Being a full time teacher means that I’m lucky enough to get some pretty major teacher perks, aka, a lot of holiday days – which let’s be real, is something that money can’t buy. So this week I found myself with a blissful 9 days off and aside from the on-going trauma that is ‘buying a house’ in Spain (that’s a whole other blog post that trust me no one wants to read) I basically found myself at a loose end.

The upside of this being that I had time to become a lady who lunches – so having managed to persuade a friend to extend her lunch break, I sought out somewhere tasty looking near her office that wouldn’t break the bank – my pennies are now being directed towards furniture sadly, and not food.

Fast forward to Grosso Napoletano, a lovely little Italian spot serving up some of the best pizzas in the city. Located on C/Santa Engracia, it’s neighbours with a whole host of hip and happening foodie outposts that are emerging weekly in Chamberi.

The beauty of Grosso Napoletano in my opinion was the simplicity of the menu – a few salads are on offer to share (we plumped for chicken and avo to get the tastebuds going) followed by diavola and a quattro formaggi pizzas respectively.

The cavernous wood burning oven cooked them to absolute perfection – the base was light but not doughy, the toppings charred but not burnt. I ate every last crumb and my friend took her leftovers back to work – much to the envy of her colleagues.

As the nervous energy that comes with the quest to becoming a homeowner appears to be burning some of my calorie intake, I plumped by a matcha tea tiramisu to round things off nicely. It was a quirky twist on an Italian classic and every bite as delicious as the pizza.

Pizza places are essentially ten a penny, but decent ones are not. Grosso serves up authentic Italian eats at prices that, let’s face it, are far more purse friendly than a return flight to Rome to sample the same.

So if you fancy living La Dolce Vita but the budget won’t stretch quite as far as Sardinia, Grosso Napoletano is no poor substitute. Both the service and the décor were spot on and if a simple lunch spot is what you’re after, then that’s what you’ll get. With two locations in the city (the other one on C/Hermosilla) it’s easy to grab a ‘pizza’ the action.

Photos from instagram @grosso_napoletano

Grosso Napoletano

• Website, Facebook, Instagram
• Address: Currently they have 8 locations
• Phone: 911 70 46 53

Minimalist, sleek and edgy. That’s the feeling I got when I first walked into Acid Cafe, a new coffee shop that opened its doors in Barrio de Las Letras just over a month ago.

A short walk away from the Reina Sofia, Acid Cafe is secluded, hidden down one of Madrid’s many cobblestoned roads. The only thing that signals it’s a coffee shop (besides the name) is the large coffee machine that can be viewed through its glass doors and walls.

Fede Graciano, the founder and main barista, greets you when you get in and will show you the selection of coffee they have available, letting you smell the aroma. Passionate about coffee, he describes coffee beans by citrus, fruit flavors or smoother, bodied textures.

The name itself comes from a coffee description – good coffee is often described by its acidity and sweetness. As a filtered coffee lover myself, it’s a name I can appreciate.

The cafe’s selection of food is seasonal and is meant to pair with its rotating selection of coffee from La Cabra, a roaster based in Aarhus, Denmark. Acid Cafe is the only shop in Madrid that offers the Nordic roaster and the quality of the filtered coffee is excellent.

The coffee menu isn’t extensive and offers an Americano, flat white, batch coffee and filtered coffee. If you don’t want coffee, they also have chai tea and kombucha.

Graciano said he wanted to create a place in Madrid that didn’t just sell good coffee with your typical hipster menu of avocado and toast or a croissant. The cafe’s winter menu includes a creative selection of winter veggies, such as the pumpkin with beans and paprika or the Labneh (a type of yogurt cheese) with roasted tomato and cauliflower.

Their pastries are also made in house, and I particularly enjoy their vegan cookies, although I’m far from being a vegan.

They also occasionally have live DJs on Sunday afternoons, which Graciano is hoping to make a weekly occurrence.

Stepping into Acid Cafe on a Sunday reminds me of my days in London, when I would go to the local café to get out of the rain. While there may be an excuse as often to escape from the rain, Acid Cafe offers an excellent option to refuel before heading back into the arid sun.

By Moriah Costa

Info

• Facebook, Instagram
• Address: Calle de la Verónica 9
• Metro: Antón Martín or Atocha