Last night I was invited by a reflexology client of mine to make up a foursome for dinner before he heads back to Boston on Thursday. He told me that we were going to a restaurant whose name or location he didn’t know, and that it was a “very nice place”.
Well, I dressed up – it’s always nice to have an excuse to make an effort in t-shirt country – and was picked up promptly at 8pm.
We drove some 20 minutes through the most exquisite scenery down through a valley to a village I have never heard of – Algarinejo – which I would not have found had I been driving there alone.
The restaurant is situated just off a classically Spanish square with a children’s playground in the middle and surrounded by typical Spanish bars where we parked easily and strolled the short distance to the restaurant in the bottom right corner.
Piolas, which you can view here, is not the most typical Spanish restaurant in terms of decor – it has a rather surreal Wedgewood coloured ceiling, however the FOOOOOD … Oh My Goodness …..
The chef has no professional training at all, and yet from the moment our appetisers were presented, we knew we were in for a visual and culinary treat.
The presentation was absolutely spectacular – each plate a different style for our starters – and the menu in both English and Spanish – in the most ambient surroundings imaginable with lovely local paintings on the walls and a very attentive staff including the bald chef who was so excited by his trade that his infectious enthusiasm had us all laughing and delighted to be in this spectacular place.
I absolutely cannot recommend it more highly – and speaking as an ex chef myself, that’s saying something!