For Elliott Wright, 25 years a restaurateur, the new chefs he has taken on to transform Olivia’s in La Cala de Mijas have left him astounded.
ELLIOTT told the Euro Weekly News that in the 10 years Olivia’s had been open, he had never experienced food of this calibre before. Call it kismet, call it chance, but three of the best top international chefs have just found their home at Olivia’s with the opportunity and the drive to create something diners have been crying out for. Gone are the egos of the chef deciding what customers are going to like. Gone are the strict four starters, four mains formality of eating out at a fine dining eatery; in comes what the customer fancies; in comes eat as little as and as much as the diner likes, while sharing the best there is. There’s a noticeable casual Spanish style of eating together with surprising international flavours on the palate. Elliott was eager for the Euro Weekly News to meet the revolutionaries performing this culinary coup d’état. Three chefs leading the charge who have broken the shackles of their previous Michelin-starred restaurants with hot concepts in culinary proposals adapted to the latest in relaxed dining demands: executive chef of the Elliot Wright group, David Gallagher; newly appointed head chef of Olivia’s, Ryan McCabe; and the gifted Icelandic chef Michael Pétursson, head chef of Elliott’s other restaurant Eduardo’s in Orihuela, Alicante.
Elliott Wright makes no bones about the fact that he previously had trouble nailing down the right talent in his kitchens. Now, he has searched the world, bringing in talent from Dublin, Reykjavik, London, Cape Town, and beyond to find just the right combination of talent with a hunger to provide the most outstanding fare for customers bored of the mundane ceremony of the traditional restaurant.
The demands of the three don’t come cheap. First things first, a new €200,000 radically rebuilt kitchen is on the way, opening up to the dining area with a seamless farm to kitchen to table
experience.
Chef David Gallagher explained the new concept to the Euro Weekly News. Previously, he mentions, the fare at Olivia’s was anglo-centric and tired, but now the focus is on world flavours along with an elevation of Spanish cuisine and eating concepts the tapa, the ración, sharing options, and filling the table with world flavours. “There will be new sections on the menu. What I like to do, and what Elliott likes to do when we go out, is order some cold meats, other small plates and perhaps a fish dish, and just share.” We are also trying to offer things that you find elsewhere for lunch like our piadinas (a flat bread sandwich).
For Elliott, “The idea that a table of four orders, four starters and four mains is old hat now. We would rather come and order five or six small dishes to share, then maybe something from the grill, maybe a rice dish. I have trouble finding a really good paella on this coast.”
For David, it’s all about finding the right chefs and the right rigs to work on. “We’re building wood-fired rigs for rice dishes and paellas, burning locally sourced woods, like orange wood, or lemon wood, for that unique flavour, and a bread oven for contemporary twists on breads, like Moroccan spiced flatbreads, focaccias, and brioches. A kitchen designed for quality seafood and grilled meats. We are looking at a high-end brasserie style, informal and relaxed and carefully designed specific to what we are preparing.” The open kitchen concept features high on David’s list of demands, so customers can see how the kitchen artists knead their own bread and churn their own butter.
Elliott laughs as David’s list of demands for the new kitchen concept doesn’t come cheap. With extensive travels sourcing and buying in just the right equipment plus flying in chefs from around the globe, this is no minor makeover.
Ryan McCabe, new head chef of Olivia’s La Cala, joins the team hot off the heels of working with Gordon Ramsey in London, three-Michelin-star restaurant Frantzén in Stockholm, and two-Michelin-star Chapter One in Dublin, once rated the best restaurant in Ireland. He brings systems from the very best restaurants. “Wipe the slate clean; build a real kitchen and kitchen brigade,” he says.
While in Stockholm, he was introduced to new flavours and approaches to cooking that broadened the range of his artist’s palette. His influences come from as broad a field as Scandinavia and Korea.
Michael Pétursson, the new head chef at Olivia’s in Orihuela, Alicante, arrives with influences and ideas rarely experienced in Spain. He has Michelin stars in his blood, coming from a cheffing family and whose father used to be head chef at the celebrated Michelin-starred Óx in Reykjavik.
For Michael, it’s all about the radical change in direction. He tells us there has been a change in the demographic. There is a new customer these days with expectations higher than ever before. Elliott says, “In the short period of time that the new chefs have been in the kitchen, the food has moved up to a level it has never been before. I’ve never had food of this quality from any chef at Olivia’s in the 10 years we have been open.
“The concept is one he has wanted to create for some years but has just not had the right talent in the kitchen to bring it to reality.” Now, all the pieces have fallen into place. He tells us Olivia’s will always be the best party in town, but soon the focus on the food will be revolutionary. The finest in dining experiences will form the centre of Olivia’s concept, with more interaction between the diners and the chefs. And Elliott is not done there as he excitedly explains he believes he is going to build the best outdoor bar around with a new elevator to take customers to the rooftop terrace sky bar for sushi and signature cocktails and spectacular 180º views of the Mediterranean. For this we will have to wait until March!
Torreón, 13, 29649 La Cala de Mijas, Malaga | 608 784 367 | oliviaslacala.com
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