Ramón Freixa: avant-garde tradition

Just over a year and a half ago, in March 2024, I visited Ramón Freixa's restaurant at the Hotel Único in Madrid for the last time (unaware that it would indeed be the last). It was the best meal of the many I had the opportunity to enjoy there since its opening back in 2009. That visit resulted in a chronicle titled "The Serene Maturity of Ramón Freixa," referring both to his excellent professional form and his peaceful personal life, well into his fifties and newly married. Rarely has a title been so prophetic...

Just a few months later, the Barcelona chef announced he was leaving Hotel Único to embark on a new and very personal project, also called Ramón Freixa and also located in the exclusive Salamanca district of Madrid. This project finally opened in early July 2025 and, in just three months, has become one of the city's must-visit destinations.

A project comprised of two concepts: Ramón Freixa Tradition and Ramón Freixa Atelier. The first, which we will discuss today, is a true reflection of that serene maturity we mentioned, a return, imbued with nostalgia, to his origins in search of essence and purity, dedicated to the product and ultimately the logical consequence of the evolution of a chef who, at the last edition of San Sebastián Gastronomika, presented a paper significantly titled “Tradition, the new avant-garde.”

The second, which we'll have to save for another time, is a little indulgence the chef has allowed himself: a U-shaped sushi bar for just ten diners, open only Wednesday through Saturday evenings, with a single tasting menu (regular or vegan) for 230 euros. It's a space where Freixa can play around and revisit the audacity, provocation, and anarchic, disruptive spirit of his early days. And, it must be said, he's keeping a watchful eye on the occasional Michelin-starred guide…

Before getting into the gastronomic details, it is worth dedicating a few lines to the spectacular (a word that has recently been perverted to the point of exhaustion but which is very relevant here) space: 600 square meters divided into two levels and several small rooms connected to the main room, with a detailed and original interior design signed by Alejandra Pombo in which wood is the protagonist, a bar with a ham cutter and, an unequivocal sign of the times, another with cocktails.

The menu, quite long, is divided into nine sections, and the descriptions are as direct and compelling as they are enticing. Choosing is difficult enough, but when you add to that the chef strolling through the dining room with a cart proudly displaying the day's seasonal treasures, with the spirit of an old-fashioned tavern owner, the task becomes almost impossible. You have to ask for advice, and for that, there's no better person than David del Castillo, Ramón's partner and longtime collaborator, who until now had remained behind the scenes but has now stepped into the spotlight.

We begin with the two ubiquitous tapas that are a must-have in any new Madrid restaurant, be it creative, focused on quality ingredients, trendy, New Zealand-inspired, or even Venusian: ham croquettes and potato salad. Of course, if all ham croquettes were as good as this one, which is aptly and playfully described on the menu as "super good," and if all potato salads included a crisp, crispy langoustine, as is the case here, things would be very different. Sadly, we'll have to wait until next summer to enjoy the third tapa: figs with sobrasada, a perfect, explosive, and overwhelming combination.

Given that the menu includes a section called “Ramón’s Favorites,” there’s no other option but to make several stops there. The sea cucumbers with champagne beurre blanc and caviar are original and neoclassical, and the surf and turf of Galician razor clams in chicken escabeche is sumptuous… although the bivalves are of such quality that omitting the escabeche wouldn’t make a difference.

Another monumental and thoroughly enjoyable surf and turf dish, this one features meatballs with cuttlefish that instantly transport us to the Costa Brava. As our longtime colleague Juan Manuel Bellver so aptly puts it, “these are dishes that could grace any Michelin-starred restaurant, but here they're served without any fuss.”

To finish the savory portion, at Freixa's suggestion (almost a command), we have the dish destined to become the hallmark of this restaurant: sea bass wellington with champagne sauce. Beyond the freshness and tenderness of the fish, one rarely has the opportunity to enjoy a puff pastry like this, which lives up to the baking reputation the Freixa family built in their bakery in Castellfollit de Riubregós.

With his sweet tooth, the chef has always paid special attention to the dessert menu at his restaurants, and without compromise. Two examples: the all-chocolate Dubai croissant, only for those with a serious sweet tooth, and the egg and vanilla flan, with its perfect texture and made with vanilla pods from Madagascar as if there were no tomorrow.

A remarkable wine cellar, non-stop service (truly non-stop, with the kitchen running) from 1 pm to 12 am, and a dining room service that is both modern and old-fashioned, that is, as avant-garde and traditional as the kitchen (in which Freixa himself sometimes infiltrates to place or remove dishes), and a remarkable wine cellar put the finishing touch on a restaurant that we can describe, without being wrong, as the most outstanding arrival of the second half of 2025 in Madrid's hospitality industry.