Tomeu Caldentey Cuiner

What Tomeu Caldentey Cuiner brings to the table in Sa Coma

He calls his cooking intuitive: Mallorcan at heart, open to global influences, free from constraints. “My kitchen is based on intuition to offer memorable moments”, is how he describes his own work.

The one dish that has survived everything is a cannelloni. Pigs' trotters and duck confit, with fresh duck foie, dried apricots, prunes, chopped onion, wonton pastry and Mallorcan olive oil, served with a mushroom sauce. It carries the year it was created in its name and is the only dish that is always on the menus. Caldentey puts it in a nutshell: location, menu, team, name and even category have changed — the cannelloni never.

What comes alongside turns with the season and the market: scallop sashimi with a wasabi and lemon sabayon, or an autumn coca with portobello and white miso — examples, not a fixed menu. Every menu opens with a whole round olive-oil loaf and a spiced mayonnaise.

Two formats under one roof

Anyone after something uncomplicated takes the Menú BARtomeu, inspired by tradition and classicism, in a relaxed space where you are free to pour your own drink. Alongside it run tasting menus of increasing length: Menú Caldentey, Menú Soler and Menú Tomeu, named after his two surnames and his first name.

The Menú Cruu, the “Asian Sigh”, grew out of his work with Asian products; a significant part of it consists of raw, marinated and macerated fish seasoned with oriental touches. It is never published — it stays a secret, subject to intuition, to the inspiration of the moment and to seasonal product, and it is adapted when allergies or intolerances are involved. Those who prefer to order à la carte stay with La Pizarra, the blackboard: dishes with a classic touch made from whatever the market offers that day. Reservations are taken online, by phone or by email; gift vouchers are sold as well.

The chef, the room and the setting

Caldentey trained at the Juníper Serra hospitality institute in Palma, gained experience at Hotel Son Vida and at ses Rotges under Gerard Tetard, and later taught for six years at Juníper Serra and at the EHIB hospitality school of the Balearic university. He took charge of the Es Molí d'en Bou kitchen in his late twenties. He names Santi Santamaría of Can Fabes as the decisive influence on his career. In Palma he also ran Taronja Negre at the Club de Mar. At the first Premis gastronòmics de Mallorca he received the prize for the chef with the best career on the island.

The focal point of the restaurant is the large open kitchen, where Caldentey and his team work in black T-shirts and jeans — he himself in an apron rather than chef's whites. There are tables in several areas, but the best seats are the tall ones at the two counters with a view of the work at the stove. The large terrace with sofas and lounge areas is where a vermouth beforehand or a drink afterwards happens. Marga, his wife, looks after the front of house. The house is no longer chasing a star: they do not want that award, Caldentey says, with all respect and gratitude towards it — they are in another story, another league, another game.