Voces del Prado

Paella and sangria at the old cafeteria

Conchi Montero Velasco, General Services Assistant, 1970-2014

The old cafeteria was located at what is known as the Murillo entrance today. It consisted of a large room and the stairs leading down to the basement hadn’t been built yet. That came later.
There were eight rows of tables and four waitresses served the room. Then there was the kitchen staff, the cleaning staff and the bar staff. We were there for twenty years, working hard, because although we complain that a lot of people come in today, a large number of people came in those days too. Especially in July and August. A huge number! In summer, we also had a terrace outside with eight or ten tables. The truth is it was really beautiful outside because the gardener tended the plants carefully, with a lovely climbing plant and with the fountain.
I have some really fabulous memories from the early days, because we were like a family. On one day the cook would make hotpot, the next day green beans, the next potato omelette. Which is to say, just what a housewife might make at home; those were the meals that were served at that time. We made hundreds of paellas. They were very much the order of the day. Then we got a hotplate and we made all kinds of things: grilled fillets, hamburgers, sandwiches. Years later we began to serve pancakes with caramel or vanilla. We had ten or twelve types of sandwich. And then the drinks. In those days people drank a great deal of sangria. They asked for a large or small jug of sangria. And we made the sangria with peaches, pieces of apple, pieces of lemon, sugar and wine. It was delicious! We also added a lot of ice. When the people at the next table saw it, they ordered it as well. They all drank gallons of sangria, but the fact is it was delicious and quite refreshing. In the summer we really sold quite a lot.