For Mario Hermoso, Roma’s meeting with Real Madrid at the Olimpico carries a private thread beyond the points at stake. The defender will face the city in which he grew up, learned the game and later built a life outside football through Tora, his Japanese restaurant in Madrid.
The coach and the club
Hermoso, now 31, remains closely tied to the Spanish capital despite his move to Roma two years ago. He was born in Madrid’s Barrio de la Concepción, on the eastern outskirts of the city, where his parents worked and his grandparents lived. It was there that he first played football before joining Real Madrid’s academy at the age of 11.
José Mourinho handed him his Real Madrid debut in 2012. Hermoso later spent the 2016-17 campaign with Castilla, before returning to Madrid for five years at Atlético. The Metropolitano was built not far from the area where he had grown up, further strengthening a connection that has endured through spells away from home.
Before arriving in Rome, Hermoso had left Madrid for one season at Valladolid and then for two years in Barcelona with Espanyol. Yet the capital has remained his principal reference point, both personally and professionally.
As a young player at Conce, Hermoso played on the left wing, was strong in the air and carried a forceful personality. His path eventually took him into defence, but another interest developed alongside football: food.
Tora, a Madrid project
In 2022, Hermoso and chef José Osuna opened Tora in Calle Padilla, in the Salamanca district of Madrid. The name means “tiger” in Japanese, and the restaurant has become the player’s most personal business venture.
Tora is an omakase restaurant, built around the chef’s selection. Its format is deliberately intimate, with diners encouraged to sit at the counter and watch the preparation of the dishes. The restaurant offers a 10-course lunch menu for €49 and a 17-course dinner menu for €125.
Michelin has included Tora among its recommended restaurants for the past four years. Hermoso is not simply a financial backer: he is involved in the running of the project and takes part in its decisions.
He has also held an interest in a company operating hamburger restaurants and has experimented with a speciality coffee venue. Tora, however, is the business that most clearly reflects his attachment to Madrid and his growing interest in cuisine.
A familiar city on the other side
Some Real Madrid players have already visited Tora, while others could yet become customers. The forthcoming night at the Olimpico offers Hermoso an altogether different encounter with Madrid’s leading names, beginning with the task of containing Kylian Mbappé on the pitch.
If the occasion allows for a quieter follow-up, Hermoso has a signature dish waiting in his restaurant: tuna served with wagyu fat and caviar, one of Tora’s most extravagant plates. For a Roman defender shaped by Madrid, the match will bring his football career and his second passion into the same championship evening.
