Sorrel Downer
IT’S hard to think of a better way of spending a summer night than by eating food prepared by the internationally renowned chef and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi among the picture perfect vegetable garden of Atzaró Agroturismo Hotel, Ibiza.
The hotel is one of three laidback luxe Atzaró properties on the island, each holding special events and attracting foodie pilgrims, but this event on Saturday August 12 promises to be a summer highlight.
After drinks and time to soak in the atmosphere of the spectacular garden, dinner will be served at long wooden tables on a plaza framed by palms and tumbling vines.
Ottolenghi and his team will whip up a five-course tasting menu – using organic ingredients freshly picked in the three-hectare veg plot, and locally sourced products. Guests not only get to eat it, but live music, a signed Ottolenghi book Flavour, and the chance to meet the chef as well.
Ottolenghi champions vegetables, as well as ingredients once seen as exotic, in rich colourful cuisine rooted in the Middle East and the Med that has been described as full of ‘flavour, bounty and sunshine’.
If you can’t join Ottolenghi in the garden for a feast or get a hotel booking on the nights you want, fear not: you can enjoy good hospitality and eat well at the same group’s two other island properties.
Aubergine by Atzaró
Not far away, in a tranquil part of the island between Santa Gertrudis and San Miguel, the restaurant Aubergine by Atzaró is set in another pretty garden, beautifully lit and romantic at night, with tables set among the trees.
The food concept is ‘farm-to-table’, and most of the ingredients come from the hotel vegetable garden.
Healthy, wholesome and vegan-friendly, the menu includes plenty of imaginative salads. Try the hugely popular roasted aubergine carpaccio, laden with cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, pomegranate, dates, pistachios and rocket pesto, served with naan bread, tahini sauce and chilli oil.
But there’s also a full barbecue menu – so tough choice.
You may not get to eat with a celebrity chef, but all Sunday evenings at Aubergine are memorable occasions with dinner accompanied by live music, drinks and art.
Atzaró Beach
And no summer is complete without a lounging day at a dreamy beach club. Atzaró Beach club and restaurant, situated on the glittering shores of Cala Nova ticks the boxes and has become something of an A-lister hotspot.
The real star attraction here though is the food – a mouthwatering menu skewed towards sharing plates and natural salads, using organic produce grown in – you guessed it – the Atzaró Agroturismo Hotel estate.
For a sharing plate, try the Labneh with feta cheese, semi-dried tomato, sautéed cherries with sunflower seeds, seeds and mint with citrus fruit and naan bread. Or maybe the mango, papaya and cucumber ceviche with citrus fruit, pomegranate, codium seaweed, red onion, avocado and chilli, and toasted coconut.
But fear not, they don’t hold back with desserts – one of the best of which is a brownie with praline caramel and sea salt.
The look is that barefoot luxe, carefully designed retro boho style that springs to mind whenever you dream of escaping to Ibiza. There’s lots of natural wood, palms, sofas and hanging swing seats, and daybeds in the dappled shade of a pergola – and of course the up-close view of the aquamarine sea.
There are events here too throughout the summer, ranging from live jazz to Full Moon Nights with live music (and magician), and Monday Boho Nights.
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