Imagining autumn..

I like walking in the rain, listening to the sound of my steps as the branches and fallen leaves crack beneath my feet. I like watching and feeling how water brings life into being…

Strolling through the forest, hearing how the leaves rustle, sensing the birds and animals running in the distance, looking and admiring the range of colors nature offers us in the mountains of Madrid — from ochre to green, even shades of gray and magenta. Walking through the fields of our village and imagining what it would be like to bring the most gastronomic season of the year to the table at Casa de Manolo Franco…

Autumn is arriving, and it won’t be long before the first rains bring the mushrooms. Mushrooms are the queens of autumn: from October until early spring, this region offers níscalos, porcini, oyster mushrooms… true high-quality treasures waiting in the forest for anyone who knows how to collect them, appreciate them, and learn how to cook them.

With mushrooms, we usually prepare unique dishes, but this time we’ve planned a trilogy of mushrooms that will almost completely change what we had in mind last year. Autumn is also hunting season: wild boar, fallow deer, wild rabbit, hares — though sadly, these are becoming increasingly scarce in our mountains. These animals have exceptional organoleptic qualities, full of flavor, low in fat, rich in omega-3s, and they inspire us to imagine dishes that will make you happy. What will the rice be this time, the one that has earned so many kind words?

In autumn, the air also smells of thyme and rosemary, of lavender and pines, while oak leaves fall at our feet… You already know that the herbs and trees of our mountains and countryside are the foundation of our cuisine. At Casa de Manolo Franco, we cook with time, with feelings and emotion, but also with the herbs and trees of the land playing an essential role. And so it will be this autumn.

This is the time to imagine and dream of making our guests happy, cooking autumn, telling stories, vibrating with the best energy, holding onto the star that shines on our restaurant and makes us better. This is the time to imagine autumn, to feel it… and begin to cook. Autumn is coming soon, and we await you at our home.

I would love for you to book now for October, November, and December, because this menu will be available from the second week of October until Constitution Day. After that, we’ll have our Christmas menu. But that… will be another story.

Now, let’s imagine autumn… It’s coming. Do you feel it?

M.franco

Otoño en Valdemorillo - Fotografía: Mica Vazquez