“Delicious cooking with no frills”: The Rebirth of Tomeu Caldentey

What was your earliest experience of being in the kitchen?

I started at the age of 14, when I started going to the Juníper Serra Institute, the only cooking school in Mallorca at that time. It was the old kind of vocational training: two years at entry-level and three at advanced level. Those classrooms opened up a whole new world to me, and little by little I discovered and fell in love with this profession.

At what point did you decide you wanted to become a chef?

It was at the end of secondary school, when I had to choose my path. In Sant Llorenç there weren’t many vocational training options and, without really knowing why, I told my parents: ‘I want to be a cook’. I’d always loved eating and didn’t see any other training courses that appealed to me as much or that were close to home. That marked the beginning of everything that followed.

What were your first steps in professional kitchens like?

My curriculum included work placements from the second year onwards, so every year I spent a few weeks in real kitchens. I also worked in hotels and restaurants on the island during summer. It was a great apprenticeship in this profession where you never stop learning; it’s constantly evolving.

After so many years, do you still have the same drive for learning?

Absolutely. In fact, switching up our concept in 2018 and finding a new way of understanding cuisine gave me the motivation to keep learning new things and training myself.

You gave up the Michelin star for a more personal model. Why?

After 15 years with a Michelin star, it was very difficult to make the business model sustainable. It also didn’t bring us the satisfaction we were looking for. That’s why we decided to make the change. I wanted to make things simpler: to give up that style, but keep the character of my kitchen. All this with a more informal, casual set-up, simple yet honest food with no frills for a wider audience.

How has the public responded to this transformation?

Very well. The general public is very happy. We now have a really diverse clientele—in terms of age, nationality, profile—which makes the restaurant more lively, and we’re really happy to see people coming back because they feel comfortable.

How has your vision of cooking evolved over the last four decades?

Spain has experienced a real culinary revolution in the last 40 years; we’ve lived through a beautiful moment of culinary vibrancy. We’ve therefore seen a transformation that has enhanced more traditional dishes with new techniques and ingredients, while respecting the classic foundations that underpin our cuisine.

What experience does Tomeu Caldentey Cuiner offer today?

A welcoming space, without strict rules: from a casual daily menu in the ‘Bar de Tomeu’ to tastings of 5, 8 or 10 courses. They all share the same philosophy: delicious, fun, highly seasonal cuisine. We want our customers to feel at home—with a nice welcome, friendly service and warm décor—and to leave feeling like they’ve had a good time, not just good food.

Hospitality seems to be your big thing.

Of course, it’s the basis of everything. Cooking well is a given; what makes the difference is how the team is hosting. For me, hospitality is a commitment to service, not servility; for people to feel at ease and want to come back. Studies show that the number one factor for customers to come back isn’t the food, but the treatment they get.

What role do local products play in your kitchen?

We try to use them whenever we can. We work with farmers on the island for fruit, vegetables, olive oil and wine. Seasonality is key for us. However, this doesn’t mean closing ourselves off to outside products. We do use some perishable seasonal products in our cuisine, but the backbone of our food is zero-mile seasonal ingredients.

How do you see Balearic cuisine today?

A distinction must be made between traditional cuisine and restaurant cuisine. The restaurant industry has taken a leap forward: there’s a very diverse range available, from more traditional to more international cuisine. However, strictly traditional cuisine is becoming increasingly difficult to find in restaurants; right now, it’s surviving better at home. The challenge is balance: to keep innovating without compromising on our signature flavours.

What’s a staple Mallorcan dish for you?

It depends on the season, every season has its own dishes. For example, in summer the vegetable dish tombet is outstanding. Mallorcan coca bread, for example, can be totally different depending on the season: trempó salad in August, roasted peppers in autumn, or parsley and onion in winter. The same goes for Mallorcan soup, which can be made with different vegetables depending on the season, offering different nuances. They’re all important to me. The collection of recipes is vast and each dish speaks of the season; therefore they all deserve to be preserved.

What challenges is local cuisine experiencing in the face of global trends?

The main challenge is to keep on track: to keep cooking proper food with its original roots, but with a look to the rest of the world. Trends, which have always existed, come and go, but if we stick to our identity we can include what makes it better and leave out anything unnecessary. The key is not to compete with big chains, but to offer what they can’t: a taste of the land and human expertise.

Do you have any more culinary dreams left to fulfil?

Yes, although I don’t know if I’ll ever succeed: selling cocarrois in New York. I imagine people walking through Manhattan while biting into a cocarroi pastry stuffed with Mallorcan vegetables, an icon of our cuisine, made with healthy flour and Mediterranean flavour. If it doesn’t happen, never mind, but the idea of bringing something so typically Mallorcan to the Big Apple still weighs on my mind.