Bless Ibiza Cala Nova
BLESS Ibiza Cala Nova is rewriting the summer from Lumbre, its sanctuary of smouldering coals, which this season is introducing two innovations with a life of their own: an omakase for only twelve diners and a beach hut where the clock surrenders in the face of the Mediterranean. Call in, read and, most important of all, book a table.
For almost everyone, to mention of Ibiza is to evoke thoughts of secret coves and endless nights. But inside the island guards a spirit of earth, a landscape of terraces, almond trees and centuries-old olive trees that returns, without warning, to its roots. This is the essence captured by Lumbre, BLESS Ibiza Cala Nova’s gastronomic flagship. Here the Mediterranean is cooked with all its subtleties and expressed through the most primitive, honest and transformative element in existence: fire.
Open every day from 7.00 p.m. until 1.00 a.m., with the kitchen open until 11.00 p.m., Lumbre is establishing itself as the indisputable place to be on the island. It offers a chargrilled menu where local products reign unchallenged: no empty adornments, but a sophisticated reinterpretation of the Balearic tradition, in which human warmth and the link with the land sit down together at the table. An intimate, elegant refuge that this year intends to break through the limits of its own excellence. Because within Lumbre’s universe, two stars of the season have just been born.
The first is called Tora. Imagine the scene: dimmed lighting, a minimalism that muffles the sound from outside, and an exclusive bar designed for just 12 guests. Tora is an act of faith. Embracing the purity of the omakase concept (which in Japanese literally means “letting yourself be guided by the chef”), this deeply sensorial corner offers a complete journey of seventeen courses in which the Japanese tradition joins hands with the flavours of the Mediterranean. The chef takes charge and sculpts the evening according to the best product of the season, with his iconic nigiris sparking with their own light and a sublime drinks selection of sakés and aged wines. Open from Tuesday to Sunday for two sittings (7.30 p.m. and 10.00 p.m.) and its €150 tasting menu, (excluding drinks), it makes every dinner into an ephemeral and never-to-be-repeated choreography.
Slowing the pace and tuning into the sound of the waves, we now come to the second innovation at BLESS Ibiza Cala Nova: La Calita. If Tora is the silent sophistication of the night, La Calita is the vibrant joy of living in the full light of day. This beach hut with a pure Mediterranean soul is open every day from 12.30 p.m. till 5.30 p.m. with one single aim: that you stop watching the clock and surrender to the pleasures of summer.
If Tora is the silent sophistication of the night, La Calita is the vibrant joy of living in the full light of day
Set on the seafront with breathtaking open views, La Calita’s energy is magnetic and laid back, official territory for after-lunch conversation that pays no attention to time, absorbing the music and drinking one leisurely toast after another. The menu is a homage to summer pleasure, with no complications but lots of class. The food on offer alternates between superb rice dishes and seafood (chargrilled octopus and squid, rendering homage to Lumbre’s devotion to fire), and cooler, cosmopolitan options such as poke bowls, sushi and salads — in addition to reinvented classics. All washed down with a selection of precision-mixed cocktails for any moment of the day.
It is not often that so many ways of succumbing to pleasure are found under one roof. With Lumbre and its two alter egos, Tora and La Calita, BLESS Ibiza Cala Nova is weaving memories that will last for ever.
