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  • Time for Tapas

    It was a short break in Seville in 2011 that got me hooked on tapas, although I’d enjoyed these small morsels of deliciousness before then. We spent several nights in the city and didn’t have one sit-down dinner; we enjoyed the relaxed feel of eating our tapas at the bar, ordering more when we felt like it, then heading somewhere else for something different. I like the concept of going from place to place (I kid myself that the little bit of exercise involved in walking between bars helps counter the fact that some tapas are fried and therefore a little heavy on calories).

    A tapas route in Manacor

    Here on Mallorca, it seems to me that tapas have become more important over the past few years. Our local town, Manacor – like several towns on the island – offers an autumn season tapas trail. Manacor’s is known as ‘Ruta 44’ (there were 44 bars taking part in the first one in 2011) and happens on a Thursday evening.

    We tried two bars that we hadn’t visited before and will certainly return to the first. Our four montaditos and two glasses – or more accurately, plastic cups – of tinto cost us just six euros. Not surprisingly, the place was packed. We’ll be back to try some of the others bars’ tapas on a future Thursday. Perhaps we’ll find something that isn’t a montadito!

    Gourmet tapas in Inca

    This Sunday we’re guaranteed to enjoy some creative tapas: seven of the best chefs from the Inca area are offering something called ‘Peccata Minuta’ – a gourmet tapas event organized by Chefsins, taking place in the Santo Domingo cloister in Inca, from 12:00-16:00hrs. Joan Marc, Tomeu Torrens, Marga Coll, Maria Solivellas, Santi Taura, Cati Pieras and Andreu Genestra will be offering savoury and sweet tapas, created for the occasion. I’m a big fan of Cati Pieras (who, with her partner David, runsDaiCa in Llubí) and am looking forward to her brocheta de pulpo pequeño balear con tocino y vinagreta de piñones con aceite de trufa. I also hope that she’ll bring some of the delicious sourdough bread they serve in the restaurant. Tapas and drinks (artisan beers from Beer Lovers Mallorca and wines from Son Bordils) will cost 2,50 euros each. I’ll be breaking open the piggy bank . . .

    Palma’s annual tapas trail

    And Palma’s biggest tapas event takes place next week. TaPalma 2013 will have 25 participating bars and restaurants, all offering special tapas for the occasion. You can find out who’s taking part and what they’re offering on www.tapalma.es. This year all venues are offering two special tapas – and an additional one based on Mallorca’s famous Quely biscuit; you’ll be able to vote for your favourite and go into a draw to win some nice prizes:  free weekend away in a hotel on Mallorca, anyone?

    Essencia Art is offering 'Ali Baba y los 40 sabores' for TaPalma 2013. Photo courtesy of Associació Restauració de Mallorca

    Essencia Art is offering ‘Ali Baba y los 40 sabores’ for TaPalma 2013. Photo courtesy of Associació Restauració de Mallorca

    ©Jan Edwards

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  • Where Does Chef Marc Fosh Eat Out on Mallorca?

    If you don’t know the name Marc Fosh, you probably don’t live on Mallorca. He’s still the only British chef in Spain to have been awarded a Michelin star for his cuisine (when he was employed at a country house hotel on the island). He left several years ago to start his own business in Palma.

    Chef Marc Fosh

    Marc Fosh on the terrace of his restaurant in Palma, Mallorca.

    In our early days of living on Mallorca, we stayed several times at Reads Hotel & Spa, where Marc used to create the delicious innovative cuisine that clearly impressed the Michelin Guide inspectors. Being quite a foodie, it’s probably fair to say that Marc’s food, served in what was then called Bacchus restaurant, was the prime reason I liked to stay there.

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    The ultimate restaurant guide

    Earlier this year I was delighted to learn that Marc had been chosen as one of more than 400 chefs around the world to be included in a book called Where Chefs Eat, published by Phaidon. I’d ordered the book (directly from the publisher) because it sounded like a very interesting concept and I’d liked their description of it as ‘the ultimate restaurant guide chosen by the real experts: more than 400 of the world’s best chefs from Heston Blumenthal to René Redzepi and David Chang.’ The book was compiled (and what a lot of work it must have been) by Joe Warwick, food writer and co-founder of The World’s Best 50 Restaurants awards.

    This wasn’t going to be a particularly useful book for us as we rarely travel off Mallorca: we have an old finca to maintain which gobbles up the money we would probably otherwise spend on travelling.

    In fact, the book I ordered did more travelling to reach me than I’ve done for years. It arrived several times in Palma, only to be sent back to the publishers as undeliverable. It also made a couple of visits to Birmingham in England (a city not featured in the guide) on its circuitous journey to me. Long story short, it finally arrived after a series of emails and phone calls – and several months.

    So where does Marc Fosh like to eat on Mallorca? According to Where Chefs Eat:

    • Ca Na Toneta
    • El Bungalow
    • Fibonacci (NOW CLOSED 2021 UPDATE)
    • Zaranda (with one Michelin star). Note: For 2016 and 2017, Zaranda has had 2 Michelin stars. (NEW LOCATION IN PALMA 2021 UPDATE)

    ©Jan Edwards 2013

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