✅ Miguel Navarro. Chef of the Es Fum Restaurant at the St Regis Mardavall Hotel. A highly qualified professional who has been working since he was 16 years old to make his dream come true. He wanted to be a great Chef. He has achieved it with a star. Congratulations, Miguel.
▷ In a Snapshot
Miguel Navarro is the main head of the kitchen of the Es Fum Restaurant in St Regis Mardavall. He is committed to creative cuisine with quality local raw materials as the main protagonists. It shows a perfect balance to the traditional recipes of the Mallorcan cuisine with an accentuated touch of innovation, highly demanded by the contemporary public.
#Talking
1- CREATIVIDAD. What have you done to keep her active during quarantine?
When the quarantine began, Es Fum was about to open its doors after the winter closure, no doubt it was a strong shock for the whole team.
Then, through different organizations, the possibility of cooking live on social networks arises. The aim was to help by sharing simple recipes and useful tips with people who were confined to their homes. I didn’t even know these live shows existed, so I had to do my best.
On the other hand, when you close one season you spend most of the winter thinking about the next, always looking ahead. During this break, we had the opportunity to look back a bit and analyse the work we’ve done over the last three years.
2. YOUR BASICS. The songs, books or phrases that has accompanied you or which character has inspired you.
If we’re talking about a song, I’d say “Freedom Time”, one of the Wailers’ early recordings. A very melodic and optimistic ska that talks about preparing in the midst of adversity for when redemption comes, I have listened to it a lot during confinement.
If we’re talking about a book, Primo Levi’s trilogy. A survivor of Auswitz , who conscientiously narrates his experience in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany and his exodus through a Europe totally devastated by war. His story has helped me understand that despite the tragedy we have been experiencing, most of us have done so from a privileged position.
Finally, if we are talking about one person, my grandmother is 84 years old and has spent the confinement practically alone. Every time I talk to her I am surprised at how disciplined she is in her daily activity. We have a lot to learn from our elders.
3. TALENT. What has born of this confinement? Any new dishes?
When you cook at home, you don’t have the resources you have at the restaurant, but you do have enough time to recreate yourself. Far from the stress and rush you enjoy cooking for family and friends in a different way. During this confinement, good ideas have emerged and also some failures, my wife can confirm this. I have also learned a lot by sharing recipes with some of the team and even with some of my colleagues.
4.ART. In your restaurant, you take care of everything. The most sacred thing, quality products. And therefore you value the seasons for the products. We all lock ourselves up in the winter and almost come back in the summer. What will be the star ingredients we’ll find when you reopen your restaurant.
As you say, we have a work philosophy very oriented towards quality products and fortunately we have good suppliers who help us to offer our customers the best of the market. But I believe that this time, regardless of when that moment comes, the star ingredients will be the strength and enthusiasm of a whole team that lives this profession with passion and that right now is dying to do what they love again.
5. ES FUM TOP. What signature dish do people have to try when they come to your restaurant?
If you ask a mother which is her favorite child she will tell you that she loves them all equally. But if you ask our customers they will surely choose the Duck and Vegetable Spring Ravioli, one of our classics that has been on the menu for three seasons now and they won’t let me change it.
✨ Mallorca Hidden Recommendations
6º HIDDEN TIPS. Your recommendations to really enjoy Mallorca.
Where to go: Mallorca has many idyllic beaches to get lost in and I think I still have many to discover. But at the moment my favourite is “Es Caragol”, a quiet and paradisiacal place in the south of the island.
What to do: Eat at any of its markets and enjoy its gastronomy. And if you are not apprehensive, attend a slaughter, because of the great symbolic and cultural value it has.
What to see: A sunset by the sea, one of the best gifts on this island.
Miguel Navarro, an excellent professional that the St Regis Mardavall Hotel is fortunate to have running its Es Fum Restaurant. A must to visit this next season.
+ HIDDEN ICONS
