Six gourmet stores for gourmets

There are more and more gourmet stores, scattered throughout the city, that manage to delight the most gourmets. Small gastronomic temples in which to seek and find unique, artisan products that return to the value of tradition. A butter shop set up by Michelin Star chef Mario Sandoval that was born as a tribute to the stews and spoon dishes of his mother, this is La Mantequería Teresa Huertas; the ultimate temple of the most gourmets where to find the best gourmet products and the most special wines of the city, you will have to enter Casa Ortega in the heart of Salamanca; an exciting project launched by a couple of young engineers who have come to revolutionize the boring concept of supermarket, this is Supernormal, which already has two photogenic spaces in the center of the capital; a meeting place for small and medium-sized food producers perfect for all those people who want to enjoy seasonal and quality products, visit Petramora in the neighborhood of Las Salesas; based in Seville, the guys from Quarentena Food are specialized in the best sausages, cheeses, preserves and oils of the country, a return to the origin and artisan products; one of the essential stops for all those nostalgic lovers of products “made in Spain”, you have to visit the Real Fábrica Española in the neighborhood of Las Letras in Madrid.

Take note of these six must-visit addresses.

MANTEQUERÍA TERESA HUERTAS, MARIO SANDOVAL’S NEW PRODUCT

As an affectionate tribute to the mother of the Sandoval brothers, La Mantequería Teresa Huertas, the new project of Michelin-starred chef Mario Sandoval, is born with this exciting vocation. This “coquettish” place, located a few meters away from Coque restaurant, at number twelve of Fortuny street in Madrid, also comes to recover the gastronomic concept of the grocery store, returning in a very original way to the pickles and homemade stews, which appear encased in jars and become perfect allies to enjoy at home. Haute cuisine in glass jars. Tripe, partridge, bonito or pickled chanterelles, Madrid stew, faba beans with pigeon or the pate version of the legendary Coque suckling pig are just some of the recipes that Mario recovers for the occasion. In this 21st century grocery store, customers can also purchase selected raw materials such as vegetables, nuts, spices, olive oils or the exceptional tomatoes that come directly from his research garden of ‘El Jaral de la Mira’, the family farm located in El Escorial. As in the traditional butter shops, in this one you can also find exquisite delicacies such as foie gras, pâté croûte, a selection of Iberian sausages, such as chorizo de toro bravo, butters, yogurts or cheeses. From the ovens of its bakery, located in the adjoining restaurant, comes daily sourdough bread in different varieties, cakes, pies and homemade pastries that customers can enjoy with a coffee in the store itself. Wine lovers are also in luck, as Coque’s sommeliers have prepared a wine and spirits list available on the shelves, which includes all kinds of wines from the restaurant’s acclaimed cellar, as well as spirits and a wide variety of distillates.

CASA ORTEGA, THE SYBARITE’S LITTLE TEMPLE

A small temple, with more than ninety years of experience, for all those gourmets looking for unique and really special products, hard to find. Located at number thirty-five Lagasca Street, in the heart of the Salamanca district, Casa Ortega is the perfect place to discover and enjoy a wide range of select products, ranging from our own Iberian sausages, preserves and smoked products, oils and chocolates to an exclusive wine cellar with a selection of wines representing all the Spanish designations of origin, including both traditional wineries and innovative and exclusive producers and recognized international wines, countless hidden gems. The history of Casa Ortega began in September 1939, when Argelio Ortega, second son of a family of cattle ranchers from La Mancha, opened the doors of his first butcher’s shop in the heart of Alcázar de San Juan. Since its beginnings, Casa Ortega has stood out for the excellence of its products, turning the small business into a regional reference for meats and sausages. Over the years, the company has experienced great growth and, today, under the management of the fourth generation of the family, Ignacio Ortega, continues to lead the sector with a modern vision adapted to the new times, with great importance of its online channel. At Casa Ortega, quality becomes more than a promise, it becomes a tradition.

SUPERNORMAL, THE NEW SUPERMARKET CONCEPT

After the success of their first store in Plaza de Chamberí, they have just opened their second space in Madrid, in Plaza de Cataluña. Supernormal has arrived to show us that shopping doesn’t have to be boring, quite the opposite. With a minimalist and highly Instagrammable interior design, this project launched in 2022 by a couple of young engineers, Almudena Peña and Fernando Usera, has become the perfect option to get an interesting offer of fresh and seasonal products in addition to a careful selection of more than five hundred references that are committed to the taste and concept of sustainability, small producers spread throughout the country with name and surname. In its two stores, as well as on its website, you can find from a selection of fruits and vegetables from their own garden, located in a small village in Cáceres (Tiétar), to a careful selection of cheeses, organic pasture meats, sausages and products made in their workshop, also located in the center of Madrid. Supernormal also presents its new wine cellar, prepared by Sega M. Diop, director and sommelier of the restaurants Mo de Movimiento and Tramo, with more than seventy references of natural, organic and minimal intervention wines, perfectly aligned with the values of the project, offering customers an oenological experience that complements its commitment to sustainable and quality food. Another of the novelties in its second store is its cafeteria, where customers can enjoy good coffee and simple dishes, full of flavor and designed so that the product available at its points of sale shines and becomes the absolute protagonist.

PETRA MORA, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF LAS SALESAS

“A meeting place between small and medium food producers for all those people who want to enjoy seasonal and quality products”, this is how they define themselves from the Petramora project. In 2023, and after twelve years of trajectory in the digital environment, Petramora opened the doors of its physical store in the neighborhood of Las Salesas, at number forty of Barquillo street, an expression of their role as producers but also as product selectors. Their purpose is to bring the heart of their project, pasture-raised meat and sheep’s milk products, and a wide variety of fresh and healthy prepared dishes, meal kits to cook at home in a simple way, to the center of the city. Their ‘Labadía’ products from Petramora also play a fundamental role, their dairy line is made from Churra sheep’s milk, from which they milk every morning and every afternoon obtaining a very small but high quality production with which they make products such as their milk, kefir, yogurts and a wide variety of cheeses. The meat from their farm comes from brown mountain cows that graze freely and are fed on their own pasture and forage, offering different cuts such as steak, sirloin or entrecote and pieces for the day to day as thin steak, needle or minced meat. In their store you can also find a representation of their digital market products such as sausages, oils, preserves and a selection of their own wines with Designation of Origin.

QUARENTENA FOOD, FROM SEVILLA TO THE WORLD

Quarentena Food was born in the city of Seville, in times of pandemic, with an urgent need to return to the origins. A return, in short, to our essence, to artisan products, to the value of simplicity, enjoyment and the central idea of sharing. A wide selection of products full of tradition and flavor, focused mainly on Iberian products, preserves, cheeses, foie gras and oils. Quarentena Food was born with an online vocation but already has a first physical space in the center of Seville, a few meters from the imposing cathedral, which pays homage to the classic abacerías of the city. There, customers can find everything from Iberian hams and sausages from the mountains of Huelva and Extremadura to artisan cheeses in all their varieties and types, premium preserves from the Cantabrian Sea, Galicia and Andalusia, and excellent early harvest single-varietal oils from the countryside of Cordoba. “Each item in our portfolio has been selected thinking of the delicate palate that characterizes good food lovers, and the pleasure of enjoying traditional products, those that never go out of fashion”, says the project. Quarentena is a brand born from deep reflection and a return to our roots, a tribute to the quality and effort that defined the past.

REAL FÁBRICA ESPAÑOLA, NOSTALGIA MADE IN SPAIN

It is one of the essential stops for all those lovers of products made in Spain. Real Fábrica Española, located in Madrid’s Las Letras neighborhood, has become a small temple of craftsmanship and tradition that brings together the most historic Spanish brands and “lifelong” products that represent the best that we have known how to make in Spain for several generations. Rocio, its founder, carries out a constant research that leads her to travel all over the country selecting and recovering those treasures that she thought had disappeared, but that continue to be manufactured in artisan workshops, many of them in danger of extinction. In the wooden shelves of his store, located at number nine of Cervantes Street, you will find emblematic products such as violet candies from Madrid, an interesting selection of chocolates or jams, sausages and preserves from different parts of the Spanish geography, as well as cheeses, vermouth or wines. Also handmade products for the kitchen and the table such as the classic pewter cups, pieces of popular Spanish pottery such as white clay from Agost or the traditional pottery from Fajaluza or Cáceres. “In Real Fábrica Española we intend to make our country, our secrets, our industry, our stores, the way our products are made and the history of its artisans better known”, the project explains.