Newly arrived at the popular promenade in front of Parque del Oeste, this restaurant surprises for its impeccable and elegant aesthetics and also for the quality of its avant-garde dishes, with seasonal cuisine and traditional background. The Argentine Eduardo Martín, owner also of the Asadores La Churrasquita, is behind this place that traps and evades, in which there are recognizable flavors of his land. In the kitchen, Alberto García Navio, who after his time at Zalacaín, Alkalde or A’Barra, among others, arrives to define the direction of this unique cuisine.
They arrived in January in the neighborhood of Argüelles, and are starting to walk with a firm step and a fine, elegant menu that matches the place where it is located. Nexo (Paseo del Pintor Rosales, 76. Madrid. Tel. 915 055 791. www.nexorestaurante.com) is the union between traditional cuisine -with seasonal products- and the avant-garde, the elegance of detail, which is reflected in the dishes and their presentation, as well as in the aesthetics of the place, which does not leave you indifferent. Eduardo Martín is an Argentinean who has lived in Madrid for years and is the owner of La Churrasquita, in Tres Cantos and Fuentelarreina, and now also runs this futuristic space where his roots can also be felt -especially in the meat section- together with chef Alberto García Navio, who has been head chef at Ferreteria, CoKima, A’Barra or Alkalde, in addition to working at Horcher and training at Zalacaín or Can Fabes.
The spaces
We begin with permission, by what we can see, by what makes an impact before even being able to think about the menu: its architecture.
We are greeted by a room at street level with a spectacular anthracite gray polished concrete bar with a serpentine shape, accompanied by stools to sit around it, a couple of high tables, a low table and an original sofa.
On this floor there is also a “semi-reserved”, without door, but hidden. But the main course is in the main room, in this case a lower one, which receives natural light from the imposing circular staircase through which it is accessed, also made of concrete.
Precious rectangular glass tables, other round, and private corners for two in the corners capture the attention of this plant in which there is also a large reserved, where the color white reigns. Even in the cellar area there is an exclusive table on a cobblestone floor and a dim, indirect light that takes you back to another era.
It is a very spacious place, but also full of intimacy, precisely because of all those corners.
The dishes
Once we have chosen the place, we can focus on its gastronomic offer, which undoubtedly deserves all our attention. A brief menu but with personality, quality and above all, well executed by the talented chef. We start with some seasonal vegetables, such as the indispensable grilled artichokes with chips, egg yolk and orange gel or grilled leeks with dark mushrooms and crispy wheat… or other starters such as duck Parfait with walnut vinaigrette and gingerbread or prawn gyozas, ham demiglace accompanied by fried shrimp.
Not to be missed is the baby squid rice, with crispy legs and saffron mayonnaise, or the house-smoked sirloin steak tartar with mustard ice cream accompanied by crusty bread, with a flavor and presentation that makes you fall in love -one of the must of the house-.
Carnivores can’t miss the Brioche stuffed with boneless suckling pig with spicy touches and pickled onion, or the incredible boneless suckling lamb shoulder with shepherd’s crumbs.
To enjoy at its best the meats, which are from Discarlux, we have the certified Angus Argentinean high loin, or the 40 days matured beef T-bone steak, cooked on the grill that Alberto works so well and where Eduardo’s Argentinean touch is evident.
In fish, wild sea bass, burgur risotto, vegetables and French onions, a very soft roasted cod with fried garlic sauce, pickled peppers and potato confit base and a grilled red tuna, homemade teriyaki, white sesame and avocado that invites to repeat.
Their desserts are also original and daring, for example the Coco thai of caramelized banana, Greek yogurt and coconut ice cream, but if we only have room for one, the Gin Tonic Bubble with mango ice cream and juniper berries does not disappoint. For those who want to continue “collecting” cheesecakes around town, yes, they have one with dulce de leche. The wine cellar we were talking about before has more than 50 well-selected references.
Nexo has capacity for 80 people in its large dining room, plus 16 in the white reserved area, another 8 in the wine cellar, 6 in the open reserved area on the ground floor and 16 more in that area -6 seated at the bar and 10 more around it, among tables, sofas and standing-. An ideal space to celebrate events, lunches or business dinners as well as romantic evenings at its “isolated” tables for two… It has a garage in the same building for private lunches with direct access to its reserved areas.
