Despite all the sophisticated kitchen equipment and technology now available to chefs, cooking over a wood fire – a process dating back hundreds of thousands of years – is a growing trend in today’s international restaurant industry. One restaurant in Mallorca – named Singular – has made ‘cocina del fuego’ its speciality.
I make no apology for choosing a ‘chiringuito’ as my Restaurant of the Week. Hey, it’s the height of summer, and where do we want to eat lunch out in the heat of a Mallorcan August? Maybe within mere steps of the Caribbean-like turquoise sea at Platja de Muro? Ponderosa Beach ticks the boxes for location, delicious food and drinks, friendly service, and holiday vibes.
Can you imagine a Hollywood movie star topping up his tan on the beach in Magaluf? Well, in the mid-1950s, holidaying ‘High Noon’ star Gary Cooper and a female companion asked a taxi driver to take them to Mallorca’s most tranquil beach. Hard to believe it was Magaluf.
La Braseria may not have the allure of a seafront eatery in Port de Pollença or a restaurant in the narrow streets of the charming Pollença town, but it does have a Josper charcoal oven. And if you enjoy the flavour of food cooked over fire, La Braseria is worth a visit for young Bolivian chef Ruben Uzquiano’s expert cooking.
Stay first opened in Port de Pollença in 1972; its present owner acquired the place in 1989 and in 2005, closed the restaurant to undertake a total reconstruction. The Mallorcan architect Luis García Ruiz created the contemporary design of the building that catches the eye on approaching the port along the coast road.
Ponderosa Beach is not a typical ‘chiringuito’, although you’ll find it on the long sandy Playa de Muro. This family-run beach eatery – which has its roots back in 1967 – offers an unexpected level of gastronomy for a place where there’s sand beneath your table.
The warren-like walled town of Alcúdia is the location of the new Restaurant Apolonia – part of the British-owned boutique hotel Can Mostatxins Frare. Park your car outside the old walls and a few minutes’ walk takes you into this historic town’s maze of appealing streets. The chic 11-room Can Mostatxins Frare is in a tranquil lane just off Alcúdia’s main square.