The Arce restaurant opened its doors on December 1, 1988 and will close them permanently on May 26, 2023. This has been announced by the chef, Inaki Cambaand his wife and co-owner of the restaurant, Maita Camarillo, in the country. They have not succeeded in having their children inherit the establishment. And it was time to retire.
During its 35-year history, Arce has been a benchmark for good food in Madrid, practicing a forceful style of cooking, rich in game, offal and marinades, which has seen better days. Added to the recent closure of Santceloni and Viridiana, Arce puts one of the last remaining nails in the coffin of what was Madrid’s cuisine at the end of the 20th century. Sacha remains and little else.
His legacy lives on, however, in one of his pupils, such as Cesar Martinfrom Lakasa; Marian Reguera, from the Verdejo or Saúl Sanz tavern, from Treze. They continue to defend the two commandments that Camba has always practiced: “Take care of the customer and pamper the seasonal product above all things”.
Without fear there is no passion, Begoña Rodrigo, La Salita
The place will reopen in September, but it will no longer be Arce
Although Arce will close its doors this Friday, at a dinner for friends and family, the venue will not, which will reopen in September at the hands of the star-studded chef Andres Madrigalwho had worked with Camba in Balzacwhom he replaced as head chef.
“It is true that it could not have been someone from the family, but it fills us with happiness to be able to leave this space in which we have been so happy to someone we love, admire and consider to be the best heir of our way of understanding gastronomy, Andrés Madrigal”, explains Camarillo in The country.
Madrigal will reopen the Arce location in September, after a complete renovation and with a new name: Per Se Bistro. “The decision to take this place has also been with the commitment that the soul of Camba and Camarillo does not disappear,” says the chef who, after several years away from the kitchen, promises to return in style in an emblematic restaurant.
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