Pizzería La Cúpula: Las Matas: Madrid: Spain

Having said goodbye to Toronto by going to my favorite smoked meat place I started in Spain at my favorite pizzería [or, pizzeria, note: the difference is the accent over the `i´]. Here is the Solidaría pizza that I had; where they donate a portion of the proceeds of the sale to charity.

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It has tomato, mozzarella, raisins, pine nuts, capers, onions and a few lovely black olives and a sprinkling of oregano. The combination of capers, raisins and pine nuts is ingenious; they’re all sort of the same size yet have three distinct flavors and textures.

The place is called La Cúpula and makes what are probably the best artisanal pizzas in Madrid. Thin crust, not too heavy on the cheese. Only one size of pizza. One pizza per person is about right; because they’re so very tasty. The wine list is very good too; composed of only ecological wines – and quite well priced. Beside pizzas they also have some imaginative salads, a couple of pastas and usually some nice artisanal desserts (try the apple pie).

We’re talking an authentic wood burning oven, everything is hand made, even the dough for the pizzas is prepared by hand. The emphasis is on natural, organic, and ecological ingredients and simple presentation. A great family place; not expensive. It’s a small joint and usually very busy so reservations might be recommended; especially around the weekend (see web site for contact info). A great casual atmosphere and everyone seems very happy.

The place can be a little hard to find; located as it is in an out of the way corner of a small town 26 kms outside of Madrid called Las Matas (in the municipality of Las Rozas). But finding it is worth it.


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Closed Mondays, open for lunch and dinner the rest of the time. If you’re in the neighborhood it’s worth going out of your way to try it out. One odd thing, if the front door seems closed or locked go around to the side entrance where the terrace is (on the left); that’s the entrance everyone usually uses (I think it’s a trick they use to keep the crowds down).


Full disclosure: I used to work at this place thus you might expect me to be biased. None the less the general opinion of their pizzas is the same as mine; they're great.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

These little maps you include are so great!