The Repsol Guide has recognized six restaurants on the Balearic Islands with a “sun”: Casa Maruka, in Palma; Es Fum, in the Regis Mardavall of Costa den Blanes; El Romero, in Menorca; Etxeko Ibiza and Jondal, in Ibiza and Molo 47 in Formentera.
With the new incorporations, the Balearic Islands have 37 restaurants distinguished in the guide: one of them with three suns, 8 with two suns and 28 with one sun, the organising body reported, on the occasion of the Repsol Guide Suns award ceremony this Monday at the Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián.
Etxeko Ibiza is Martín Berasategui’s gastronomic space. The idea behind the project is the convergence of island products with the extensive experience accumulated by the chef from Guipuzcoa and a series of flavours and more memories of his childhood in San Sebastian.
Also in Ibiza, Jondal is modern, spacious and with a menu that underlines the quality of the remarkable product it offers. The Sevillian Rafa Zafra (Estimar) is in charge of this beach restaurant located in a paradisiacal cove with crystalline turquoise water.
Francisco Budia (chef), José Molina (hotel manager) and Héctor Suárez (head waiter) (‘Etxeko’). Repsol Guide
Molo47 is the Formentera restaurant of the Neapolitan Antonio D’Angelo, former personal chef of Giorgo Armani and now executive chef of Nobu Milano. The restaurant embraces Japanese technique and tradition, Italian recipes and Mediterranean cuisine, with a few nods to South America thrown in for good measure..
Casa Maruka was opened by Mª José Calabria from La Mancha and Alberto Serrano from Mallorca in 2007, and since then the main focus has been on the ingredients in their contemporary take on old flavors and formulas, with dishes such as rice with deer and mushrooms or country chicken meatballs with cuttlefish and prawns.
Ricardo Acquista (‘Jondal’). Guía Repsol
Meanwhile, Es Fum offers a “unique epicurean experience”, centered on two tasting menus created by Miguel Navarro, a chef who takes a contemporary approach to the rigorous demands of serving in this space.
In Menorca, El Romero, the small seafood restaurant owned by the Italians Fabio Tullini and Francesca Baroni, is located right in front of the fish market, a guarantee of freshness that is so sought after in these types of specialized establishments. Oysters, wild fish and crustaceans from Menorca are the main attraction.
In total, 97 Repsol Guide suns are debuting this year with projects that highlight their renewed approaches to respond to the conscious diner, who embraces nature and demands local tradition, in a scenario of clear revival in the kitchens.
The two new “three suns” recognise the commitment of Iván Cerdeño, in Toledo, and the Padrón brothers of El Rincón de Juan Carlos, in Tenerife, to incorporate the socio-cultural influences and singularities of their respective environments into their kitchens.
As for the 12 new “two suns”, they show how talent is spread throughout the country: Arrea! (Araba), Bodega Katxiña (Gipuzkoa), Cancook (Zaragoza), Estimar (Madrid), Ikaro (La Rioja), Kaleja (Máálaga), La Biblioteca (Navarra), Odiseo (Murcia), Pablo (León), Raúl Resino (Castellón), Tula (Alicante) and Xavier Pellicer (Barcelona).
Among the 83 new “one sun” restaurants, we can highlight the drive of Generation Z, such as Alejandro Serrano (Miranda de Ebro), Cañitas Maite (Casas-Ibáñez), Fuentelgato (Huerta del Marquesado) and Kabo (Pamplona), all of them with twenty-year-olds at the helm of the stoves.
Also noteworthy is the resurgence of the family business in projects where the confidence of working with a partner, the son or the siblings, such as Damasqueros (Granada), Mas Marroch (Girona), AQ (Tarragona), Quimbaya (Madrid), Baeza&Rufete (Alicante), Casa Maruka (Balearic Islands) and Gotzon (Bizkaia).
The “Sol Sostenible #AlimentosdEspaña” is strengthened in 2022 with the recognition of four restaurants: Coque (Three Suns Repsol Guide) in Madrid, Monastrell (Two Suns) in Alicante, Raíces (One Sun) in Talavera de la Reina and Kofradia, in San Sebastián (Recommended).
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.