Culinary remix: Amaya - Estilo Palma

**** Sadly, Amaya closed again. ****

Some of our Berlin friends are real foodies. They always know about the latest openings and the places to go in Germany’s culinary capital. Two of them came to visit us in Palma last year and I wasn’t surprised when they recommended a place in Santa Catalina that we didn’t know about. Out of the dozens of restaurants lining Carrer Sa Fabrica they had discovered Amaya. It took a while before I managed to check it out myself. Yet it was beyond expectations.

Amaya’s chef had changed in the meantime but the food and the atmosphere are just as fantastic, maybe even better. The dishes of David Kikillus who had earned a star for his own restaurant in 2016 go beyond conventional boundaries. And I love Amaya’s interior design. The wallpaper sets you amidst a palm jungle at night, the colorful ceiling is made out of old Mallorcan window shutters. But you don’t even need to open them to get into culinary heaven.

For starters Amaya-owner Tobias Bürgel served us a pretty wild and extremely tasty combination: foie gras with a scoop of pistachio ice cream. The following courses were a feast for the palate and for the eyes, too. Salmon with mandarin, red cabbage and slightly smoked avocado, or turbot with yuzu, broccoli and nut butter. Desert was another highlight – strawberries and white chocolate with chervil and miso.

We finished our meal with Amaya’s signature digestif, a mix of brandy and a few other things that the bartender told me. Apart from the homemade orange liquor I should be able to get all the ingredients. But I’m sure it takes more than just the sum of the parts and the rhythm of the barkeeper. So I will tell our Berlin friends that they have to come back. And I will certainly join them on their next visit at Amaya. Maybe that time we’ll start with a drink at their chic bar.