Mamá Chicó Restaurant

What started in 2012 as a small shop in La Coruña’s old town has been converted today into an original concept that has finally arrived in Madrid, on Recoletos street. Its mission? To pay tribute to good food through a culinary concept that fuses traditional Italian, Argentinian, and Galician cuisines. With this, it’s all-in-one.

Mamá Chicó is its name and it was born as a family project conceived by Martín Presumido, its director, with the help of his father, Héctor Presumido, an expert in the preparation of products made from flour. “Originally, my idea was to make pizzas like in metro stations, but gourmet … and then it was transformed into what it is today. Upon seeing I had high approval, one year later (in 2013) I decided to leave my position as commercial director of Zara Man to launch a chain with this concept.” This idea, defined as an Italian-Argentinian restaurant with a Galician soul, has expanded to cities like Vigo and Arteixo and now comes to Madrid, with a menu created by a 100% Galician chef (this is where the ‘Galician soul’ comes from). And as for the Italian-Argentinian, Martín explains that “although many people don’t know this, Argentinian food has a significant Italian influence. Pizza and pasta make up 70% of what an Argentine eats, and the majority of the restaurants you’ll find in Buenos Aires are pizza and pasta.”

They wanted to offer the best fresh pasta and pizzas and become a benchmark of quality. And heck, it looks like they’ve achieved it. We started with their black dough pizza, prepared with charcoal, cured meat with tomato and pecorino cheese, and the pizza with mushrooms with foie, caramelized onion and arugula. Perfect to share. Don’t worry, we didn’t forget the appetizers — we simply wanted to start with two smash hits that now have become the kings of this place. It’s essential to try the burrata atop tomato carpaccio with green pesto ice cream and black olive powder, a combination of flavors and textures that you’ll never want to end. Another of their specialties is made up of pork cheek croquettes with pistachio on crushed Oreos and pumpkin cream. Apart from pasta and pizza, meat is another of their important products, and it appears in offerings like Galician beef hamburger, black angus sirloin cap, the bluefin tuna tataki or the oxtail lasagna.

The space, which has a covered patio, a main dining room, and a private room, also features a small bakery called “Chicó Bakery,” where they prepare all the desserts and breads they serve in the restaurant. Their recommendation to sweeten the palate is lemon pie, a creamy lemon cake on a base of sablée dough covered in toasted Swiss meringue, or the puff pastry tart, covered in dulce de leche and whipped cream.

But we better not spoil it all. Take the opportunity to experience it and give your stomach an exquisite experience — you’ll appreciate it.