The menu is built on a deep knowledge of traditional recipes, honest and without artifice, cooked over a slow fire. The carta runs from Iberian acorn-fed ham and croquettes through stews, rice dishes and casseroles to a catch of the day, plus a section labelled Ramón's Favorites. Product-led and seasonal.

Ramón Freixa grew up among bread and memory in Castellfollit de Riubregós, a small Catalan town, taking his first kitchen steps in his grandparents' bakery and learning the value of product and memory at the family restaurant, Freixa Tradició. Over his career he has earned two Michelin stars, two knives at The Best Chef Awards and three Repsol Soles. In July 2025 he opened Tradición at Velázquez 24, next to his avant-garde Ramón Freixa Atelier, as a return to his essence: a restaurant built to reclaim Spanish cooking as a living, varied legacy, where product leads, technique serves and the fire is slow. It is recommended in the Michelin Guide and holds one Repsol Sol.

The carta draws on a deep knowledge of the Spanish recipe book. It opens with 100% Ibérico Montaraz ham and coppa, a 'super good' ham croquette, the RF Gilda, hand-rubbed Cantabrian anchovies with Payoyo cheese cream, and oysters three ways. Starters include pâté en croûte, artichokes with cockles in green sauce, and a prawn cocktail 'like the old days', and the stews and casseroles run to verdinas with clams and spider crab, lentils with foie gras and pigeon, sea-and-mountain meatballs with cuttlefish, and callos.

From the sea there is salt cod as it was made at Freixa Tradició, grilled kokotxas in pil-pil, and a sea bass Wellington with Champagne sauce for two; from the land, three-meat cannelloni with foie and truffle, boeuf bourguignon, free-range chicken with lobster and aged Galician beef from the grill. Ramón's Favourites include carabinero with broken eggs from Cobardes y Gallinas, and desserts run from rum baba to Alex Cordobés's cheesecake. A daily trolley of market suggestions shows the best fish, meat and vegetables of the day, cooked roast, baked, grilled, steamed or stewed. Aperitif, bread and olive oil cost €4.50 per person.

The Mesa del Chef, launched in November 2025, is Tradición's premium extension: at lunchtime it takes over the counter that becomes Ramón Freixa Atelier at night, with its own team and head chef, Mario Sánchez, but a very different style, closer to Tradición. It runs from Wednesday to Saturday at midday, by booking through Tradición's website, with limited places.

The carta is built each day around scarce, seasonal product: Freixa buys from his phone every afternoon, as suppliers send him what's coming in. The peas come from the Maresme grower Pau Santamaria, son of the late Santi Santamaria; fish and shellfish from Arrom and Pescaderías Coruñesas; beef from Discarlux; game from the Gómez Ortiz brothers' stall at the Mercado de Vallehermoso; eggs from Cobardes y Gallinas. Dishes have included a Gilda Deluxe that can carry Palamós red prawn, goose barnacle and lobster, a 'trilogy of whiskers' of red prawn, white prawn and quisquilla, pheasant à la Santa Alianza, hare à la royale and a lobster Wellington, with wines from great names to small producers. Freixa has put the average spend at around €100 in Tradición and from €150 at the Mesa del Chef.

Alejandra Pombo designed Tradición's floor at Velázquez 24: four lounges with their own personalities, two private rooms, a cocktail bar, wine cellars and an open kitchen. The entrance leads past a striking lamp, with a red-wine cellar on one side and a bar with a ham slicer on the other. The restaurant describes itself as cheerful at midday and intimate at night. The whole of Velázquez 24 runs to about 600 square metres, and Tradición takes around three-quarters of it, with 120 seats; Atelier hides at the back of the lower floor. Each day a trolley Freixa calls the 'joyería', the jewellery box, shows off-menu dishes, and on Mondays it carries 'chup chup' stews.

Tradición is open every day of the year, with the kitchen running continuously from 13:00 to 00:30. Book through the reservation page on its site, by phone on +34 603 961 293 or by email at info@ramonfreixatradicion.com; events go to eventos@ramonfreixatradicion.com. It is wheelchair accessible and dog-friendly.