New this summer: Mallorca’s freshest dining experiences for 2017

Spain’s days as a culinary backwater with a hearty traditional cuisine to enjoy are long gone. In 2017, if you want to find some of the best and most innovative chefs in the world you need to head to the Iberian Peninsula. Catalonia has been at the epicentre of this Spanish gastronomic revolution, and the Balearic Islands are very much part of this delicious and often dramatic new era.

On Mallorca new chefs arrive and new restaurants open all the time, while the island’s established names must revamp and reinvent to stay on top of a lively gastronomic scene.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the finest new fine dining experiences for the summer of 2017. Concierge service is all part of the experience with Finest Holidays, so if you’d like help making table reservations whilst staying in one of our luxury villas on Mallorca just call on +34-661718061  we are happy to assist at any time.

Baiben

With the two Michelin-starred Zaranda sparkling on his resume, Fernando Perez Arellano picked a plum location at Puerto Portals waterfront for his new venture, Baiben. French chef, Jerome Rohner, is in charge of the kitchen and produces a menu that has very strong local connections but also ranges to Germany (flammkuchen), Belgium (moules frites), Lebanon (raw beef kibbeh with yogurt dressing), North Africa and South America, but mainly to Asia for some fresh, zingy flavours applied to superlative produce. A light, airy dining room and large outdoor eating space make for sunny days or long sunsets, and some of the best cocktails on the island can be found at sister establishment, BrassBainben.

www.baibenrestaurants.com

Arrels by Marga Coll at Gran Melia de Mar

Marga Coll, the big-name chef behind this new restaurant at the adults-only Gran Melia de Mar in exclusive Illetas, has impeccable local pedigree. This stylish dining environment, with its large terrace and private-beach dining, is the setting for a reminder that Mallorca’s history is about more than beautiful beaches and tourism. Coll’s two-hour, five-stage breakfast ‘journey’, and two evening (and weekend lunch) menus – five- and seven-course tasting menus – use only Mallorcan produce and products to design food of the very highest standards that celebrates everything from the island’s southern salt flats to the fishermen of Formentera and Mallorca’s historic mountain villages. Early reviews suggest that knowledgeable service very much matches the quality of Coll’s dishes.

Paseo de las Illetas, 7Majorca – Illetas

Taronja Negre at Club de Mar

Taronja Negre (it means the Black Orange) originator Tomeu Caldentey’s place in Mallorcan culinary history is safe. His Es Molí d’en Bou won the island’s first Michelin star back in 2004, and more than a decade on his reputation is still shining bright. Now his Taronia Negre has come in from the countryside to open in the Club de Mar in Palma. The concept remains the same, with big sharing dishes described in a way – roasted avocado with scallops, eggplant with bulgur and coconut, daily fish with lentils – that spotlights the ingredients and maybe belies the sophistication of the cooking that makes so much of them. A beautiful turquoise-themed room and terrace overlook the yachts of Palma’s marina or the city’s skiline.

Nuru

Not named for the Japanese style of erotic massage but from a Swahili word for ‘new beginnings’, Nuru has set out its table in Santa Catalina in Palma. And it fits right in to this lively, fashionable district – you’re in the right place for cocktails and dancing after you dine – with its modern art, chill-out terrace and laid-back vibe. Sharing starters are followed by dishes with subtle Asian flavours like roasted red mullet served with jasmine rice, Thai salad and dipping sauces, or the kimchi coleslaw and tempura onion petals with the Korean barbecue-style angus rib. Ingredients, like Iberian pork, are fresh, seasonal and, like suckling Iberian pork leg, as local as possible.

www.nuru.restaurant

Restaurante Adrián Quetglas

After winning his spurs at Mallorca’s Marc Fosh restaurant Adrian Quetglas has returned from Russia an established international culinary star. He has brought Russian Michail Dunaev back with him to work at this new restaurant in Palma. He obviously has the magic, or so the Michelin inspectors say, awarding him a 2017 star. Quetglas’s travels show in his lunch and ‘urban’ five-course menus, that have dishes like marinated sea bass with three quinoas tabbouleh, avocado and lime yogurt, alongside the very local lamb loin with fresh herbs, toasted almonds and beetroot and Mallorcan palo juice. Wine pairings are an important part of the experience, and unlike many gastronomic chefs, Quetglas is not afraid to put an emphasis on his ‘reasonable’ prices.

adrianquetglas.es

Quadrat at Hotel Sant Francesc

A luxury villa is where many Mallorca visitors rest their heads, but as an alternative the boutique style of 5-star Hotel Sant Francesc takes some beating. Even if you’re not enjoying its lovely Old Town setting in Palma you should consider booking a table at Quadrat, where the simple, delicate cuisine of chef Alfonso Lillo is showcased in one of the prettiest dining rooms (or on a lovely garden terrace) on the island. Lunch and dinner are available to visiting diners, with two chef’s tasting menus – four-course or seven – a la carte dining and a good-value menu del dia. The heart of the cooking here is Mediterranean, with modern, international touches illuminating the likes of marinated hake in white miso with green asparagus, lime gel, dried tuna flakes and basil pil pil.

www.hotelsantfrancesc.com

Choose your Mallorca luxury villa  from our  portfolio of exclusive properties. Call on +34-661718061 or email to relax@finest-holidays.com to speak to one of our resort specialists.