Low season and high standards: Mallorca Restaurant Week is launched

Anna and Mia segment

Oliver: Right, welcome to the Mallorca Mallorca podcast. I’m Oliver. In the studio today we’ve got two guests we had back in September: Anna Ruiz Alvaro and Mia Narp. And we’ve got Vicki McLeod, my wife. Free pies, and Mia brought you pies, but you’re in charge of talking and I’m in charge of eating the pies. Where did the pies come from?

Anna: We make an event today because it’s our opening of Restaurant Week and we’re really happy to come here to say to everybody that it’s open now, you can go to the restaurants and eat proper and well.

Oliver: Just to recap, Anna and Mia were in the studio in September, teeing up Mallorca Restaurant Week. Now it’s here, so we’d better ask how it’s going. When does it start and when does it stop?

Mia: It starts today. We had the official opening at Hotel Concepció by Nobis in central Palma, and it finishes on 31st of March. The closing party will be on the 30th of March at Tabana.

Oliver: Good to hear it’s longer than a week.

Mia: Yes, it’s actually five weeks. Restaurant Week is the brand, but we run it for five weeks. Last year we started with two, and now we’re doing five because there was lots of interest and it went quite well.

Oliver: Give us the elevator pitch. What is Mallorca Restaurant Week?

Anna: Mallorca Restaurant Week is for the people that live here and also international visitors. They can go to top restaurants at this time of year. There are special menus with good prices, and they use local productions. Everybody wins because foodies discover different restaurants, restaurants welcome people in low season, and local production shines too.

Mia: Last year we started with 33 restaurants and this year we have over 50. Some are still signing up because you don’t need to start the first day and finish at the end, you can join for as little or as long as you need.

Anna: The important part is we have really good restaurants. We have Michelin stars, Repsol, we have Voro with two Michelin stars. Mark Fosh is helping us and he joined again because he saw the success of the first edition. We have Santi Taura with DINS, Andreu Genestra from Aromata, Adrián Quetglas, many really good chefs. And we also have new restaurants that opened recently, so there is something for everyone.

Oliver: This is part of a bigger brand, right?

Anna: It comes from New York, around 30 years ago. It became popular worldwide, Asia, South Africa, and now in Spain. Here we also want local production in the spotlight. The idea is a menu with at least 20% local production, so the economy grows and producers get visibility. We make events mixing local production and restaurants, show cooking, and then visits to fincas so restaurants can learn from producers.

Oliver: Are the events public or press?

Mia: Mostly press, influencers, but if you’re friends with us you might get invited. We want networking, so restaurants learn from local production. The next events are on fincas, small groups, and at the end a big party at Tabana with recognitions based on feedback.

Mia: We are a small team of four. Anna, Georgia, Juanfran, and me, with external partners. We have support from government, local producers, a technology partner for bookings, hotels for events, and more partners joining.

Oliver: Is it mostly Palma?

Anna: It’s the whole island, but yes a lot in Palma and also Calvià. The idea is to spread across the island and break stereotypes. Some locals think certain places are only for tourists, but in this time they can try them and come back later in the year.

Mia: It’s only our second year, so we’re collecting feedback. It’s not set in stone that it will always be February and March, but the idea is low season so restaurants and the island win in that moment too.

Oliver: What qualifies a restaurant to be part of Restaurant Week?

Mia: Some have Michelin stars or Repsol, but it’s not only that. In general it’s places that one of us has tried and we said the food is really good, innovative, uses local products, great service, atmosphere, something unique. They have to be above average, leaders in their segment, the best in their class.

Anna: We have different cuisines too, Mexican, Canarian, Japanese, curry, lots of styles, but using local production in their own way.

Oliver: Is it seasonal production too?

Anna: Yes, it has to be seasonal. We want to transform our ideas, understand the origin and heritage. If we give money to local production, we eat well. Local production is fresh, not coming from far away.

Mia: Many restaurants use way more than 20%, but it’s a minimum to sign up.

Oliver: There are menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails too?

Mia: Yes. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails. You can do it your way.

Oliver: How do you book?

Anna: Through the website. It’s temporary, only for this time, so enjoy it now and then it’s gone for the year.

Oliver: What’s the site?

Mia: restaurant-week.es. You can also find us on Instagram, restaurantweek.es.

Oliver: After I go to a restaurant, do you ask for feedback?

Mia: Yes, we collect feedback, and at the end we do recognitions. Not awards, recognitions, for things like local product, presentation, innovation, we’re still deciding.

Oliver: If people want to get involved or find out more, go to the site or Instagram. Thanks for coming in, and thanks for the pies.

Anna: Thank you so much for your support.

Mia: Thank you.