From left: Pau Gasol, Rafa Nadal and Enrique Iglesias (Photos: Gasol, Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images; Nadal, Via Twitter; Iglesias, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Tennis star Rafael Nadal, Chicago Bulls center Pau Gasol and singer Enrique Iglesias are all Spaniards, all superstars in their respective fields, and … business associates?
A new restaurant called Tatel which offers updated versions of traditional Spanish fare, opened in Madrid this Saturday. Not exactly earth-shattering news, except that Nadal, Gasol and Iglesias are among the place's co-owners.
According to Madrid's El País newspaper, the restaurant is backed by the Ushuaïa hotel chain and the grand plan involves opening outlets of the eatery in the United States, Mexico, and the U.K.
The restaurant in its mission statement, in fact, bills itself as "the first private initiative that aims to boost the international standing of traditional Spanish gastronomy throughout the world and to make itself into an ambassador for the Spanish brand.”
Of the three celebrities involved in the project, only Nadal was in Madrid for the opening, although he could be forgiven for not being in a partying mood. On Saturday night he was preparing for the final of the Madrid Masters, which he lost on Sunday to Andy Murray.
Still the tennis star did tweet about the restaurant, including a photo of himself in front of it on Sunday night. "Here's a pic at the restaurant," he wrote on Twitter. "Pleasure to work [on] this project with @PauGasol & @Enrique305."
Iglesias is in-between tour dates in Colombia and Mexico, but he also managed to tweet about the opening.
The only one of the trio who didn't engage in social media publicity for the restaurant was Gasol, who was in Chicago for Game 4 of the Bulls' NBA playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday afternoon.
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