Gennaro Vitto
If you had to pick one beautiful village in Ibiza, it’d be Santa Gertrudis. Little houses with whitewashed walls and pedestrian streets that echo with conversations in every language, this small, typically Mediterranean village in roughly the centre of island is one of the White Isle’s most charming spots. Its streets are set around a church with pristine white walls and a square in front. And here, right on the square and housed in what was once an 18th century rural estate, is one of the island’s most impressive restaurants: Finca La Plaza.
The main building of the old estate, perhaps the oldest in Santa Gertrudis, became part of the centre as the village grew up around it over the years. Although the original estate lost its lands during the process, it still has a secret garden that can be glimpsed from the square. Its lush plants, well-planned lighting and gentle, enticing music in the best Ibizan tradition make Finca La Plaza one of Ibiza’s most sophisticated restaurants.
Mediterranean inspiration
If the location is impressive, the food is equally remarkable. A relatively small (around 25 dishes including desserts) but thorough, Mediterranean-inspired menu focuses on top quality produce: black cod, Japanese Wagyu, wonderful local fish and outstanding Ibizan vegetables served in dishes that respect the organoleptic properties of each product. To achieve this, the kitchen plays with the essential elements of fire and charcoal, and the Josper oven.
When the Island Hospitality group decided to buy what was formerly a run-of-the-mill brasserie, the team consisting of Gennario Vitto and Sergio Cardeñosa, culinary director and executive chef of the group respectively, completely turned around the restaurant’s approach to food, converting it from a simple brasserie to a gourmet restaurant. Having said that, they have no truck with the pomp, ostentation and excessive formality normally associated with this kind of establishment.
The Island Hospitality team has invested an enormous amount of time, money and effort into the restaurant, making Finca La Plaza the jewel in the group’s crown. With its impressive open kitchen and spectacular wine cellar, it’s become the group’s food laboratory where chefs play with innovative creations such as savoury citric fermentations (kumquat, grapefruit, lime, orange, tangerine and lemon) that season the excellent produce that is used.
Committed to Ibiza
Island Hospitality group was founded in London and during the past few years has intensified its commitment to Ibiza, focusing on the Pityusic Island to such degree that today it manages four further businesses apart from Finca La Plaza. Gennaro Vitto is the culinary heart of each, and learned his craft under great international chefs.
Club Chinois, a nightclub that transports visitors to glamorous 1930s Asia, at Ibiza Gran Hotel; Mikasa Ibiza, an exclusive boutique hotel with 16 rooms in the heart of Ibiza’s marina: Beachouse in Playa d’en Bossa, an idyllic beach club in the purest Ibizan style, Locotaco, a fun, Mexican-inspired restaurant; Massa Coffee, a craft coffee house; and Zuma, an award-winning modern Japanese restaurant, complete the range of leisure venues and restaurants belonging to a company that has never wavered in its commitment to Ibiza since it arrived in the White Isle.
