Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
THERE is almost nothing routine about Kava.
The cooks also serve as waiters, the head chef taught himself at home and everything on the wine list can be served by the glass.
And one thing it is very big on is precision. Precision in its presentation, precision in its ingredients and precision in its service.
But when the man in charge is a legal eagle with a Masters degree in law and a half German upbringing you perhaps shouldn’t be that surprised.
Fernando Alcala is a young chef of just 30 years with a big future in front of him.
The man from Marbella spent years in Switzerland working as a lawyer, before packing it in to set up his own restaurant.
He is very well suited to it.
His attention to detail is big in both the decor (Scandinavian, almost ski lodge in feel) and layout of his central Marbella joint, where you see the chefs beavering away in the kitchen before they bring their dishes to your table.
And what works of art they are: Carefully skinned cherry tomatoes, next to some tiny shrimps laid on carrots, pickled with cumin, then bathed in a carrot soup. Courgette-stuffed wontons in a creamy lobster broth, a Japanese ‘chawanmushi’ of red shrimps from Santa Pola, with claims and a ‘vegetable bolognese’.
It not only looked good, but was awash with spicy flavours and best of all was largely healthy, macrobiotic food, with almost all the dairy coming from sheep and goats.
He also has an exclusive deal for various products from a farm in Fuente Obejuna in the Sierra Morena, that delivers each day, including the best butter I have tried for years.
It is no surprise that Fernando is a born adventurer, who loves to eat good food, including various trips to the best restaurants in Spain, a number of journeys to Japan and most other parts of Europe.
The international menu is a genuine mix of many cultures and impressed me in the extreme.
Best of all was the price at €65 a head which included bread and butter, two amuse bouche starters, four wonderful petit-fours, a six course meal, a glass of wine, a glass of champagne AND the service.
Visit www.kavamarbella.com or call 952 82 41 08
