At the end of the 18th century, an establishment known as "Pastelería de Botín" was founded in the Plaza de Herradores in Madrid. It was owned by José Puertas Sánchez, alias Botín, who died in 1847. After the death of José Puertas, his nephew Cándido Remis Puertas took over the shop, although only as a manager or tenant. In 1865, Cándido Remis broke with owner Eduardo León and opened his own establishment, "Pastelería de Cándido Remis, sobrino de Botín", at 17 Calle de Cuchilleros. On the façade, there is an inscription from the year 1725, which only proves the date when the stone façade was installed, although it is used as a commercial claim about the supposed antiquity of the premises. In the 1930s, Botín was acquired by the married couple Amparo Martín and Emilio González. The González family is still in charge of the restaurant today. The original premises in Plaza de Herradores, known since the beginning of the 20th century as "Antigua Casa Botín" and which boasted of having been founded in 1620 (another legend), closed due to financial problems in 1936, although it reopened in 1939. It closed permanently in the 1960s, after the property and the rights to the trade name were acquired by the González family, in order to eliminate competition. Apart from using the original recipes, the restaurant has also kept the flame burning in the oven continuously, never to be extinguished. The restaurant and its speciality of
cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig) are mentioned in the closing pages of
Ernest Hemingway's novel
The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway's visits were most likely to the "Antigua Casa Botín" in Plaza de Herradores. Its other signature dish is
sopa de ajo (an egg poached in chicken broth, and laced with sherry and garlic), a favorite pick-me-up with
madrileño revellers. ==Botin overseas==