With a Smile: Café Riutort

Life, in a lot of ways, is like a long and winding river. A riu tort, in Catalan. A wonderful place to stop along the flow is the café bearing the same name. Great specialty roasts, tasty vegetarian dishes, friendly people and a relaxed atmosphere is what makes Café Riutort a go-to place. For me, it’s the most urban café in Palma. Where locals as well as visitors from all over the world meet over a cup of coffee.

You can start your day with a healthy breakfast but my personal recommendation is Riutort’s lunch-combo: a light dish with a bowl of soup and a small seasonal salad all served on one plate. A soup of tomato and beetroot, for example, along with a salad of red lentils and burrata and a piece of spinach-zucchini lasagna. Hot and crunchy with plenty of feel-good-flavors. And I never fail to round it off with a café solo and a pistachio-chocolate-cookie with a dash of flor de sal. Tasting like a summer day by the sea.

Joanaina Rosselló and Albert Comas opened their café more than four years ago. Ever since, it has been part of Palma’s lively specialty coffee scene, focussing on Spanish micro roasters like Mistral or Cafés San Agustín. Riutort is actually Albert’s second family name. It also translates into crooked smile, Joanaina once pointed out to me. A fun play on words, though I’d say most smiles at Café Riutort are rather wide.