Recognised by the Michelin Guide, the restaurant of the Box Art Hotels group is entering a new era of culinary maturity at its mansion in La Torre (Collado Mediano), where the grill becomes a language and local produce an emotion.
There are places that inspire a different approach to cooking. KOMA, nestled in a mansion surrounded by nature in the heart of the Madrid mountains, is embarking on a new chapter with the arrival of chef Álex Marugán. A change that does not break with tradition, but refines it, to offer a more essential and intimate cuisine, where fire and memory weave a deeply honest gastronomic narrative.
KOMA’s evolution is now defined by the grill, time and the landscape. The arrival of Álex Marugán brings a refined focus on the essential, where fire ceases to be a mere resource and becomes a language. A tool that runs through the entire concept and coexists with a respect for stews, stocks and unhurried cooking. It is this same ethos that he now brings to the restaurant: “The truth is, I fell in love with the project, and I felt it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. It’s a showcase for doing something different, in an environment where I can work with small local producers—something very difficult in the centre of Madrid,” explains the chef.
A cuisine of roots, travel and memory
Trained at the Escuela Superior de Hostelería de la Casa de Campo in Madrid, Alex Marugán has forged his identity through travel. Mexico, France, Peru and Spain pulse through his cuisine, the result of a career that took him across the Atlantic in his early days, to work in Saint-Tropez, to delve into Nikkei cuisine in Madrid and to lead projects such as Barra /M. His personal journey was cemented with Tres Por Cuatro — born at a market stall and now a restaurant — and more recently with Pacto Raíz.
Álex, who has been recognised as one of the Basque Culinary Center’s 100 young talents, represents a generation that cooks from the heart. His language is that of the ‘simmer’, of the spoon, of the stew that requires time and attention. A cuisine that looks to the homes of mothers and grandmothers, to the memory of flavour, yet naturally incorporates the nuances of his travels and career. Product, technique and sensitivity intertwine in a concept that shuns artifice to embrace truth.
A concept that brings together local produce, charcoal-grilling and emotion
At KOMA, the mountains of Madrid are no longer just a backdrop, but become both pantry and inspiration. “We want to give value to small producers, seek out local ingredients, and build a cuisine with its own identity. To bring to the table what this environment gives us, through carefully crafted dishes and small touches of who we are as chefs,” adds Marugán.
Thus, the new menu is, in itself, a story. It features dishes such as the Parakeet Pastry with a bisque made from their heads or the Homemade Sausage with marinated sea bass, where tradition and technique interact naturally. The Lamb Neck Sope with vadouvan mole and goat’s yoghurt or the Broad Beans with marinated rabbit evoke that territory where stew and journey meet.
The grill, ever-present, provides some of the most intense moments, such as the roasted Chinese aubergine with goat’s yoghurt, sheep’s cheese, dried chilli and lime; the grilled carabinero prawn with roasted garlic mousse and lime; the KOMA-smoked mountain trout with a reduced stock of toasted bones; Venison loin with its Demiglace, toasted corn cream and pickles; or matured Charolais beef loin reared in Collado; or matured aged beef cut from Collado with Tuber Borchi Perigord sauce and flame-roasted pepper. The rice dishes — creamy rooster rice or dry grilled vegetable rice — and “Los Puches de KOMA”, a mountain-style reinterpretation of La Mancha porridge, which ties in directly with the cuisine of using up leftovers and with that domestic memory that defines Marugán’s offering.
In addition to the à la carte menu (average price €60), there are two tasting menus: Raíces and Brasas (€75) and Esencia (€95), both with a wine pairing option (price depending on the winery), conceived as an emotional journey through the new chef’s culinary universe. With this, KOMA reaffirms itself as a gastronomic destination in the Madrid mountains, a place where the surroundings, the fire and memory come together to offer an experience that transcends the dish and settles, without artifice, in the memory.
A brand with soul, inspired by a love of art and nature
Box Art Hotels was founded in 2012, when the couple Pilar Guillén and Ángel García rescued a derelict 19th-century neoclassical house in Collado Mediano and transformed it into Box Art La Torre, a small hotel surrounded by art, books and cinema, and KOMA, a leading gastronomic destination.
Convinced of the potential of the Sierra de Madrid to host a unique hotel project that combines art, design and gastronomy with a peaceful accommodation experience, ten years later they embarked on the construction of Box Art Hotel Alpino – and its restaurant CEDRO – which, built from wood, iron and glass, blends seamlessly into the lush forest of cedars and pines that surrounds it. With twenty-three rooms, meeting rooms and a restaurant, terrace, garden and swimming pool, plus a charming spa, it takes the concepts of aesthetics, relaxation and enjoyment to the highest level, offering an ideal getaway less than an hour from Madrid, as well as the perfect venue for exclusive corporate events.
KOMA Restaurant
BOX ART HOTEL La Torre
Opening hours: Closed Mon–Thu; Fri, Sat & Sun 1.30pm–3.30pm & 8.30pm–10.00pm
Paseo de Rosales, 48. Collado Mediano, 28450 Madrid
Telephone: 672 185 197 – 918 558 558
https://boxarthotel.com/restaurante-koma
Source: BUCK3ET Communications Agency