Let's face it, Ibiza is a famously stylish place. If something's cool in Ibiza, then really, watch out World. From music, to the arts, to cuisine, Ibiza does creativity and artistry very, very well.
So we couldn't help but notice something distinctly different emerging on the Ibiza culinary scene this year. Two words.
Raw Food.
The enigmatic Ibiza grapevine has been whispering all season of the incredible delights of raw food and indeed, raw food events were popping up left, right and centre. And we're not just talking about stuff like regular sushi and salads, dear reader. We're talking completely, 100%, raw food. Not even a teensy-weensy bit of rice, cured meat or fish and of course bread, sugar and all your usual delights are very sternly banned. This is zingingly, militantly healthy food. And it's becoming very popular.
We'd been hearing about gorgeous raw food eateries appearing all over the place. Raw food cake-porn photos were popping up daily on our social media news feeds. From the The Rabbit Hole in San Rafael, the weekly Sunday Rawvolution party at La Chirincana over in Es Cana, and the new Santa Gertrudis eatery Wild Beets, it seemed that everyone was at it! When we heard about Raw Food House Ibiza's pop-up dinners at a mystery location close to San Antonio hosted by the enigmatic, sparklingly enthusiastic, Reinhold Rath, that did it. We wanted to know more.
Curiosity on fire, off we went to chat to this resident Ibiza raw food chef extraordinaire, who hosts the monthly pop-up raw food dinners that we'd heard so much about, over at his private residence close to San Rafael.
Arriving at Reinhold's country house and settling down in his authentically rustic, oven-less, microwave-less kitchen (built himself from recycled wood) he offered us some raw vegan sushi to try. Admittedly starving and accustomed to something more like a triple burger with everything, our empty bellies almost sniggered with scorn. And then we tasted. Good heavens!
This was seriously amazing tasting sushi, filled with chopped almonds instead of rice, with beautiful crunchy centres of parsnip, peppers, mango and fresh herbs. An unusual combination and absolutely WOW! Reinhold, for his part, could only gaze in wonder at the speed we emptied the plate.
We chatted for a few minutes, over a cup of lemon leaf and ginger tea, picked from Reinhold's own garden, accompanied by silky slices of raw chocolate cake made with an unspeakably delicious combo of raw cocoa, nuts and Mescal. Yes, the Mexican spirit that often comes with a worm at the bottom of the bottle. Oh. My.
Traditionally associated with only the most dedicated of hippies, the fact that raw food restaurants are appearing in stylish locations such as Santa Gertrudis is very telling. This food is not only healthy, dear reader, it's positively fashionable.
To go into the benefits of a raw food approach to life would be to write an entire book, ladies and gents and this is not the place to debate the pros and cons. But we would recommend that you try it sometime soon. In fact, you could even pay Raw Food House Ibiza a visit this weekend if you're in town. Why not ask Reinhold all about it personally? It's the last of his pop-up dinners this year and when you bear in mind that this man sells his raw chocolate creations to the Swiss (really!) you'll understand why we at Spotlight are dribbling. And naturally, you can expect Djs, music and dancing until late, in the glorious, open air. This is Ibiza, after all!
Reinhold also organises raw food cooking classes and is available as a private chef.
Check out details for this year's final pop-up dinner event here, or call Raw Food House on +34 663658780 for enquiries about workshops and private events.
WORDS | Jane Charilaou PHOTOS | Raw House Ibiza
