Nowhere in Chueca is the transformation of the neighborhood more obvious than at the working-man’s bar that one of the bartenders once assured us was “the most ancient, the most beautiful.” When the tavern opened in 1917 as an outlet for a vermouth maker south of the city, laborers from the gritty neighborhood would bring in their own bottles to be filled from the barrels. Nowadays it’s a much more primped crowd in tight jeans and jaunty earrings who stop off for a few excellent tapas, the retro kick of a glass of Spanish vermouth (very much an acquired taste), and a chance to admire the elaborate Andalucían tiles and the cellar full of vermouth barrels. The house vermouth is potent and rough but it goes well with smoked anchovies, chunks of tuna with onions and capers in vinaigrette, or a plate of sardines in olive oil.