The Vacas brothers
The Vacas brothers run Viuda de Vacas, a traditional Castilian restaurant in Madrid's La Latina.
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The Vacas brothers run Viuda de Vacas, a Castilian restaurant in Madrid's La Latina neighbourhood. The site dates to 1887, when it was the Posada de San Antonio, an inn for travellers and mule drivers on Cava Alta. Segundo Vacas and his wife Victoria Sastre took over the business in 1903, and it's stayed in the family ever since, now in its third generation. Since 2006 it's operated from a corner site on Calle del Águila, still serving the same home-style Castilian cooking the family started with.
Biography
Career
The building at the heart of Viuda de Vacas started out in 1887 as the Posada de San Antonio on Cava Alta, an inn with 24 rooms that housed travelling mule drivers and honey merchants from La Alcarría alongside a dining room for guests. Segundo Vacas and his wife Victoria Sastre bought the business in 1903, and after Segundo's death it took the name Viuda de Vacas, "Vacas's widow." It passed to their son Juan Vacas and his wife Carmen, and in the 1970s their children, Belén, Juan Carlos and Javier Vacas, took over the running of it. The restaurant moved to its current corner site on Calle del Águila in 2006, after the original building was restored, and it's still run by that third generation of the family.
Philosophy
The kitchen still serves the traditional Castilian cooking established by Victoria Sastre: oxtail, Madrid-style tripe, chicken in pepitoria sauce, stuffed quail, and squid in its own ink, alongside dishes brought in over the years from other parts of Spain, like Asturian fabada and Galician-style octopus.
Restaurants
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Frequently asked
Who runs Viuda de Vacas?
The Vacas brothers, the third generation of the family that took over this Castilian restaurant in 1903, run Viuda de Vacas in Madrid's La Latina neighbourhood.
How old is Viuda de Vacas?
The building dates to 1887, when it was the Posada de San Antonio, an inn for travellers on Cava Alta. The Vacas family bought the business in 1903.
What does Viuda de Vacas serve?
Traditional, home-made Castilian dishes such as oxtail, Madrid-style tripe, chicken in pepitoria sauce, stuffed quail, and squid in its own ink.
Where is Viuda de Vacas located?
It's on Calle del Águila 2 in La Latina, a corner of Madrid de los Austrias, where it's operated since 2006 after moving from its original Cava Alta site.
Why is it called Viuda de Vacas?
The name means "Vacas's widow." Segundo Vacas bought the business with his wife Victoria Sastre in 1903, and it took her married name after his death.
Is Viuda de Vacas a family-run restaurant?
Yes. It's stayed in the Vacas family since 1903, passing from Segundo Vacas and Victoria Sastre to their son Juan Vacas, then in the 1970s to their children Belén, Juan Carlos and Javier Vacas.