Mallorca’s Michelin-star Es Fum restaurant is located within the 5-star St Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort (a Starwood hotel). In the island’s southwest, but close to Palma, the hotel has a privileged location, with extensive gardens leading down to the Mediterranean. It also has a superb spa, another restaurant, tapas bar, smart lounge, and lots more to keep guests happy. So happy, in fact, that some 80 per cent of those who stay here are repeat guests.

You don’t have to be staying at the hotel to eat at Es Fum, which opens for dinner only Thursday to Monday. Es Fum has held a Michelin star for several years and it’s easy to see why: the ambience is superb, service is professional but not stuffy, and the cuisine is exceptional.

St Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort has its own in-house flower arranger – and the displays around the property are spectacular. But proving that simple can be also stunning is this table decoration on our table yesterday: a single orchid bloom sitting in a hollowed-out Granny Smith apple. Now there’s an idea I’ll be borrowing …

Es Fum offers tasting menus only: six, eight, or ten courses, and a vegetarian tasting menu (it was the first non-vegetarian restaurant on Mallorca to do so), and a gourmet kids’ menu. Yesterday, I was one of a group of fortunate people who had the opportunity to taste some of the exceptional new dishes created by executive chef Rafael Sánchez for this season.

Flavoured butters and salts for the home-made bread rolls. And not all of those stones are real!

Nestling among those stones (and we thought they were for display only!) were ‘piedra de mahonés’: cream of Mahon cheese (from Menorca) moulded, frozen, and with a thin coating of cocoa butter … a trompe l’oeil dish, or as they say here in Spain, un trampantojo.

Amuse bouche of ‘coca’ of sea urchin, served with a separate spoon of classic hummus, with ‘trampó mallorquín’.

Spring on a plate! Spring leaves, raisin puree, pine nuts, plums, and a smoked oil.

Grilled foie, a reduction of goat’s milk and kaffir, ‘nísperos’ compote and crumbed base of dried ‘nísperos’

Fillet of cap roig (fish) with fideuá noodes, infused with coconut and citronella, with beetroot and early season baby broad beans.

‘Tartufo blanco y negro’ – a dessert combining black and white truffle butter with citrus flavours and chocolate, with honey.

Each course was accompanied by a perfectly matched wine and, if you dine at Es Fum, I’d recommend having the wine pairing – if you don’t have to drive (as I did yesterday). You could, of course, stay overnight …

Since this post was written, Rafa Sanchez has left the hotel and new chef Miguel Navarro is now leading the kitchen.

©Jan Edwards 2016