Desborre was a small place with two rooms for seating, one by the windows to the street and the other a long windowless room that was shut off the day we were there.  The small bare tables were set with armless chairs or bench seats, the walls were brick and the floor wood.  A large display of pickled and preserved items was in a cabinet by the door, showcasing some of the chef’s passions.   The place was opened about a year ago by Chef Lucía Grávalos.  She grew up in her grandmother’s kitchen before later working with some of Spain’s great chefs.  She has been recognized with numerous awards, especially for her commitment to the sustainable model and organic farming.  It was a very pleasant place with friendly and helpful servers, our’s speaking good English.  She coursed out our order so we could split everything and create our own tasting.  It’s a place you should check out when in Madrid.

Set-up

Food

Torrenzo souffle was grass fed pork belly cooked two ways then paired with kimchi mayo and topped with peppermint seasoned minced tomato and pepper salad.  The pork was cooked low temaperature and dried before frying.  The meaty pork belly was surrounded by crisped panko and topped with a hot and spicy sauce.  A great starter.

 

Bread was served by the slice for 5.50€ a slice.  It was a good dense, seedy bread with a nice crust but I was surprised at the price.  It was wonderful bread but not housemade.

 

Bacadillo de clamar (Calamari sandwich) was on Chinese bread with citrus mayo and ink sauce then topped with homemade pickle.  The Chinese bread on this one was housemade with 2 sauces, one ink and one garlic then topped with a housemade pickle.  They cut it in half for us.  It was tasty and messy with the dark ink oozing out but all the ingredients blended nicely with the tasty squid.  Of the two appetizers, the pork belly was the favorite.

 

Menestra (Textured vegetable stew) was with jam, pig trotter and vegetables broth.  This was inspired  by one of her grandmother’s dishes using ham in the broth to add flavor to the vegetables. It was mostly soft with a less than great color but nicely tasty.

 

Bacalao, humo y colif (cod, smoke and cauliflower) was low temperature cooked cod with smoked bechamel sauce and crispy cauliflower.  This was wild cod from Galethia cooked perfectly.  It was topped with some crispy cauliflower which added good texture.  The smoked bechamel did have a ton of flavor and was great with the mild fish.

 

Vaca Wellington (Wellington our way) was their version of Wellington beef, cooked with housemade fermented mushrooms, served on potato cream and bathed with its bone juices infused with kefir lime.  Here the pastry suffered and did not retain any crispness when it reached the table.  Some of the beef parts were dry and the greens didn’t add anything to the plate except color.  Of the two mains the cod was better.

 

Tarta de queso (Fluid cheesecake) was Grandma’s recipe modified in oven time and temperature.  The cookie like crust was very crisp but more tender in the mouth.  The creamy center was mild in flavor.  Overall it was a good version, not Basque but also not too sweet.