Seeing a celebrity in a bar always has something of crossing paths with a deer in the middle of a secondary road: one comments quietly and continues on his way. Madrid often offers such encounters. Celebrities who, like the mortals they are, also come down for a caña, a vermouth or a pincho de tortilla, like the rest of us.
One of those scenarios is La Ardosa, the century-old bar in Malasaña where Leiva, the musician who is back on everyone’s lips after his performance at La Revuelta, often stops by for a drink. According to a 2016 article in the Esmadrid blog, among his Madrid habits he stands out for stopping “always” in this place at 13 Colón street to order a pincho de tortilla and a vermouth on tap.
La Ardosa: a centenary place
La Ardosa is not just any bar. Founded in 1892 by Rafael Fernández in memory of a town in Toledo, it preserves part of its original decoration: engraved glass signs, tiled skirting boards, old-fashioned fans. One of those bars where you can imagine several generations of Madrilenians (and the occasional tourist) asking for exactly the same thing: omelette and vermouth.
The skewer, moreover, has its own fame: it costs 3.95 € and usually sneaks into almost all lists that compile the best potato omelettes in Madrid. There is no trick (potato, egg, good hand) and no doubt: La Ardosa is one of those places you have to visit once in your life.
Leiva and his performance
These days, moreover, Leiva’s name sounds more than ever. The musician has presented his new album, Gigantes, with a special performance at La Revuelta, surrounded by a team that the same program has called “the Avengers of Spanish music”: Dani Martín, Dani Fernández, Iván Ferreiro, Santi Balmes, Eva and Juan de Amaral, Travis Birds and Rubén Pozo.
Beyond La Ardosa, Leiva also recommended other places in Madrid, such as Café Madrid, the Mad is Mad art gallery, the Tupperware bar or the endearing Casa Federica, which is the only place on the list that has closed, almost a small miracle in a city that is changing its skin faster and faster.
Other restaurants that celebrities fall in love with
Choosing a restaurant is, in the end, an impulse as unpredictable as any other. There are those who go by the latest viral video, those who swear there is nothing better than a good franchise, those who only eat where something new has just opened and those who follow the trail of celebrities. Sometimes all it takes is for Aitana to have dinner one night at a place and that place will be packed for months. Here are some of those places that once conquered celebrities like Rosalía.