Some stories are born not from an idea but from a memory. Es Fumeral was not created with sketches on a napkin or a spreadsheet. It began long before, in a cove in Ibiza, at a table by the sea, with the sound of cutlery, a game of cards at sunset and the waves crashing on the rocks. It began with a family and a shared childhood.
Francisco Torroba Tejedor, a businessman from Madrid with a passion for gastronomy, needs no effort to remember those summers. “Cala Nova was our meeting point. If you wanted to see someone, you knew they were there. No mobile phones, no plans. Everything happened on the beach: the meals, the games, the laughter, the sea. All of life".
That same quiet, wild, honest cove was where the Tejedor family lived out their most private moments in Ibiza. Where they learned what it means to belong to a place without being from it. “My grandparents started coming here fifty years ago. Since then, the island has been part of us. It is our meeting place, our shared memory”. So when the opportunity arose to breathe new life into Bartolo’s old chiringuito—the historic Cala Nova restaurant, run for decades by the Ferrer family—they knew it made sense. “We wanted to do something that would give back to the island a part of what it has given us. To create a space that would recover the essence of that place that we had loved so much, and take it into the future with respect and authenticity”, adds Torroba.
Spicy lobster
This is how Es Fumeral was born: as a gesture of gratitude, a declaration of principles. And also of feelings. The family’s extensive experience in the real estate world helped them find a design that respected the setting, the traditional Ibizan aesthetics and the rhythm of the place. “We didn’t want to stand out but to blend in. We wanted to create a restaurant that looked out at the sea with humility, not ambition”.
We didn’t want to stand out but to blend in. We wanted to create a restaurant that looked out at the sea with humility, not ambition
At the helm of Es Fumeral’s culinary concept is Ibizan chef Alberto Pacheco, who translates the landscape onto the plate. In his hands, the island’s recipe book, which is so rich yet often so ignored, is given new life with dishes such as the ‘homage to Estimar Rafa Zafra’ oily fish gilda, the Barbate tuna belly sashimi with tonnato sauce, the Galician clams in their own juice, the Ibizan grouper and aioli fideuá, the Es Fumeral farmer’s salad and the grilled fish of the day. And to close, traditional desserts with a twist, such as the flaó cheesecake and the rice pudding. Uncomplicated, unpretentious food, it has a deep respect for produce and the local palate: cuisine that speaks loud and clear without raising its voice.
“Alberto understood from the very first moment what we wanted: gastronomy that didn’t have to be explained, that could be felt. He is from here, and that shows. He knows the flavours, the times, the silences of the island”, says Torroba. Under his direction, Es Fumeral has become a place where technique is at the service of memory. Where diners not only eat but also connect with the island.
Fritters
Family involvement is not an empty slogan. It is real. The family is involved in daily decisions, in dealing with the team, in the choice of local suppliers. More than 70 per cent of the staff is from the island. And you can feel it. “We come from a hard-working family. We were taught that the most important thing is to do things well, with honesty, with determination. And that is what we wanted to pass on to the restaurant”, says Torroba.
The name is no coincidence. Fumeral is the name given to the fireplaces of Ibizan country kitchens, where the family cooked and gathered. It is also the word used by old fishermen to refer to the chimneys of boats—a symbol of travel, origin and return. A nod to the back and forth between past and present, between tradition and innovation, between what we were and what we want to be.
Creamy rice pudding
The restaurant is also a response to the need to recover what is local without turning it into a spectacle. A place that does not announce itself loudly but lets itself be discovered. A place that does not want to occupy front pages but shared tables. That does not compete but accompanies. “There is no artifice here. We are not here because of trends but out of conviction. Out of our love for this island”, says Torroba.
“What excites me most about this project is seeing how a family dream becomes a real place, with a soul. A place where everything makes sense: the past, the present and what we want to leave behind for the future”, concludes Torroba. And the fact is that, far from being a mere investment, Es Fumeral is a family history made into an experience. A way of being in the world. And of being, above all, in Ibiza.
