La Lonja del Mar is one of those places that, despite being in Madrid’s most touristy area, still counts on a loyal and local clientele. It has been operating for thirteen years in the heart of Plaza de Oriente, in the building where Giuseppe Verdi once lived, this place where seasonal fish and seafood rule and where even its most illustrious neighbors, Felipe VI and Letizia, have been seen.
Surely its idyllic views of the Royal Palace have had something to do with the experience that will take place on June 20 and will delight any lover of a good romantic banquet. And indeed, for only one night, the kitchen team will prepare a menu with dishes that were part of the banquet of four Spanish royal weddings, such as the capon that was offered to its 4,000 guests by the current kings back in 2004. If anyone doubted it, you’ll need to dress for the occasion.
From Consommé to Capon
There are nearly 150 years between the starter and the dessert of this ephemeral menu, but after trying it, none of the courses misses. It didn’t miss when the restaurant decided to offer its diners the Last Dinner of the Titanic; a resounding success that La Lonja del Mar now aims to revalidate with this royal bet labeled “Eating Like Kings” and which, as its name suggests, will offer to the 150 guests who make a reservation a bridal journey that, in addition to history, is a magnificent opportunity to sample almost extinct classics such as the Périgueux eggs.
“We wanted to create an authentic royal banquet through the ages, a tour of the most iconic dishes of royal banquets,” explains Carlos Hugo Gutiérrez, the restaurant director. For this reason, they have studied the menus that served Alfonso XII, Alfonso XIII, Juan Carlos I, and Felipe VI to select two courses from each union.
The result is an eight-course menu with minimal but apt liberties that allows analyzing the evolution of culinary tastes as well as discovering great haute cuisine classics. For example, the opening course is a magnificent opportunity to savor the French culinary flavor of the Alfonso XII era with two classics: the Nilson consommé (beef consommé with cheese-filled profiteroles) and the aforementioned Eggs Périgueux that were enjoyed by the guests at the union with María de las Mercedes on January 23, 1878. The next course belongs to the Alfonso XIII union, with two recipes that perhaps today would not sound particularly glamorous, especially cauliflower à la Hollandaise, a pleasant surprise, so to speak.
When Juan Carlos I and Sofia of Greece were married in May 1962, they offered in Athens, among other dishes, a lobster cocktail and supreme of poultry with sherry that here tastes heavenly. The former, updated to appear haute cuisine; the latter, with a background of outstanding quality. As a finale, the last savory course and the dessert of this royal menu were enjoyed in 2004 in Madrid with the wedding of the current kings: roast capon with thyme and dried fruits and a reinterpretation of the iconic wedding cake signed by the Alicante-born Torreblanca.
