Chef Andreu Genestra is one of the great chefs of Majorcabut going to his mother house is not within everyone’s reach.
Although this year he has moved his restaurant with michelin star from Capdepera to Llucmajor – a municipality 30 minutes from Palma instead of the long hour it took to get to its previous location – not everyone has time to get there or pay their tasting menus of 125 or 150 euros.
Luckily, Genestra has a branch in Palma de Mallorca, Aromata, which, although it was born with a more informal spirit, has ended up being a restaurant that could well have a Michelin star in itself, but with menus ranging from from 35 to 85 euros.
“Aromata was born from the need to create a window in Palma so that people would go up to Capdepera”, explains Genestra to DAP. “I can tell you about other milongas, but that is the reality. I had to ride it the second year with the little profit it had. My father had money and he thought that either we invested this money or he was going to have to pay money to the Government and that is not the purpose. And well, we tried to set up a little thing in Palma. AND it was not tiny. In the end he has been a Christ ”.
The restaurant, located in the patio of a mansion-palace of the XVII century, It is already on its second reform. And the truth is that the space is especially pleasant.
“Man, I have a master’s degree in making projects”, jokes Genestra. “I already know Latin with that. Actually, there was no need. The Aromata was alone. We were going for the star? No. We were going so that tomorrow you can say, hell, these guys have worked it out here. The problem is that the locals get angry because now there are many foreigners who go there. And that is what always annoys the local the most”.
A restaurant well worth a visit
It is impossible not to find foreigners in a city that lives by and for tourism, but, beyond the pleasantness of the space, in Aromata you eat the sea of good. And although the proposal does not reach the levels of excellence that Genestra manages in her mother house -a restaurant that could well point to a second Michelin star-, in no case can we speak of a version low cost from your kitchen.
Here are all the details that make Genestra interesting: the sweet and savory contrasts, the local produce, and an academic finesse in everything that comes out of the kitchen. At the controls of Aromata is, in fact, one of the most prominent members of his team, Gabriel Ferriowho comes from kitchens such as Casa Solla, Árbore da Veira or El Bohío, where he has come from with his partner, laura dorado, who officiates in the Michelin star room. An infallible tandem.
Aromata has two very different proposals. Only at meals, a menu of the day of 35 euros with simpler dishes, but with an academic background, such as grilled octopus with escabeche or sirloin with Paris coffee sauce – to name two of the dishes that are being served right now. On the other hand, only at night and on Saturdays at noon, there are two more haute cuisine tasting menus, which we tried.
In them we can find 100% Michelin star dishes, such as the wonderful suckling pig black pig, one of Genestra’s fetish products, which is accompanied by ensaimada, a ham glaze and a citrus sauce; wave mussel croquette with red shrimp and white garlic, which could well star in a pass from its mother house.
A twist to the Mallorcan flavor
During our visit, Genestra brought us a brut rice, because she wanted us to try her version of one of her favorite Mallorcan dishes, but, as in her mother house, Mallorca is present in the products and flavors, but not through the more traditional recipeswhich the chef himself invites you to try in other restaurants.
“We try to make 80% or 70% from here, but not because of a gastronomically speaking nationalist issue, no, but because if you come to visit this island, I want you to understand what the flavor of here is, right?” Genestra explains. “But I don’t fall for the traditional. I think that the traditional thing I do not do. I could do it, but if you take a variat, you have to take it as that of that town, not a reinterpretation”.
The Aromata proposal is completed with a well nourished wine list, with many references to the island, and a selection of cheeses that come from the same producers that make the enormous table of its mother house. Nothing to object to an almost obligatory restaurant for gastronomy lovers who visit Palma and seek to discover the best that local gastronomy has to offer.
Mallorca 4 (Lonely Planet Region Guides)
What to ask for: Any of the menus offered at Aromata are a hit. It all depends on how hungry you are, but it is, in any case, not a particularly heavy meal.
Practical data
Where: C. de Claudio Coello, 122.
Half price: 50 half day, 90 at night.
Bookings: 971 495 833 (call from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and on their website.
Schedules: closed Monday and Sunday.
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