Constancy, passion and madness are three words that summarize the career of Álvaro Ávila, the chef at La Alvaroteca. This young chef, with a long career on his shoulders, continues to delight diners who come to try his cuisine, full of intense flavors and a very high technical level, which in recent years has been greatly polished, to be one of the the best culinary offers in the city of Malaga.
Each of his dishes is a miniature recipe or stew, and each visit to this Malaga restaurant surprises you with new bites, always small in size and always complex and full of nuances. The dishes that come out of Álvaro’s kitchen are fun, tasty and always good.
His repertoire is vast and in each visit to La Alvaroteca, novelties are guaranteed, always knowing, yes, that it will be an excellent gastronomic experience, full of details thought by those who know how to conquer your palate.
Give carte blanche to the cook, he knows how to make you happy
Instead of a conventional letter, in which the client looks and chooses what he thinks will be the best, in La Alvaroteca it is best to go to the menu called Carta Blancain which it is precisely about that, giving the chef freedom, giving him carte blanche to bring you what he considers best.
So you can try their most classic dishesas well as the ones he has today because he found a exceptional raw materialalong with the ones he wants you to try because they are new to your letterso that you let him surprise you with his technique and creativity.
The dishes that your customers like the most are usually available, but eating at La Alvaroteca depends on the ingredients you have bought for that day, which obviously vary from one visit to another, so it is always different, and always surprising. Besides, the constant innovation of your kitchenmeans that there are always new recipes to discover.
The Carta Blanca menu of La Alvaroteca is the most requested in its restaurant, although it is also possible to ask for specific dishes.
In the carte blanche menuthe dining room staff brings a succession of different dishes to the table, which they will continue to bring as long as you do not notify them.
When you notice that you are close to filling up, you notify the waiter so that he can say it in the kitchen and so they will bring you one or two more small plates-those who were already marching in the kitchen-, and then dessert, if you want.
At the time of payment, you will receive the note with all the dishes you have eaten and that account will be around 35-40 euros plus the drink, since the prices of La Alvaroteca are not skyrocketing.
There is the option of a pairing of 5 glasses of wine chosen to harmonize your menu that is charged at the price of 35 euros. So you can try wines, generous, sparkling or classic, designed to accompany the different dishes that will arrive at your table.
The restaurant and its spaces
The Alvaroteca has two well-differentiated spaces. one more formallocated in front of the entrance towards the kitchen, elegant and sober decorated in wood and with industrial-style metal tables and another more crazyknown as The mental hospital for its most eccentric and fun decoration with tables and walls full of splashes and color.
The service It is made in tableware created for each dish, with designs full of references to the sea. All the waiters know Álvaro Ávila’s cuisine and they perfectly explain everything that each dish has. Their attention is very close, as well as discreet, prudent and fast, which makes each visit very pleasant.
Evolution and refinement
To cook and more in miniature format, you must have a very good base as a cook. At La Alvaroteca, you will enjoy its perfect backgrounds, well-prepared sauces, and clear concepts that make the different ingredients fit together in interesting combinations of flavours, whatever the chosen format.
Since he opened his restaurant, the quality, techniques and knowledge of the chef have been evident, but the staging was not always what it is today. His excessive creativity and originality were not always well understood and its “point of madness” sometimes did not go well with the concept of a gastronomic restaurant as it is understood today.
Therefore, there are many of us who have been happy to see the evolution and refinement of Ávila at the controls of the Alvaroteca. Her genius is not at odds with her humility and closeness. The chef has known how to listen and adapt to the advice that colleagues, critics and friends have lovingly given him, maintaining his quality and his concept.
Thus, working with passion and perseverance and maintaining a certain point of madness/originality, has been refining its concepts, finally offering a kitchen that pleases everyone. Well thought out dishes, interesting combinations of flavors and a modern format of small tapas that are large miniature plates have been the secret of its success.
Gone are some fun ideas, that although they had their public, they did not follow the path that the chef has maintained in recent years. Now, he shines his maturity as a professional, that he has settled in this format of gastronomic tapas that he has penetrated his clientele.
Recently, Álvaro Ávila has been awarded the Best New Chef award at the VI Edition of the Gastro&Cía Awards which has made the restaurant more crowded since then and has meant for many a rediscovery of its cuisine, increasingly fine and successful.
The difficulties of the sector
Álvaro tells us that in his opinion all or almost all the restaurants in Malaga are having a hard time with the subject of find good room staffalthough he maintains a good team, despite having the same difficulties that almost all his colleagues have.
Keeping a restaurant open today is a matter of romance
Between monthly rent, electricity bill and payroll for all the staff, to raise the shutter of the premises and open every day, has an enormous cost. It costs a lot to cover expenses and make this business viable.
“Keeping a restaurant open is almost a matter of romance. You have to be very in love with your profession and have the pleasure of pleasing your clients, who, fortunately, do not let us down”, she tells us.
What to order at La Alvaroteca
As I have already told you throughout this report, it is best to give the chef carte blanche to prepare what he considers best for youbut some of their dishes that I highlight below are highly recommended:
The trio of olive spherifications, -aloreña, kalamata and dressing, the hare royal, the lentils with Iberian ham from Dehesa de los Monteros, its rice dishes, the Almadraba red tuna tartare with Oscietra caviar, the Toro-brava potato, the Normandy oyster with coconut tiger milk and spheres of passion fruit or the surprise box with its crispy black rice with eel among others are some of my favorites, but I could add many more. You can see many of these dishes in the photos that illustrate this post.
Also leave some room for sweets since also in the confectionery chapter, you will like Ávila’s cuisine very much. Recently, they have also introduced cocktail recipes to lengthen the menu.
A good way to get to know his proposals is to follow his Instagram account that the chef runs personally, in which he tells us his most illustrious visitors every day and shows his most valued dishes.
practical data
THE ALVAROTECA
Where: Calle Gerona, 38 bis, 29006 Malaga.
Half price: 40 euros + drinks
Bookings: 680 62 52 14.
Schedules: From Tuesday to Saturday during lunch and dinner hours.
Closed Sundays and Mondays
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