Killer tripe at Taberna Los Huevos de Lucio

At Taberna Los Huevos de Lucio, Lisa asked me what we should order. As if I was going to tell someone who spent almost a year hanging with the chefs at elBulli what we should get. Instead, I told her to just order a bunch of stuff that she thought I should try. So she starts us off with a very typical Madrid tapa, callos a la Madrileña—tripe casserole with chorizo and chilies.

“I love this dish,” she says. And she’s right, the chewy ringlets of honeycomb offal and thick slices of chorizo swimming in a pottery dish filled with a thick blood-red sauce flavored with pimentón, the smoky Spanish paprika from La Vera that smells and tastes like chipotle peppers.

We kill the tripe and Lisa orders an egg dish (this place is famous for its many egg tapas)—los huevos de Lucio los de jamón (eggs and ham!)—after which Lisa slyly suggests that since it’s still early, we stop in at one of her other favorite neighborhood places, Juanalaloca Pintxos-Bar. Just so, you know, she can say hi to friends, and I can have a look at the menu before heading home. As if that’s going to happen.