La Broche

Now seven years old, the gleaming white La Broche is still the benchmark of hip in Madrid's upscale dining scene. Chef Sergi Arola trained in Ferran Adrià's El Bulli restaurant-cum-food laboratory in Catalonia. He shows the same fascination with transforming textures and extracting essences. Some of his dishes almost defy description and might include a salad of sea and land snails roasted in lard, a deconstructed Catalan stew of beans and meatballs, a confit of cockscombs, or maybe even loin of horse with tomato bonbons. Txema Puente's desserts are no less outlandish: think ravioli of licorice with a gin foam and black-beer ice cream. METRO: Rubén Darío.