Eating dinner in a restaurant that’s not in a hotel is still not possible in Mallorca, because of Covid restrictions, but the good news is that the interiors of bars and restaurants will be able to open again from next Monday, March 15th. Whether this will be just during the day or include evenings too is not yet known… but it’s a step forward.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed a superb dinner out on Friday evening, combined with an overnight stay in the stylish boutique hotel Ten Mallorca, in the heart of Sineu (which, if you don’t know it, is right in the heart of the island). The English owners and hosts of the hotel decided to do something different to attract islanders and came up with the idea of supper-and-stay events, featuring well-known guest chefs who work on the island.

Piers Dawson First at the Stoves

Private chef Piers Dawson launched this series with a few events during February and March; after an unsuccessful try to book the first event, we managed to book early enough to secure two of the limited places for Friday evening’s dinner. As at his Charlie’s Kitchen events, Piers came into the dining room as his wife Holly and the Ten team served each of his eight dishes, to describe the food in more detail than his minimalist menus give. When you listen to him, you realise just how much work goes into each dish he creates.

Having eaten Piers’ cuisine on a number of occasions, I am firmly of the belief that whatever he serves will be amazing – not only because of his talent for cooking and his incredible creativity, but also because of his evident passion for making people happy through his food.

You can see Piers Dawson in action on his You Tube channel. Check out his webhttps://www.piersdawson.com site too for more about this amiable chef.

Friday’s Menu

• Trout, Apple, Charcoal
• Pea & Mint – a pea-and-mint ‘milkshake’ with a wafer topping.
• Sobrasada Lollipop – not a traditional way to serve sobrasada!
• Butternut, Sage, Jamon, Parmesan – The bread-and-butter course. Sourdough bread and flavoured whipped butter with Parmesan and crumbs of Iberian ham sprinkled over.
• Beef, Rocket, Artichoke – sirloin beef tartar with truffle oil and puree, shallots and chives, chargrilled baby artichoke
• Salmon, Citrus, Vodka – fish course: home-cured salmon, avocado, pink grapefruit, orange, lemon and saffron aioli, granola, radish
• Masterstock Pork, Tenderstem, Wasabi – local pork belly cooked in Chinese masterstock (6 years old!), jus, blackened onions, wasabi aioli
• Chocolate, Peanuts, Banana

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The Ten Club

Numbers for these supper-and-stay events are currently limited to 12 and the hotel is using its lounge as a dining room during this period, to facilitate social distancing. The events are very popular and the first of Piers’ dates was fully booked within 20 minutes of being announced.

Ten Mallorca came up with the clever idea of The Ten Club. For a fee of 35 euros per couple, members receive 48 hours’ advance notice of the March and April events before they are advertised generally. Members also receive a complimentary glass of house wine, beer, or cava on the evening. The cost does NOT include the price of the event, but does give early access to book events that are likely to fill quickly. If you’re in Mallorca and would like to become a member of The Ten Club, please email info@tenmallorca.com.

Prices for these supper-and-stay evenings vary according to the guest chef’s menu, but they are fair prices which include the overnight stay and a very good breakfast the next morning. Friday’s cost was from 150 euros per person (depending on the room booked). It’s blissful being able to enjoy fine food with one of the hotel’s carefully chosen wines (drinks are extra, but reasonably priced) and have only to climb the stairs to your room at the end of the evening.

Future Guest Chefs

This weekend, Sebastian Pasch – of the wonderful Restaurante Sebastian in Deya – is the guest chef. His menu looks superb and is based on dishes he’s cooked at his romantic restaurant since he opened it in 1994.

Other chefs who’ll be rocking up in the Ten Mallorca kitchen in coming weeks are Edu Martínez of Brut in Llubí and private chef Ross Hutchison A New Healthy Takeaway Option in Palma

Any of these events will be worth smashing the piggy bank for! Just trying to persuade The Boss to let me do it!

In Eat Drink Sleep Mallorca’s next post you can read more about Ten Mallorca hotel.

Jan Edwards Copyright 2021