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FOR years Madrid’s legendary Sobrino de Botin has proudly held the Guinness World Record for being the planet’s oldest restaurant – but now it is being challenged.
Founded in 1725, this culinary icon – a favourite of literary giants like Ernest Hemingway – celebrated 300 years of serving up classic Spanish fare earlier this year.
The wood-fired oven and its prime location near Plaza Mayor has cemented the restaurant’s place in history.
Casa Pedro in Madrid is now making the bold claim that “We are even older!”
Owners of the restaurant are confident that their establishment survived the violent War of Spanish Succession, in the early 1700s. This would place its opening date well before Botin’s.
“It’s really frustrating when you say, ‘Yes, we’ve been around since 1702′, but… you can’t prove it,” admits Irene Guiñales, the eighth-generation owner and manager, whose family has run the place for centuries.
“If you look at the restaurant’s logo, it says ‘Casa Pedro, since 1702,’ so we said, ‘Damn it, let’s try to prove it!”We said, ‘Damn it! Let’s try to prove it!
The Guiñales family has now hired a historian, who has unearthed documents proving Casa Pedro was cooking as far back as 1750. The search is on to find the crucial evidence that would push the date back as far as 1702.
Just when you thought the Spanish showdown could not get any spicier, an Italian competitor sneaks into the ring. La Campana, a trattoria in Rome’s historic centre, boasts ‘more than 500 years of operation’, citing ancient documents and its own self-published history.
The owners of the car are reportedly preparing all the paperwork needed to compete against both Spanish competitors for the oldest title in the world.
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