The La Gaia restaurant has evolved, unveiling Japeruvian cuisine, a new culinary concept that combines flavours from Japan and Peru with signature cuisine.
Ibiza Gran Hotel is putting the finishing touches on everything before inaugurating its ninth season on 20 April. During the winter months, Ibiza’s sole deluxe five-star property has carried out major improvements to its facilities and services, with the aim of surprising its guests when it reopens.
One of the main novelties is the evolution of La Gaia, the hotel’s restaurant. This year, La Gaia will be offering a unique dinning option, under a new concept called “Japeruvian cuisine”, combining the best of Japanese and Peruvian cuisine with signature cuisine.
In the words of Oscar Molina, the Ibiza Gran Hotel and Casino of Ibiza’s chief executive, “La Gaia new offering, Japeruvian cuisine, is based on Nikkei cuisine – which combines flavours and ingredients typical of Peru and Japan – with creative touches in line with the latest in gastronomic trends. The dishes have been especially designed as finger food and for sharing in an agreeable and relaxed atmosphere.”
The restaurant’s team has chefs specializing in Peruvian and Japanese culinary techniques, something which, according to Molina, “has been of prime importance when selecting the best ingredients and putting together this original variety.”
La Gaia dessert menu also has also been clearly influenced by Nikkei cuisine, designed on the basis of fruit and ingredients from Japan and Peru, with a large dose of creativity. Even the selection of cocktails has been adapted to La Gaia’s new concept, including liquors and mixes typical of the two countries, such as pisco and sake, among others.
But La Gaia’s transformation goes way beyond its menu. The restaurant has also been completely refurbished. One of the most relevant changes has been the installation of a second bar, at which sushi cooks prepare food in front of diners as a type of show cooking.
The restaurant will also exhibit a new work of art entitled Life, designed by the Danish artist Katrin Kirk, a resident in Mallorca since 2006. What is involved is a three-dimensional sculpture representing a number of jellyfish jutting out from the frame.
The experience is completed with screenings, music and a photographic exhibition that looks back on the hippy essence of Ibiza in the 1970s.
Josep María Rodríguez outside La Gaia
The revamped La Gaia will be officially opened on 27 April with the season’s first “culinary experience”, with a very special guest: the famous pastry chef Josep Maria Rodríguez, winner of the World Pastry Cup in 2011. Rodriguez will design a special tasting menu with the chef Oscar Molina to mark the occasion. Other culinary experiences planned for the season will feature prestigious chefs such as Paco Roig and Ruben Alvarez, among others.
