While in Madrid this past February, our first meal was at the newly opened Hermosos y Malditos, in the 64-room boutique Hotel Totem, affiliated with Small Luxury Hotels. I was there to research and write about the design team, Nori Furlan and Paco Llonch, from the Barcelona-based Corium studio, who refurbished the hotel’s interior. The occasion was an opportunity to introduce my granddaughter to traditional and contemporary Spanish cuisine.

Although I had no idea which dishes she would eat or enjoy in Spain, I did have a short list of authentic tapas, the small-dish appetizers served with drinks, I wanted her to try. Among them were patatas bravas, bite-sized pieces of roasted potato served with a spicy sauce, and jamon iberica pata negra, slices of the best cured ham in Spain, made from the free-range, black-hoofed pigs that eat acorns.

We were seated in the hotel’s stylish bar located in an original, 19^th-century, Neoclassical building just a few hours after landing in Barajas (MAD). I admired the light shimmering through a wood-slatted pergola under a glass-roofed atrium — a sophisticated setting as we waited for the restaurant, Hermosos y Malditos, to open for lunch. I noticed patatas bravas on the cocktail menu and, because we were starving after an in-flight breakfast, we ordered what turned out to be an absolutely perfect sample — crisp on the outside, soft inside and served with a peppery dipping sauce and a savory yogurt dressing.

Hermosos y Malditos, the hotel’s all-day restaurant, is named for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Beautiful and The Damned, which took place during the carefree, pre-war days when the pursuit of pleasure dominated life. The restaurant is located in the exclusive Salamanca district, a 19^th-century neighborhood constructed for the aristocracy and haute bourgeoisie. Hermosos, meaning beautiful, describes the setting, guests and food, and Malditos, meaning damned, relates to the particularly popular, day-long cocktail bar which extends into the late evening hours with a DJ. The Fitzgerald theme is displayed with a wall full of pages from the book and in the waiters’ flared trousers, bow ties and classic court shoes. The restaurant’s all-day menu features homemade breakfast items and showcases places Fitzgerald frequented, including Juan les Pins on the Riviera; East Egg on the North Shore of Long Island; and Alabama, for his wife, Zelda.

Lobby Bar

Once seated at a banquette in the sleek, sun-lit restaurant, overlooking the chic streetscape on the convivial corner, we shared a platter of the jamon iberica pata negra, of which the quality was absolutely wonderful.

Chefs Rodolfo de Bernardi and Nacho Tirado designed a fantastic menu including a red and black lentil salad with a dollop of grilled foie gras, an osso bucco lasagna with spicy tomato, ribs with an orange and mustard glaze and squid and mackerel with chive mayonnaise.

Sage, who loves burrata, was quite content with its soft texture and she smiled as she shared my truffle-topped pasta. We decided the occasion was worthy of dessert and shared a chocolate and lemon cream crumble.

Hermosos y Malditos

Calle de Hermosilla
23, 28001 Madrid, Spain
tel 34 911 09 14 41