Las Ventas con Pena Aguilera (Toledo) Spain?
 

Penelope Casas, in "Discovering Spain," mentions this town as one of the sources for leatherware sold by Loewe. So I am taking a wild chance here and asking if anyone has visited this town and shopped here? We will be in Toledo and could make an excursion here. Muchas gracias!

Maybe I sound stupid but I'm curious..who's Penelope Casas ? By the way..first time in my life I hear that town name :)

Kenderina, Las Ventas con Pena Aguilera is a small village in the province of Toledo (1480 hab.), a few kms south of Cuerva on the CM4021, far from the madding crowd.

Penelope Casas is a Spanish food critic/writer, which you are obviously not familiar with since she deals mostly with the American Market. Don’t fee bad on either case. (http://www.tienda.com/indepth/askpenelope.html)

Thanks, Robert :)I've followed the link and find she's not spanish...she was born in NYC :))) Her husband is, though.
You know, it's amazing the enormous quantity of very little villages we have here, it's just impossible to know most of them. In fact, with 1480 hab. its certainly small but is not between the smallest !! There are a lot with less than a thousand :)

Casas is probably the foremost writer of Spanish cookbooks here in the US. Her book, Food and Wines of Spain, is probably THE most respected Spanish cookbook available here. She also writes for Gourmet and ther New York Times. But her book Discovering Spain is a real joy, as she conveys in it her love for Spain (where she lived many years) and for out-of-the-way places and restaurants that are not mentioned in other guides. Although it is primarily a food book, she offers tips on hotels, history, etc. And I was piqued by her mention of this town, as I have always admired Loewe leather goods and would love to find a source for items of similar quality as lower prices. She mentioned two streets in this town that are lined with shops selling leather goods. So, anyone have any information??

ps. Forgot to mention that Penelope is a Vassar girl!

Oh, my god...what means "Vassar girl ?" :))

By the way, all Toledo's province is famous for making leather goods, good quality ones but don't expect great designs , it's very traditional, nothing to do with Loewe or other great firms :) They just buy there the furs..the treatment after that is absolutely different :)

Thanks, Kenderina. Vassar is a college here in the US. I was just being silly to post that. You are always so helpful and I want to take this chance to thank you for all the advice you have posted in the past. I was suspect about that information about Ventas con Pena Aguilera; so often there are places where the leather is of very high quality but the styling is not good. I am sure that the designs for Loewe are manufactured just for them and would not be sold in any other store. But in any case, if you happen to hear anything about great places to buy leather goods in the Toledo region, or any other in Spain, please let us know. I don't mean regular shops, but perhaps places where only local people would know about...out of the way towns or outlets, etc. Muchisimas gracias!

Kenderina, we have a friend from Galicia who's village has only 6 people and three houses. It's more like a small family estate, but not that unusual in Spain, as you well know.

It´s true. That´s one of the places where Loewe leatherware is manufactured, and they sell it without the Loewe logo. It is mainly bags and shoes, and not the latest styles.

Going there was quite popular back in the Eighties and beginning of the Nineties. To me, they have gotten stuck up in a timewarp, way too classical. I doubt you could find the Amazona handbag there ...
http://www.topmadrid.com/2006/02/loe...-espaol_17.asp

If you are looking for good prices and interesting styles (I´m talking shoes and handbags), go to Augusto Figueroa in Madrid, in the Chueca district. Almirante is also a good street to shop for clothing, as Fuencarral. Aquirky favourite with good prices is Hakei (shops in Bilbao, Marbella and Madrid, check their site www.hakei.com ) just off Serrano. Don´t forget to check Adolfo Dominguez Complementos, in Ortega y Gasset around the corner from Serrano (and walk up the street to have lunch at Lavinia www.lavinia.com ).

I´m afraid I cannot recommend you any special place for leather jackets and so on. Medium prices get you exactly that, medium styles. Elena Benarroch has gorgeous coats and jackets, and so do some of the spanish designers, but you must pay for them. There are a couple of outlets complexes outside Madrid, but I cannot tell you what they have for leatherware ...

Kenderina, if you follow Jose Andres cooking program, you would have heard him mentioning Penelope Casas a couple of times. And her books can be found in the FNAC ...

Rgds, Cova

Cova, I have to say I'm absolutely out of the "cooking thing" :) I just eat...

Cova thanks so much for the info; I will not be in Madrid on this upcoming trip but will save the information for later this year or next. I am so glad to read mention of Adolfo Dominguez; about 20 years ago (really!!) I bought an ensemble of his in Madrid and it still looks great! As far as I know, he is not sold here in the US.

If I can find very classic styles on small leather things maybe I will take a ride to Las Ventas con Pena A when I visit Toledo in May. Not sure how far it is from Toledo, though. If I do, I will surely report back!