MARBELLA CLUB

If you are passionate about food and wine, there is no such thing as a holiday from the subject. It is impossible for me to visit any new destination without first inquiring about the most interesting chefs or restaurants in the region, regardless of why I am going there.

Enough of my friends had mentioned Marbella's Calima (www.restaurantecalima.es), a two-star Michelin restaurant run by the young Andalusian chef Dani García, for me to know it was worth the journey down Costa del Sol's tourist-polluted coastline during a recent holiday to Spain. Quests like this always have a certain risk. There are too many Michelin-starred establishments in the world that create cuisine of technical excellence but without any clear identity—if you were blindfolded, you wouldn't know if you were in Helsinki, Munich or Lyon. This is not an affliction I suffered at Calima, which offered the most pleasurable and original meal I have had for some time.


Andalusian chef Dani García promotes regional flavors using Molecular Cuisine techniques.

Mr. García is a native of Andalusia, and is firmly rooted in the traditions and food of Spain's southern heartland. The jovial 35-year-old chef first worked with Martín Berasategui, the acclaimed Basque chef from San Sebastian, then spent time in and around neighboring Malaga before coming to Marbella in 2005 to open Calima on the raised terrace of Gran Melia Don Pepe, a luxury hotel with uninterrupted views over the Mediterranean.

Spanish cuisine has been at the forefront of the international food world for the past decade, thanks in large part to Ferran Adrià's El Bulli and the Molecular Gastronomy movement with which it was associated. But that Modernist style isn't one that would immediately come to mind if you were contemplating a chef in southern Spain who takes special pride in promoting regional flavors.

This would be an error. Mr. García is actually a devotee of many of Mr. Adrià's techniques, and even if the young chef's end result isn't overwhelmed by "molecular food," he uses the methods to put on a brilliant exposition of the culinary heritage of Andalucía in a set meal of 20 or so courses.

"Ferran is extremely important in my evolution—both personally and professionally," says Mr. García. "He is not just a major chef, but he helps people who come to him with culinary problems. I have never actually cooked with him in El Bulli, but we travel a lot together." (In fact, the chef was about to head off on a tour of China with Mr. Adrià.)

"Also, Ferran spoke to the hotel group who own this place and actually helped me buy the restaurant," he adds. "He is my 'godfather'—he created new formulas, new philosophy and new techniques. My kitchen has many influences from chefs all around the world, but the most important one is Ferran."

Although it wasn't apparent in the dishes coming out of that kitchen, Mr. García frequently uses liquid nitrogen to create certain effects, which are in no way Modernist or Molecular. The culinary disappointment of virtually tasteless and completely hollow squid croquettes is rectified when the diner removes the ceramic saucer holding them to find a richly textured soup and squid in the bowl below. Another dish appears to be a glazed tomato but is in fact solidified tomato juice, enveloping a brandada de bacalao of cod.



Ferran Adria on the True Nature of Food
"I use nitrogen quite a lot in my kitchen, but I am quite pleased that people do not notice it or other Modernist techniques, as it is merely a means to an end and not important," he says. "Too many chefs think they are artists rather than cooks. For me, it is critical to always remember that you are a chef and that you only have one objective and that is to provide pleasure for your guests. It is perfectly acceptable to have a concept and philosophy behind your cooking, but first and foremost the diners have to enjoy themselves—that is more important than the concept." He sums up his beliefs with the phrase La técnica debe estar siempre al servicio del gusto ("It is fine to use technique, but only if it enhances the flavors").

That philosophy is nowhere more evident than in a tiny bowl of clear soup with what appears to be three chickpeas in the middle. The "chickpeas" have a delicious, unctuous texture and a depth of flavor I have never experienced before. When I mention this to Mr. García, he laughs because the dish is, again, a molecular creation—using a silicon mold, he shapes sesame butter into the form of a chickpea. "This dish is one that demonstrates perfectly that technique can be successfully used in the service of taste and flavor."

There is one other fundamental difference between the cuisine of El Bulli and Calima: Virtually no fine wine matched or complemented the multiplated cuisine of Mr. Adrià, but at Calima, sommelier Jose Godoy manages to enhance the experience with his selection of Spanish white wines and aged sherry.

While Mr. García is determined to remain in Marbella, running his flagship restaurant from Easter until the end of October, he has also created a number of more casual restaurants called La Moraga (www.lamoraga.com), which he hopes to export around the world in the coming year. "Because of the economic crisis in Spain at present, I would prefer to expand abroad," he says. The chef is planning to open these simple tapas bars in Beirut, Morocco, Dubai, Germany and New York.

There are no plans, however, to try to emulate Calima at any other destination, either in Spain or abroad. "Sometimes, people come to me saying they would like to back a Calima in New York City or Paris, but it is impossible to do that," Mr. García says. "This is my flagship and it requires all of my time and effort to make it work. I only desire to have one Calima, here in Marbella and no more. It is my baby."