The big fish house

Do you know of any restaurant that changes its menu completely every day? I know one. It's called Since 1911 and it specializes in fish. Nothing is kept from one day to the next. Every day the team starts from scratch, creating a new menu with the best seafood available. Six starters, from which the customer chooses between three and six, plus a main course of fish that is displayed, like a jewel, in a glass case. This is a formula made possible by the umbrella of Pescaderías Coruñesas (Coruña Fishmongers).

Founded in 1911 (hence the restaurant's name), it was taken over in 1956 by Evaristo García, a native of León, who built an empire around fish. His children, who inherited his work ethic and business acumen, have expanded the business. To El Pescador and O'Pazo, the restaurants Evaristo bought, they added the enormous Filandón, and four years ago they acquired the historic Lardhy, in addition to opening Desde 1911, a tribute to the family legacy and to those muleteers and fishmongers who, like their ancestors, made Madrid the best seaport. The success has been resounding. Getting a table at Desde 1911 is a difficult task. Reservations open six months in advance (May reservations are already being taken) and are filled in minutes. This is hardly surprising, as the food here is superb, and the dining room, with the exceptional professional Abel Valverde at the helm, is truly luxurious.

No detail has been overlooked: an impressive wood-fired oven designed specifically for fish and presses for extracting its juices make all the difference. Everything is designed to showcase a visually stunning dining room, from the trolley laden with the fish and seafood that make up the daily menu to the three cheese tables unparalleled in Spain. In the kitchen, Diego Murciego perfectly cooks seafood and fish, incorporating some more elaborate dishes without sacrificing simplicity in the treatment of the ingredients. French scallops, Motril prawns in pistachio green garlic with artichokes, enormous Carril clams in marinara sauce, skate with black butter, cod tripe with white beans and oyster mushrooms, creamy lobster rice, or fillets of a spectacular 27-kilo grouper from Cádiz, cooked in a wood-fired oven. This is the offering on any given day, which will not be repeated the next. Since 1911, it has been a true gem in Madrid. The star she wears falls far short of her potential.