners can sit. As soon as you cross the threshold, a large wooden table displays a bowl of chestnuts and a selection of five cheeses covered in glass domes. The kitchen, open onto the living room, is the soul of the space: the customer can observe how some chard stalks are peeled. “Here there are no open jars, no fourth or fifth courses,” underlines the chef. It is the message he wants to convey: “Artichokes are eaten now, not in summer. We respect the temporality of the products.”
His obsession is taking care of details. Get involved in everyday cooking, applying current techniques without them being barely noticeable. Of course, he warns that there is no avant-garde here: he avoids spherifications and boasts of proximity and product. He avoids the tasting menu because he wants the diner to choose what he wants from a menu with a repertoire of around twenty dishes, which changes practically every day. Now, for example, prepare a grilled red mullet on a long reduction broth, made with the bones themselves and mixed with sobrasada (16 euros). All portions are individual, although they can be shared between two diners. This autumn several recipes promise to become protagonists: lasagna with venison ragù white beer —sauce emulsified with butter, white wine and shallots—(14 euros); the classic pâté crout (9 euros); mushroom trotters (19 euros); sea bass with pork pringá and cauliflower (24 euros); and pear tarts with red wine or chocolate and ginger grenache (9 euros each).
Croquette lovers will be able to enjoy a good chicken croquette, covered with slices of ham on an egg yolk emulsion with amontillado (6 euros, two units). The tripe with leg and nose is wonderful, accompanied by a sauce for dipping the bread served by the Abantos bakery, in San Lorenzo de El Escorial (14 euros) and the rice with pigeon and death trumpets (18 euros) is also successful.
It’s mushroom season, picked in the pine forests of Ávila, and there are chanterelles with poached eggs from the hens of the nearby Redondo farm (18 euros). Among the meats, it offers different cuts of Avilan beef (between 22 and 28 euros, depending on weight), goat (24 euros), rabbit with chestnuts (18 euros) or wild boar with celeriac and thyme (21 euros). It can be completed with a sweet or a selection of five cuts of cheese, including a 36-month-old Comté, a reblochón, a pasiego or some preparations from the Elvira García dairy (9 euros), from the nearby town of El Barraco.
The cellar deserves special attention: it has 110 references of all origins, with a focus on Gredos, selected by the chef and his partner, Bárbara Requejo, oenologist and producer of wines with the Las Pedreras seal and vineyards in the Alto Alberche valley. The average prices are between 20 and 40 euros, although there are also wine jewels with higher prices.
Vereda is the restaurant many people dream of: manageable – six people work, three of whom are in the kitchen – and tailor-made for a discreet chef. Here every dish invites calm, and cooking is not just a job, but an act that transcends it and transforms it into a moment of happiness.
