Here at Roads & Kingdoms, we’ve written a lot lately about Madrid’s culinary prowess. The Spanish capital combines incredible centuries-old taverns and markets with one of Europe’s densest concentrations of fine dining, including 31 Michelin-starred restaurants at present—more than any other city in Spain.
But would you believe me if I told you that just two decades ago, Madrid wasn’t even considered a gastronomic destination? It was, to put it mildly, not always this way. For decades, it was Catalonia and the Basque Country that dominated Spain’s fine-dining reputation. The capital was largely seen as a landlocked market city distributing the country’s raw wealth, while the north took the culinary laurels.
There are few people who have been as central to Madrid’s food revolution as Patricia Mateo, the legendary culinary consultant and entrepreneur behind some of Spain’s most influential culinary ventures who agreed to meet me on a recent Saturday morning in the midst of a blistering 37°C Madrid heatwave. It was 10 am, a quiet time in the Spanish capital, but nothing about Patricia was quiet. Her presence completely shifted the energy of the wine bar in the elegant Salesas neighborhood where we had agreed to meet. Big sunglasses, immaculate style, and a chaotic galaxy of Google Maps pins she proudly showed me within the first ten seconds of meeting her.
