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El Carnicero Ibiza, The best grilled meat in Ibiza in a Mediterranean oasis

El Carnicero Ibiza, The best grilled meat in Ibiza in a Mediterranean oasis

Javier Rodríguez © ffmag

Set in an impressive old rural house with white walls and gardens that’s a stone’s throw away from the centre of Ibiza Town, El Carnicero is an oasis of peace, colour, light and fun where the greatest care is taken over every detail. Exuberant rococo decoration in ironwork and wood, plants, fabrics, chandeliers and elegant furniture, all bathed in a play of lights and colours, transport you to a dream world where you’ll be captivated by the welcoming atmosphere and won’t want to leave!

Opened in 2015 by Maximiliano D’Andrea as a carbon copy of a restaurant he owns with the same name in the centre of Milan, El Carnicero was created to be a benchmark in terms of produce, especially for meat-lovers, and Ibizan nightlife, because eating here has everything you’d want from an evening out on the White Isle.


Unpretentious cooking with the finest produce

El Carnicero is a produce focused restaurant. The cooking is straightforward, unpretentious and uncontrived, ensuring that the focus remains on the excellent produce that is used. Specialising in meat, it probably has the best selection of meat on the island: European, Spanish and American steaks, Argentinian rib-eye, Canadian T-bone, Australian bottom sirloin, Tomahawk, mature cow cuts, Uruguayan entrecôte... Everything is barbecued under the watchful eye of Buenos Aires-born executive chef Enmanuel Gentili who, like all good Argentinians, has barbecuing in his blood.

“We don’t have signature dishes,” Gentili firmly states, going on to say, “we’re a grill house specialising in meat, and we buy the finest meat from anywhere on the planet. The requirement is that it’s the best.” 

Chuletón, El Carnicero Ibiza

Chuletón © ffmag

 

More than just a restaurant

You don’t just go to El Carnicero to eat, you go to experience Ibiza, to enjoy the White Isle’s famous nights where anything could happen, an excess of life and joy in a dreamlike atmosphere where things never stop occurring around your table during dinner, an endless series of Ibizan “barruguets”, a midsummer night’s dream. Wildly varied characters, music, magic, fire, and endless sparks and details create a truly special evening. More than a culinary experience, El Carnicero is an experience for all the senses as you become part of a vast stage where diners are an essential part of the performance.

“We like things to happen around the tables, that carefree atmosphere, that mishmash of sensations that borders on the chaos of a primitive universe in creation,” explains Javier Rodríguez, manager at El Carnicero, who has many years of experience in the field. He came to the island at the beginning of the 1980s and was a pioneer of the shows that were staged at the legendary KU. 

El Carnicero is an eclectic cosmos with a multitude of micro-worlds and micro-atmospheres where you can choose to eat casually, seated at a formal table with a tablecloth, at the high table on the island or perhaps in a more private and romantic corner, hidden by plants and set apart from the hubbub. The outstanding quality of the food aside, it’s clearly not just a place to have dinner; it’s well worth spending time here, whether by having pre-dinner drinks or by stretching out your meal with spectacular signature cocktails after dining.

Restaurante El Carnicero Ibiza

El Carnicero © ffmag


Javier Rodríguez and Enmanuel Gentili, the perfect duo

El Carnicero’s huge success since it opened its doors back in 2015 is mostly down to Javier Rodríguez and Enmanuel Gentili, manager and executive chef respectively.

Argentinian Gentili works on the food side; after studying International Relations in his hometown of Buenos Aires, he discovered that what he truly loved was cooking. Without thinking twice, he joined a culinary school and relocated to Milan on finishing his training where he met Maximiliano D’Andrea, an Italian restaurant empresario and owner of El Carnicero Milan. He soon earned D’Andrea’s trust and when the Ibiza project was launched, the organisers immediately thought of him. A serious and demanding chef when choosing produce for his restaurant, his only regret is that he can’t use more meat from Argentina, stating (with good reason) that it’s one of the best in the world; Argentina’s export restrictions mean meat on the bone cannot be imported. 

Javier Rodríguez is manager at El Carnicero and a veteran of shows and Ibiza nights; he arrived on the island at the beginning of the 1980s, “when the nightlife was something else” and legendary brands were created in the collective imagination of the ’80s, like KU and Pacha. He’s been linked to the island, catering and image design ever since, and is in charge of the restaurant’s atmosphere each night, its eclectic, fun and absorbing vibe, the melange of ambiences, experiences and situations that make El Carnicero the only place in Ibiza where every night over 50 employees go out of their way to offer customers an unforgettable evening. 

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