2009-11-11

Extraordinary Restaurant in Majorca: Interview with Marc Fosh

Simply Fosh is the new restaurant of Marc Fosh, well-known for his extraordinary Mediterranean Cuisine at the Read’s Hotel in Santa Maria. Opened on April 1st, 2009, the restaurant offers a more casual and pocket-friendly version of Marc’s cuisine at Read’s which had been decorated with a Michelin Star. The restaurant is located in the stylish Refectori of the 17th century Hotel Convent de la Missió in the old town of Palma. The Hotel is a special class luxury hotel for lovers of modern design in historic surroundings (we stayed in room number 15, hidden under the roof top with superb views on Palma) and is for me one of the most extraordinary hotels in Mallorca. Its cool elegancy fits perfectly with Simply Fosh’s modern interior of black-and-white, pale wood floors, and a cascading wall of water.

When we stayed at Simply Fosh, the chef himself helped us with our choice (and you rarely see grand chefs staying with their guests before the end of the meal!). With his unpretentious habits he belongs to these young chefs like Tim Mälzer, Jamie Oliver or Tim Raue (who is a friend a Marc) with his restaurant MA in Berlin. He recommended to us his famous yellow gazpacho with a fruity mango note and raw salmon, see brass with brown Venere rice (so delicious that we bought a package for home at Fosh Food) and a heavenly oriental dessert with a mysterious Egytian spice blend and rose water. Even my companion, normally fleeing from star cuisine, loved the place – and we were both surprised by the excellent value for money.

Here is the interview with Marc Fosh:

You were chef at Reads Hotel Mallorca. Why did you leave this famous place and open your own restaurant?

Marc Fosh: I just needed a change. I had been at Reads for 13 years and felt that I could not really achieve anymore. I was also not entirely happy with the politics of the place and knew the time was right to do something different, surround myself with positive people again and open my own restaurant.

You got a Michelin star for your cuisine at Reads. Are you willing to get one for Simply Fosh as well?

Marc Fosh: To be honest, winning Michelin stars is a great honor for any chef but we should never become obsessed about them. At Simply Fosh we are concentrating on offering good food at good prices in casual yet stylish surroundings. I firmly believe that too many Restaurants and Chefs take themselves far too seriously. The concept at Simply Fosh is to strip away all the paraphernalia of a great restaurant and get back to the basics of simple, well cooked food in a relaxed atmosphere. If we can do that and win Michelin stars, that would be fantastic, but it is not a priority right now.

„Fosh“ seems to be a real food brand with restaurant, shop and an own range of products. What is the idea behind the „Grupo Fosh“ and what are your target customers?

I suppose our brand has evolved naturally over the last few years. I think it is important that there exists a certain style about everything we do as a company and, both Fosh Food & Simply Fosh do have a very similar feel to them. We’re trying to demystify cooking as I think sharing ones knowledge and experience is very important if we are going to raise cooking and eating standards. Accessibility is important and the Fosh Food venue offers the opportunity to build on and learn new cookery skills. The evening demonstrations are very popular. We have novices through to super yacht chefs attending them and everybody gets really involved, that’s what food should be about. Our target customers are anybody who enjoys cooking or eating good food and our philosophy is to promote good, simple, healthy food.

Why did you, originally British, choose to live on Mallorca and what do you like about the island?

I had no idea I would stay so long in Mallorca when I first came here to open the kitchen at Reads. The truth is however, that Mallorca is a great place to live and raise children. The Island offers some great contrasts. It’s very green, has wonderful mountains and some of the best coastline in the Mediterranean. Driving around the Island all you see is almond, olive and orange groves and some truly beautiful scenery. Palma too is now a great little, cosmopolitan city.

Which are your hot spots in Mallorca when you go out?

I have to admit that I rarely go out as this business leaves very little time for anything else.We close on Sundays and I often head to El Bungalow on the beach in Can Pastilla for a simple family lunch. The Restaurant is like a very basic fisherman’s cottage with two fairly ordinary terraces right next to the sea. They serve simply grilled fish and really tasty rice dishes. Try the black rice and stir in a spoonful of rich garlic aioli.