Café Miró at Son Moragues La Residencia, Mallorca

The café is within an Orient-Express boutique hotel tucked in the foothills of the Serra Tramuntana, in the artsy community of Deià, on Mallorca’s breathtaking northwest coast. The property offers several options for dining, Café Miró is a bar and bistro offering lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. You can also enjoy a delicious selection of Mediterranean tapas at lunch.

The dinner restaurant, El Olivo, is a refurbished 16th century olive press, candlelit in the evenings; it is an enchanting and romantic venue offering an impressive Mediterranean menu and equally impressive wine list, a must for all foodie connoisseurs.

I was unprepared for falling in love with Mallorca; a full day outing while aboard the Silversea cruise ship, it was about 9 days too short of a perfect visit. Soon.

Zipping from Palma, my driver with 30 words of English, and me dredging up my high school Española, managed to banter on and on about the stunning scenery. Little picturesque villages along the road, clad in red tile rooftops, most of the casitas hugging the cliffs are built of hand hewn stone and timbers. Bountiful olive groves containing antique trees over 200 years old are interspersed with rambling hillside orange orchards. Blissful, idyllic seclusion is the only description for this island. Ask Michael Douglas who owns a stunning hacienda beside the Mediterranean Sea.

Lunch – oh my, where to begin. Well, as always in Spain, with Proseco or in most tapas bars, Vermouth.

Guided by the hotel GM and the chef, we decided the perfect path was to meander among the tapas offerings, and if más comida es necesario, we would debate pescados, mariscos y carnes. Conversation flowing, the hotel’s own pressed and prize-winning olive oil drizzled over fresh baked bread, the tapas piled up on our table and a side table set for the overflow.

Tapas – certainly an adaptable lifestyle, small delicious shared bites, ultimately you nibble every menu delicacy. Describing his favorites from the dinner menu, mucho Española side conversation took place and a delectable only evening menu item would appear. Finally, the chef was table side to chat and accept accolades on the crispy veal cheeks cannelloni, the exceptional dinner only prawns – I learned to gently sip the juice from the head of the prawn – Proseco and rojo diminish quiet qualms over prawns with their bulging eyes gazing at you from their bed of pesto speckled dinnerware. Veal scallop wrapped in pork belly was savory; calamares rebozados were feather light although deep-fried. None of the fried items I tasted in Spain tasted deep fried, so light in the olive oil batter.

As in many cases, unless Mark Bittman describes tapas, photos probably speak better than words.

A

A visit to paradise – La Residencia, however, it is more than tapas. Check in and laze and graze for at least 10 days, my personal suggestion.

Buen provecho.