This week sees the first edition of the ‘Foro de Turismo y Gastronomia’ being held at restaurants in Palma de Mallorca. The festival hopes to promotes Palma’s many restaurants as well as its local Mediterranean/Mallorcan cuisine by offering specially priced menus at lunch and dinner at some of the best restaurants in the capital.

All menus on offer either cost 15 or 25 euros and there are 35 participating restaurants to choose from.

Our favourites include:
Tast Restaurant
Bri Restaurant
Bruselas Restaurant
Nautic Restaurant
Sambal Restaurant
Santa Eulalia Restaurant
Sushiclub Restaurant
Mesón Can Pedro Restaurant
Bens d’Avall Palma
Cuba Colonial Restaurant
Es Mercat Restaurant
Casa Jacinto Restaurant
Can Eduardo Restaurant

More info on menus: http://www.turismoygastronomiabaleares.es/actividadesPalma.php

It looks like Gin & Tonic will once again be the  trendiest drink of choice this season in Mallorca! Gin & Tonic has been gaining popularity with the influx of premium gins at bars and restaurants over the last couple of years.

If you would like some tips on how to make your G&T a cut above the rest, go along to Corb Mari Restaurant this Saturday, 12th of May for a Gin & Tonic workshop presented by none other than ‘The Best Sommelier in the Balearics’; Toni Fernández.

Toni is not only very talented when it comes to wines and alcoholic beverages, but he is also extremely entertaining, so this promises to be a fun and educational way to spend an evening!

Corb Mari Restaurant is one of the Port of Pollensa’s best meat restaurants, so why not stay on afterwards for a tasty meal? To book your place on the course and for more information, please contact Corb Mari on 971 867 040.

Chef Pablo Mirañas

Es Vi Restaurant at Castillo Hotel Son Vida, in the exclusive area of Son Vida, Mallorca is now open for the 2012 season with cuisine by chef Pablo Mirañas de Cadiz.

Chef Pablo Mirañas is originally from Andalusia in southern Spain and specialises in creating traditional tapas dishes for Es Vi guests and diners. The tapas cuisine fits in well in this informal bodega or cellar dining area. The tapas incorporates traditional favourites as well as more local variants, such as a delicious Mallorcan tumbet. Diners will enjoy combining the dishes with a glass or two of wine selected from the extensive in house wine list.

For a perfect selection of the tapas available why not try the Tapas Tasting Menu (Menú degustación) which includes five dishes of innovative tapas, selected and prepared specially by the chef – for €40.

Es Vi is open for dinner from 19.30, from Tuesday to Saturday.

From the 1st of April, you can have a great Brunch buffet every Sunday from 10.00 to 15.00 at Piero Rossi 1988.

All you can eat from the delicious buffet, whilst listening to the soft music and the sound of the ocean.

The buffet includes several different types of bread, yoghurts, fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, salads, some Italian cuisine, cakes and much more…

All you can eat for only 10€ (drinks and tax not included).

Piero Rossi first opened in 1988 and now enjoys new premises at the Port of Alcudiamar. Enjoy your brunch buffet on its beautiful terrace right in front of the sea and the yachts.

Coming up this weekend in Mallorca is one of the highlights of the gastronomic events calendar on the island: The Fira del Vi, Pollensa’s popular wine festival takes place this Saturday and Sunday, the 21^st and 22^nd of April.

If you are on the island this weekend, please do take the time to visit it, it is well worth it and a truly unique opportunity to try some of the island’s wines.

This is the ninth edition of this wine fair and the motto for this year is:
‘‘Wine is a work of art. The same grape varieties can be used to produce very different wines.’’

36 different wineries will be taking part, including wine makers from Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.

On purchasing an entrance ticket you are given a wine glass and can then wander from stall to stall trying different wines and meeting the winemakers in person.

The fair will be open on Saturday the 21^st from 10:00 to 20:30 and on Sunday the 22^nd from 10:00 to 14:00 and takes place at the Claustre del Convent de Sant Domingo in Pollensa.

Macarena de Castro & Carme Ruscalleda

We have been catching up with Macarena de Castro, local Mallorcan chef and owner at Jardin Restaurant in Alcudia, awarded a Michelin star earlier this year.

Macarena well deserves the Red Guide’s accolade and continues to work tirelessly exploring her passion for cuisine, both here and in Mallorca as well as much further afield.

Her restaurant, Jardin, is closed during the winter months of the year, so she let us in on what keeps her busy when her kitchen is closed to the general public.

This year Macarena travelled to Las Vegas, where she worked alongside Chef Julian Serrano at none other than the Bellagio Hotel, and Santo Domingo, where she hosted a conference for local dignitaries and the Spanish ambassador.

On returning to Mallorca in March she welcomed a very guest to her restaurant. Carme Ruscalleda is the first chef in Spanish to be awarded 3 Michelin stars, and Macarena was honoured to have her at Jardin.

Jardin is now open again for the season and is well worth a visit.

Every Friday during April different restaurants in the Calvia area of Mallorca will be offering specially priced menus for the Calvia Food Festival, Mostra de Cuines de Calvia.

The restaurants taking part will be offering menus for 10€, 12€ or 16€.

Every Friday different restaurants will be taking part, and the menus will be offered from 13.30 to 15.30 and from 19.30 to 01.00.

The restaurants taking part include;

Sopranos

El Salmon

La Gritta

Ca Na Cucó

La Gran Tortuga

For more information about the menus on offer and dates please visit the Mostra de Cuines Calvia website.

The Gran Hotel Son Net in Puigpunyent has launched a new series of Sunday brunches to be held on the terrace at Oleum Restaurant. These will be taking place from the 18th of March to the 13th of May, every Sunday from 13:00 to 16:00.

The brunch includes a free glass of cava, water coffee and as much as you can eat from an exciting display of freshly prepared salads, cold meats, cheese, seafood, a selection of hot dishes and (if you have room) a tempting display of desserts. Clients are encouraged to relax and enjoy the food, the ambience and the music provided by the hotel’s resident pianist. The price per person is €49 and there is a discount of 50% for children under 12 years.

Gran Hotel Son Net has started 2012 with an ambitious expansion of its restaurant and beverage operations following a record year in 2011. New Executive Chef, Sergio Olmedo Amengual replaces retiring chef, Sebastian Campins, and two completely new positions have been created of Food & Beverage Manager with Stefan Zaelke and Xavier Ramos as Chief Sommelier.

The new Mallorcan Executive Chef Sergio joins Son Net from the Puro Beach Clubs where he held the position of Executive Chef for the Group’s Beach Clubs in Palma de Mallorca, Marbella and Villamoura, Portugal. Previously he worked as Executive Chef at the Gran Hotel & Spa in Soller, Mallorca.

Gran Hotel Son Net is located on top of a hill overlooking the traditional village of Puigpunyent with spectacular views across the countryside. It makes a great base to enjoy the best of rural Mallorca and yet it is only 20 minutes drive from Palma’s city centre.

Spring is here! And although the weather doesn’t seem to think so…we certainly think it is time to start exploring the island and again and enjoying some of the seasonal food on offer.

Corb Mari Restaurant in Pollensa, which is best known for its meat specialties and fabulous location just by the sea at the Port of Pollensa, is welcoming the new season by offering a one-off tasting menu in collaboration with local wine estate Biniagual (located in Binissalem) on the 30th of March 2012.

A wine expert from Biniagual winery will be there to introduce each wine and each course – and, as we are sure you will agree, the menu sounds really tasty!

Book your place now on +34 971 867 040, please don’t forget to mention you saw it mentioned on SkyBlueMallorca.com!

Price per person: 30€

Here’s the menu:

STICKY RICE OF SQUID AND PRAWNS
WHITE VERAN 2011

STUFFED SEA BASS WITH SEAFOOD FLAVOURED WITH AROMA OF VANILLA
PINK VERAN 2011

CANNELONI OF VENISON AND FOIE IN ITS JUICE
SANT GALL ’08

IBERIAN PORK CHEEK WITH TRUFFLED POTATOES AND MUSHROOMS
VERAN 2007

CHOCOLATE AND STRAWBERRY MOUSSE WITH MANDARIN SORBET

Spring is well and truly on its way now in Mallorca, it is much much warmer and you can already enjoy an al fresco lunch at many Mallorca restaurants.

To get you in the mood for warmer weather and even more al fresco dining, Flor de Sal Restaurant in Camp de Mar is now running barbecues every Saturday lunchtime from 13.00 to 15.30.

There are different meat, side dishes and sauces to choose from and everything costs either 8 or 12€, so very affordable!

Example options for 8€
frankfurt sausage or tandoori chicken skewer or pork chops

Example options for 12€
organic angus burger 150g or pork tenderloin or beef entrecôte.

Flor de Sal also offers stunning sea views and exceptional service – so make this your next option for a lunch in the sunshine!