The table is already set up. The main dish is cooking and the wine is in the fridge. One will hear the bell soon.

In Barcelona, entertaining at home with a special diner is a traditional custom. However, it isn´t the same in Madrid. One will be lucky if one gets to have friends to dine at one´s home. They will most probably suggest a good restaurant where, according to their views, they make a delicious this or that.

When I first arrived in Madrid, and after having refurbished my new flat, I looked to the dining room, thinking of the lovely diners I was going to have with my friends, followed by good conversation and a few drinks. Two years after my arrival, I had only achieved to use my dining room twice.

I do, of course, respect everyone´s likes, but I do still think that entertaining at home preparing a special meal is something worth preserving, especially on these days when restaurant prices seem to have gone sky high and not always one gets good quality for the money one pays. Never mind as regards the service one gets since restaurateurs have decided on contracting the cheapest staff. These people aren´t trained at all to serve in a good restaurant. They are probably over worked and badly paid and the only thing they probably think of is the time when they will be heading home.  

With the money we spend on a so called good restaurant, I could organise a real banquet at home, including the best wines.  

Say, I meet a friend I haven´t seen for a long time and we decide to meet for a diner at home, I delight thinking of what I am going to cook. Should I cook that beef casserole that it is always a success on the table or should I make one of our delicious and varied rice dishes?

Then, it comes the shopping. I also delight walking in the supermarket aisles, browsing and choosing on what I am going to take home for my special diner. Then, it comes the wine shelves. Ah, this deserves time, reading labels and different year harvests and deciding on which one would suit best.

When the day arrives, it is sheer joy to hear the bell. There are hugs, kisses and smiles. While the main dish is cooking, there will be toasts and “so, what have you been doing lately?”

There will be a relaxing atmosphere where everybody will feel at ease. There will be no rush, no over priced food and drinks and no badly mannered waiter because he or she is under paid and wishes to get home soon.