i. Biography
In Madrid, the sharpest kitchen language is often built from the least polished parts of the animal: lamb neck, tongue, and the cuts that demand attention to bone, texture, and memory. At La Tasquería, Javi Estévez has made that material the center of the work, building a restaurant vocabulary around offal that is exact rather than decorative. The animal is treated as something to be understood, not concealed, and the result is a table that sits comfortably between inherited practice and a contemporary register. Mole with lamb neck and escabechada tongue are among the dishes that fix that approach in place, translating it with clarity, depth, and restraint.
The Climb
The groundwork for this style was laid at Centro Superior de Hostelería de Galicia, where Javi Estévez first built the discipline that later had to hold under service pressure. From there, internships at Hotel Villamagna in Madrid and Cenador de Salvador added pace and repetition to that foundation. Posts as cook at Pepe Viera in Sanxenxo and La Calma de Salamanca placed him in daily kitchen routines where timing, rhythm, and instinct are tested constantly. A stagiaire period at Tragabuches widened the frame of that formation before he moved up to head chef at Villena in Segovia. He then served as chef at Mesón de Doña Filo in Madrid (2010–2014), a stretch that marked a key chapter in the development of the identity he would later make his own. That identity took clear form at La Tasquería de Javi Estévez (since 2015), where casquería became not a side note but the organizing logic of the menu. The work there is defined by the discipline needed to turn underused cuts into dishes that are direct, considered, and exacting.
Today
At La Tasquería in Madrid, Spain, offal is the specialty and the method. In Javi Estévez’s hands, it is handled as a working grammar rather than a provocation: a way of cooking that uses the whole animal more completely and gives due attention to ingredients that are often passed over. The restaurant’s force comes from that directness. It avoids distance and theatrics, relying instead on clarity of purpose. Mole with lamb neck shows how a central cut can be carried into a composed plate, while escabechada tongue shows how a traditional product can remain recognizable inside a contemporary restaurant context.
Signature
Mole with lamb neck and escabechada tongue are the clearest signatures here. Together, they define the kitchen’s terms: grounded in Spanish tradition, alert to texture, and willing to let humble ingredients carry the weight of the plate through technique and control.
In Their Words “This philosophy not only allows us to make the most of the resources available, but also opens the door to honour the most homemade and also to reach a wider public, showing that our cuisine is inclusive and suitable for all palates.” “We creatively reinterpret casquería as an opportunity to reduce food waste and promote more conscious cooking.”
Recognition
Javi Estévez's honors include 1 Sol (2020), 1 Star (2019), Bib Gourmand (2017), Restaurante Revelación (2016), Top Chef España, 5th place (2013), and Third place, final of Alimentaria 2012 (2012). Taken together, they mark the wider recognition of a cook whose work has helped move offal from the margins into a more visible place on the Madrid dining map.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Javi
What recognition has Javi Estévez received?
1 Sol (2020).
