Lyon, Bariloche, París, San Sebastián, Shangai, Buenos Aires… Sierra de Guadarrama
Becerril de la Sierra is one of those quiet places that invite you to stroll around enjoying a purely mountain environment. And in Becerril, in addition to the traditional places for tapas, roasts and enjoy traditional cuisine, we can find a place that draws attention: Malabar.
To understand Malabar you have to know the trajectory of Yago Márquez, its chef and owner (together with his partner Cecilia Delpech whom he met in Lasarte). Yago is a young chef, but with a great experience in haute cuisine. Anyone would think that his career would be consolidated in Paris after training at Paul Bocuse’s school, and passing through Pierre Gagnaire, Pavillon Ledoyen and L’Atelier de Jöel Robuchon, but Martín Berasategui crossed his path and in 2007 he started working with him in Lasarte; two years later, he was in charge of starting up “Martín” in Shanghai and in that city, street cooking and markets opened up new horizons for him.
From Shanghai, the couple moved to Argentina developing various projects in Buenos Aires and Bariloche until, finally, in 2017 they come to the Sierra de Guadarrama and settle in Moralzarzal taking over Barrenola. But their project was still to come, they set up a small bistro in Navacerrada which they call Malabar and, finally, they move it to Becerril de la Sierra.
Malabar is something special, an apparently informal restaurant but with all the technique of a great chef at the service of what he calls “nomadic cuisine”, dishes that are constantly changing in a short menu (from a menu of eleven dishes only two of them have been kept since the opening) based on simple but very well chosen products that shine in absolutely original preparations with hints of French cuisine, oriental cuisine, street cuisine and local cuisine. In fact, what Malabar breathes is that everyone who works here enjoys what they do and their environment to the fullest, and it shows.
And if you go to Becerril and prefer something more traditional, do not forget places like El Albero or El Zaguán, if you are also looking for a good wine list, one of the best in the Sierra de Guadarrama is at La Terrazas, with about 500 national and international references at prices that invite you to drink and that accompany an offer of traditional cuisine based on a great product.
