Contemporary Spanish, served only as tasting menus rather than à la carte, cooked at the open kitchen in front of the room. Both menus share dishes such as a smoked-mackerel gilda with tomato granita, cochinillo de Ávila cooked two ways, and roasted red mullet with a cockle-and-seaweed cream, quinoa and kale. The kitchen can work around allergies and offers vegetarian-friendly options if you flag them when booking.

Javier Aranda, from Toledo, has been cooking since he started in restaurants at 16, and worked at El Bohío, Ars Vivendi, Urrechu and Santceloni. In 2014, at 27, he won a Michelin star with his first restaurant, La Cabra. He opened Gaytán, named after his grandfather, on Príncipe de Vergara in 2016, and it won a star the same year, his second, which it has held ever since. It also holds one Repsol Sol.

Aranda says his dishes start as drawings: a base product first, then the ingredients that complete it, with traditional recipes reworked through modern technique.

The whole room is arranged around an oval open kitchen framed by the building's original wooden columns, so every dish is finished in full view of the tables. The restaurant describes it as cooking without barriers, a show that is part of the meal. There are also two private lounges for groups.

The kitchen itself is a 'Majestic' range designed and built by the Spanish kitchen maker Pilsa, set in the middle of the room with no glass or screen between cooks and diners, under a filtering hood that keeps the air clear. The work tables are finished in Dekton and Silestone, and the same maker built the bar, with its smoked-glass bottle display, and the wine cellar, which is integrated into the room.

Gaytán serves tasting menus only, built around the season's produce. INAUREM, at €150, opens with a round of conserves, pickles and charcuterie-style bites, such as a smoked-mackerel gilda with tomato granita and piparra noodle, a cod-liver Swiss roll with passion fruit, and a bikini of Bull del Perol. It moves on to grilled broad beans, smoked eel with roast chicken in gazpachuelo, rock red mullet with cockles and seaweed, a farm egg yolk with foie gras, and Ávila suckling pig cooked two ways, before a 90% Piura cacao mousse.

The longer Menú Javier Aranda, at €210, adds dishes such as a sweetbread tortellini in homage to Santi Santamaría, scallop with roasted cauliflower and dashi, and slow-cooked beef rib with romesco. The kitchen can work around allergies and offers vegetarian-friendly options if you flag them when booking.

Each menu has its own wine pairing: €65 with INAUREM, €85 with Menú Javier Aranda, and a Gran Menú Javier Aranda pairing at €120. The pairings are chosen by sommelier Valentín Checa, whom the restaurant presents as one of Spain's seven Advanced sommeliers.

Aranda's cooking also travels. Gaytán has run a catering service under his name for events since 2023, and in June 2026 he launched Javier Aranda Catering at Finca Aal Cachucho, a family-run estate with a seven-room boutique hotel in San Agustín del Guadalix, about half an hour from Madrid, for weddings and events. The presentation menu drew straight from the restaurant: a farm egg yolk with foie gras and seasonal mushroom stew, rock red mullet with seaweed cream and cockles, Rubia Gallega beef, and the 90% cacao mousse, served by the Gaytán dining-room team under Javier Gil. Back at the restaurant, Aranda also runs occasional cooking classes and showcooking sessions.

Gaytán is closed on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday are dinner only, from 20:00 to 22:00, and Thursday to Saturday add lunch from 13:00 to 14:45. Book through the reservation page on the chef's own site, or call +34 913 48 50 30. The restaurant also runs occasional cooking classes and showcooking sessions with Aranda, sold as tickets on its site.