Eat in Jai Alai restaurant together with the second and third generations that run it today, it is a pleasure. Not only because they keep the menu intact, with the classics of Basque cuisine with which they have triumphed in the capital, but because the 100 years they celebrate this month flood the table with anecdotes and references of all Spanish history.

They have sat at their tables politicians, queens and kings, artists, athletes, singers, folk artists… and this is attested to by the walls full of snapshots that welcome us on the first floor.

It did not always occupy the same place. The restaurant was founded in 1922 on 6, Alfonso

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a Basque pelota fronton there where they played Markina pelotaris, strong young people, known in their universe as movie stars. This pediment made the pelotaris They will spend a lot of time in the capital, missing traditional Basque food.

It was then that one of these pelotaris, Roberto Bustingorri, was offered the concession for the fronton restaurant to set up a restaurant basque food. so he brought to its brother, Rufino Bustingorri, his wife, Dolores Goyogana and his sister Rosalía who opened the Jai Alai restaurant in 1922.

In 1936 the civil war broke out ylto activity of Jai Alai remained temporarily paused and with Rufino and his wife outside Spain. And in 1940, Jai Alai opened again its doors to provide good dishes in times of rationing.

Since the 60s, and with a new location in the Balbina Valverde street number 2, it is managed by Miguel Bustingorri, his wife Antonia, and their daughters María José and Arantxa, together with her husband Ibon as head chef.

100 years after its inauguration, we share a table and tablecloth with 83-year-old Miguel, an inexhaustible source of Jai Alai anecdotes and with his daughter and third generation, María José.

Between dish and dish, jokes follow one another: “Cayetana de Alba was very regular at this place, and here we witnessed an attack of jealousy because her last husband, Alfonso, accompanied a lady who came with them on the arm. A charming lady,” says Miguel.

“On another occasion, 200 BBVA employees who were celebrating their annual lunch (and they will not forget it) were received by Emilio Botín, founder of Banco de Santander at the doors of the restaurant, as he was waiting on the threshold for the entrance of the queen. emerita Sofía who shared food with César Alierta from Telefónica. The BBVA workers were surprised by Botín’s reception,” they say with a laugh.

Jai Alai is much more than a restaurant, it is a place where wherever you look, there is history. Occupies a house three plantswhat a sum several rooms (some private) and a large terrace.

There is no posh politician that have not passed through their dining rooms during the warbut above all, in the years of the Transitionwhen members of different political parties They gathered around a table full of food to elucidate its future. Not in vain, Jai Alai was the emblematic restaurant of Platajunta.

“One day Lola Flores went down to the kitchens, known as the ‘submarine’, to make herself some fries…” says María José Bustingorri, head of management and public relations for the room and events. We talked to her about what it means to belong to this generation of hoteliers.

¿What women have been important in these three generations?

If we go back to the previous generation, they all came from the Hotel Vega, the one who was my father’s grandmother, Eustaquia, was very important. Mother of a lot of children, she came to Madrid to start the restaurant and then returned to the Basque Country. Later my mother, Antoni, who is a very active person, works a lot in the restaurant and became fundamental and the absolute soul of Jai Alai.

Is it difficult to be a hotelier today?

The way we handle it, this is pure craftsmanship, it is indeed complicated to reconcile with the family. We spend many hours here and are very much on top of everything. It’s true that then you talk to a lot of women who work in other sectors and it happens to all of us, we are always juggling…

How did you do during the first months that your children were born…?

Well, the gynecologist scolded me a lot. I left accounts on December 25. And I told the doctor to please “hold it” until January 2nd, because she had a lot of work and it was terrible for me… and then I received a reprimand and evidently, she was born on December 20th.

Don’t you want your daughters to continue in the business?

I’m not going to impose it, and if anyone wants to, I’ll tell them to do it better than me, to do it better, because this job has a precious part. You receive people who are celebrating and enjoying the moment. What’s bad about it is that the one who is left without celebrating is you. It has that part of sacrifice and the schedules are very bad, but it is also exciting.

An illusion that has led them to turn one hundred to continue cooking those Basque cuisine recipes with which the first Jai Alai was born, to maintain a family business that jumps from generation to generation, to continue being the usual destination for business meals at midday, leisure meetings at night or on the weekend, and making clients feel at home…

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