Jorge Juan: where elegance leads the way

Jorge Juan is one of the main shopping streets in the Barrio de Salamanca, where a long list of fashion, restaurant and leisure firms succeed each other. A shopping area that has been able to evolve in response to the changing tastes of society being an example of this many premises that have been converted into high level mono-brand shops, restaurants or beauty salons.

Joining Calle Serrano at number 32, it is one of the city’s most prestigious and fashionable areas and it is the street chosen by many Spanish and international labels (such as Loewe, Marni, Masscob, El Ganso and many more) for showcasing their creations to lovers of fashion, fine dining and evenings out with friends.

Bon vivants visit Jorge Juan and the surrounding streets in search of the delicious food served up in the district’s numerous restaurants. Many of them have outdoor tables in the summer and even in the winter, allowing diners to enjoy a superb meal as well as a great atmosphere.

Jorge Juan is the haunt of eminent business leaders, artists and enthusiasts of afterwork pursuits and life’s small pleasures, which can be sampled as the miniature works of art at El Paraguas, the lip-smacking papas arrugadas (Canarian wrinkly potatoes) at Los Gallos. Ultramarinos Quintín is a must-visit establishment. This charming grocery store selling the finest ingredients also has a bar area that has become a hotspot for Madrid socialites.

Run by the restaurateurs, Paco Quirós and Carlos Crespo, La Bien Aparecida restaurant (Jorge Juan, 8) offers the finest dishes of Cantabrian cuisine; and the exotic Amazónico restaurant can be visited at Jorge Juan, 20, with international cuisine that merges recipes and dishes from different countries. The Cadaqués  restaurant (Jorge Juan, 35), a cosy establishment serving Mediterranean cuisine and specialising in fish and seafood, also stands out.

The opening of the international restaurant Cipriani is the icing on the cake at Number 12, Calle Jorge Juan. Other shops in the area include Cortana(Jorge Juan, 12), the men's shoe shop, Church's; Isabel Marant fashion shop (Jorge Juan, 12); Scalpers (Jorge Juan, 7) with the latest trends in men's fashion; or the Santa Teresa Gourmet store.

Others worthy of mention are the Christofle store (Jorge Juan, 4), a reputed brand focusing on glass and porcelain ornaments; the perfume and cosmetics store, Jo Malone London (Lagasca 32, corner of Jorge Juan); the Italian fashion firm’s store, Aspesi (Jorge Juan, 5); or the  Vilebrequin store (Jorge Juan, 13) focusing on luxury swimwear for men.

The area is also home to the store of French designer firm Robert Clergerie (Jorge Juan, 14), specialising in women's footwear and offering elegant and highly distinguished fashion; as well as the British brand Barbour (Jorge Juan, 5), a fashion classic with its waxed jackets and clothing for men, women, and children; and Hackett London (Jorge Juan, 7), the British brand that sells menswear and accessories.

Whose two side streets Callejón Jorge Juan and Calle Puigcerdá provide the finishing touches to this area where good taste and style go hand in hand. Scott Schuman, the man behind the street style blog par excellence The Sartorialist, has chosen this area as a setting for his posts on several occasions.

An occasion to watch out for is the annual San Jorge Juan festival held on 22 June and organised by the prestigious men’s fashion magazine GQ. The street is closed off to traffic on that day to allow bars to be set up outdoors alongside mini-theatres, shops open until midnight and where fun, plenty of fun, is to be had with men’s fashion as its central theme.

Calle de Jorge Juan is also home to the popular Flower Market, a window where the neighbourhood’s florists present their floral products on the street and fill one of the city’s trendiest streets with colour. Regular consultation of the digital magazine Distrito41 is a good way of keeping up with the area’s latest commercial, culinary and cultural proposals.