Those of you who know ACID Café and ACID Bakehouse will probably know this other project by Fede Graciano. It’s called GOTA and it is a wine bar that specializes in natural wines, good music and small dishes to share.

Its origins date back to the back of Acid Bakehouse, where they offered their first dinners and events in a really cool and fun atmosphere, with a clandestine vibe that was really cool. However, they realised that GOTA is an entity in itself and it needed its own space. Said and done. GOTA already has a new life at Las Salesas and what a life it is! The space is a beauty designed by Plantea Studio with furniture by FRAMA and lamps by Santa&Cole.

A few days ago, we chatted to Fede about the project and this is what he told us.

How did the idea of creating GOTA at Acid Bakehouse come about? Who is behind this project?

Since I opened ACID 5 years ago, I began introducing natural wine in the café. Through pop-ups, selling wine magazines, then a couple of shelves where I would make a wine selection of wines that I enjoyed at home and then would sell them to take away… And slowly, the wine began to gain ground. That’s why, when we openedACID Bakehouse and with it having such a large space (with a license for wine consumption), I decided to use the back room to “try” what it would be like to run a mini wine bar with some food. And that’s how it got its own name and its own identity.

What is the concept behind it?

“The concept could not be simpler or clearer: natural wine, food for sharing and music.”

And I say simple because it exists in every city in the world but in Madrid no-one had raised those three pillars to a more “professional” level yet. 

What is your link to natural wines?

Being a consumer for years, the same as with specialty coffee. The worlds of coffee and wine are very connected, and they have been a passion of mine that became a job, the same thing happened when I opened ACID Café.

What are your selection criteria and with what kind of wineries do you work?

Our criteria when it comes to selecting wines has different steps to it: first that the wine has to be natural. When we say natural, as there is no legislation or “rules”, we created our own criteria: no chemicals on the vine, respecting the ground, no chemicals in the grape, no chemicals or corrections at the winery. A philosophy that, when respected from start to finish, is beautiful.

The second step is to make a selection that is different to the rest on offer. Getting wines that nobody brings or cuvées that many bars/restaurants pass by because they are pricey or they have a profile that is “difficult” to sell, etc. Obviously, there is part of the selection that you can find elsewhere but the majority are things nobody else in Madrid works with.

Is there a story behind this new space?

The story is that the building is owned by the same owners as ACID Bakehouse. They are really happy with our work, that’s why they offered us this space for us to do something worthy of the neighbourhood. It was the perfect opportunity to “emancipate” GOTA from ACID and open its own space with a larger team and more amenities for the service. It is a small space, with a complex distribution, that together with the architecture studio, we worked out in the best possible way, with an open kitchen that connects the two rooms.

Who was responsible for the decor and with which brands have you worked?

With regards to the architecture and the design of the space, we worked with Plantea Estudio, and for the furniture most of it with my friends from FRAMA in Copenhagen. When we opened GOTA I realised that we are the perfect trio, that’s why from now on, all the ACID projects will be executed in the same way. The ACID Bakehouse refurbishment (that will be ready in two weeks) and the third ACID location, very close to GOTA, will also follow this formula.

What would you highlight from your menu? It would be great if you could tell us about the chef and the wine guy, whose name I never remember and who is such a great guy.

Our food menu stands out for having two sections: one for snacks for those times when the kitchen is not open, and another main menu where we work with seasonal produce, simple elegant dishes, all elaborated in-house and that change completely every month so that the regular customers may have a different experience. We have a team of five people in the kitchen and, in the dining area, we have expanded since coming back from summer so there are six of us now.

Incidentally, can we buy the wines at GOTA?

“All the wines that we serve at GOTA can be bought to take away with a discount.”

Soon we will sell online for home order, and we will start the distribution of small producers that we are bringing in from Argentina.

How was the experience at Numeroventi? Will you do other stages like this at other venues?

The experience at Numeroventi was really positive. I am a friend of the team, and the idea of doing something in summer while GOTA was closed for holidays in Madrid came up.

“The “pop-up” or collaborations will be constant. That is how ACID was born and how we want to keep things with GOTA. They are really enriching experiences.”

Specially recommended for those who love honest places, with soul and without frills, with excellent produce, a better atmosphere and really lovely staff with who you’d happily sit and have some wine.

(*) photos by Salva López.

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