-Your Majesty, let's escape! Let's go and have some wine! Life in the palace is rigid, distant, not very pleasant. Come on, sir, a day is a day!
These were the words of Antonio, the King's faithful valet, when it was beginning to get dark, on November 24, 1725.
-Sir, I know a recently opened tavern, five minutes from the palace, near the Plaza Mayor, where they make the most appetizing food you can imagine. The farthest thing from the protocol lunches that bore you so much.
After thinking about it several times, the King agreed and said to him:
-Antonio, I hope that this place you are telling me about will not disappoint me. You know that I have tasted the best dishes of our beloved Spain and of so many other countries through which I have traveled and, although I would like to get out of the palace routine, neither my palate nor my stomach allow me certain licenses, but we will give that new tavern a chance.
Without royal guards, or halberdiers, or custodians of any other kind, they went out trying not to be seen in this Madrid of chandeliers and oil lamps. The street in November is half-empty, so they arrived quickly and without being recognized.
The atmosphere in Botín was special. The contrast between the cold and lonely street and the almost full, noisy and above all warm tavern made them feel like two friends who went there every day. Antonio couldn't believe it, he was in Botín with the King without anyone noticing!
The food did not disappoint anyone. Vegetables, roasts and wine filled their stomachs as rarely before.
On the way back to the palace, the King, who was not very talkative, stopped for a moment. Antonio feared the worst, and so the King said to him:
-Antonio, we will have to repeat.
Whether they repeated or not, Antonio always kept the secret.
