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SPAIN
Richard Gonzmart, 4th generation family member and president of Columbia Restaurant is a devotee of Spanish food and wines. Here are his recommendations on what to eat, what to see and do, and where to stay while in select cities in Spain.
MADRID - The Capital of Spain
RESTAURANTS
Casa Paco, founded in 1933 (reservations required)
Plaza Puerta Cerrada 11 - Known for their superlative steaks, seared in boiling oil before serving them on plates so hot that meat continues to cook, preserving the natural juices. Located in the Old Town, this two-story restaurant has three dining rooms and reservations are required. In addition to steak, you can enjoy fish soup, grilled sole, baby lamb, or try Casa Paco cocido, the house version of Madrid's famous chickpea and pork soup.
El Pescador
Address: Calle José Ortega y Gasset 75 - Seafood is the specialty here, with more than 30 kinds of fish served, all prominently displayed in a glass case.
La Baracca
Address: Reina 29-31 - La Baracca is famous for its rice dishes like Paella. It is like a country inn right off the Gran Vía, and a longtime local favorite.
La Bola
Address: Calle de la Bola 5 - You’ll find a traditional atmosphere with gently polite waiters here, featuring grilled sole, filet of veal, and roast veal. Basque-style hake and grilled salmon are also excellent choices.
Casa Botín
Address: Chuchilleros 17 - According to the Guinness Book of Records, this is the oldest restaurant in the world, dating from 1725. Sample their house specialties that include cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig) and cordero asado (roast lamb).
La Trainera
Address: Lagasca, 60 - Specializes in some of Madrid's best fresh fish and shellfish. Located in the glamorous shopping neighborhood of Serrano.
Casa Juan
Address: Infanta Mercedes, 111 - This family business began in 1987 when founders Rosemarie and Hans Frind started smoking fish at their house. Restaurant Casa Juan is a very welcoming country house which feels like home. It is nicely decorated, surrounded by a lovely garden.
La Trucha
Address: Manuel Fernandez y Gonzalez 3, Santa Ana, Madrid - The name is derived from its specialty dish, Trout. It has an Andalusian tavern ambience, and boasts a street-level bar and small dining room with an arched ceiling. The décor is made festive with hanging braids of garlic, dried peppers and onions.
HOTEL
The Westin Palace Hotel
Address: Plaza de las Cortes, 7 - The Palace Hotel was built in 1912, and enjoys a rather enviable situation in Madrid; it is in front of the Prado Museum, between the Thyssen Museum and the Parliament, right at the corner of Paseo la Castellana.
This luxurious hotel has been host to many celebrities from all over the world. Needless to say, the Westin Palace is aptly palatial.
SHOPPING
Objetos de Arte
Address: Paseo del Prado, 10 & 12 - Objetos de Arte was founded in 1960, by Carlos Sanchez, Sr. His son, Carlos Jr. is one of Richard and Melanie's closest friends. This store sells hand-made items and other traditional Spanish articles, specializing in arts and crafts from the medieval city of Toledo, not far from Madrid. The store displays top quality items such as LLadro, Nao, Algora and Príncipe porcelain, Majorica pearls, ceramics from Talavera, Seville and Valencia, among others and bronze figures and sculptures. They accept all credit cards and currencies.
Calle Serrano (Serrano Street)
Calle Serrano is home to designer ships, art boutiques and everything in between. The best in up-market specialty shopping can be found on this popular street. The street of Serrano in the Salamanca district is known as Madrid's "Golden Mile" of shops. You will find Top designers Purificación García, Roberto Verino, Ermenegildo Zegna and Yves Saint Laurent.
ATTRACTIONS
Gran Via
The one street you shouldn't miss is the Gran Via, a showcase of early 20th century architecture. This lively street is one of the city's most important shopping areas. What makes this street so special is the architectural design of many of the large buildings.
Puerta del Sol
The heart of Madrid's historic center. The plaza's name originates from the eastern city gate located in the 15th century. The gate was probably called after a sun drawn on it, hence the name Puerta del Sol or 'Sun Gate'.
Plaza Mayor
A grand arcaded square in the center of Madrid.
MUSEUMS
The Prado Museum contains the world's finest collection of Spanish paintings, including masterpieces by El Greco, Velázquez and Goya.
Address: Paseo del Prado s/n
Thyssen-Bornemizsa Museum has a large selection of Italian Primitives. There are also excellent examples of German Renaissance and Dutch 17th century paintings and 19th century American paintings.
Address: Paseo del Prado, 8
SEGOVIA
Segovia is Spain and Castile at its best-twisting alleyways, the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in all of Europe, pedestrian streets where no cars are allowed, all surrounded by the city's medieval wall which itself is bordered by two rivers and an extensive green-belt park with miles of shaded walks.
RESTAURANT
José María
Address: Cronista Lecea 11
This is Richard Gonzmart's favorite restaurant in Spain. It has a traditional menu of dishes from the region. The roast suckling pig falls from the bone.
This centrally located bar and restaurant, 1 block east of the Plaza Mayor, serves quality regional cuisine in a rustic stucco-and-brick dining room. Before dinner, locals crowd in for tapas at the bar, and then move into the dining room for such Castilian specialties as roast suckling pig, rural-style conger eel, and freshly caught sea bream.
ATTRACTIONS
On the north-west extreme of the wall is the famous Alcázar castle, source of inspiration to Walt Disney, and where Queen Isabel promised Columbus the financial backing he needed to discover America.
On the south-east side of the wall is the world-renowned Roman Aqueduct, the largest and best preserved of its kind anywhere which served as the mint mark on all coins struck in the city from 1455 to 1864.
BARCELONA
Barcelona's culture is rich, stemming from the city's 2000 years of history. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant. Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official and widely spoken.
RESTAURANTS
Los Caracoles
Address: Escudellers 14 - As you walk down Escudellers, you are drawn by the aroma of roasting chickens. This classic restaurant, founded in 1835, has them on an outside spit, on an open fire built into the side of the edifice and you enter through the main kitchen, with steaming posts and hot under the collar cooks. Inside it's a labyrinth; stairways lead to even more dining rooms and private, one-table nooks are hidden under stairs. The place oozes with atmosphere and the cuisine is Catalan comfort food.
Can Culleretes
Address: C/ Quintana 5 - Founded in 1786, Can Culleretes is, according to The Guinness Book of Records, the oldest restaurant of Barcelona and the second oldest of Spain. You will be able to taste the typical food of the Catalan kitchen. It is located in the Gothic District of Barcelona, next to Las Rambles.
Cal Pep
Address: Plaça des les Oles 8 - One of the most known Tapas restaurants and dining secrets of Barcelona, Cal Pep lies close to the Picasso Museum and is a slice of local life. It is generally packed and the food is some of the tastiest in the Old Town. You'll find the typical food of the Catalan kitchen.
ATTRACTIONS
La Rambla
(Flower Market) - Five separate street strung end to end, La Rambla (also called Las Ramblas) is a tree-lined pedestrian boulevard packed with buskers (a person who entertains people for money in public places); living statues, mimes and itinerant salespeople selling everything from lottery tickets to jewelry. The noisy bird market on the second block is worth a stop.
Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família
La Sagrada Familia is truly awe-inspiring. The life's work of Barcelona's favorite son, Antoni Guadí, the magnificent spires of the unfinished cathedral imprint themselves boldly against the sky with swelling outlines inspired by the holy mountain Montserrat. Gaudí died in 1926 before his masterwork was completed, and since then, controversy has continually dogged the building program. Nevertheless, the southwestern façade, with four more towers, is almost done, and the nave, begun in 1978, is progressing.
MUSEUMS
Museu Picasso
Address: Montcada, 15-23 - The museum of Picasso is Barcelona's most visited museum. It is housed in three strikingly beautiful stone mansions on the Carrer de Montcado, which was, in the medieval times, an approach to the port. The museum shows numerous works that trace the artists early years, and is especially strong on his Blue Period, and his early works from the 1890's.
HOTEL
Hotel Le Meridian
Address: Ramblas 111 - Ideally situated on the famous Las Rambles, the iconic boulevard of leisure and entertainment in Barcelona. Le Meridian Hotel is often referred to as the 'stars hotel', as many world famous personalities have crossed the threshold.
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