BOLD URBAN CUISINE WITH A TRADITIONAL FLAIR

It is always a delight to be seduced by Marbella’s grand settings and luxurious dining establishments. Sometimes, however, there is just as much – if not more – pleasure and culinary delectation to be derived from exploring further afield and discovering culinary gems in the most unlikely locations. Almost hidden behind a nondescript façcade on the edge of Málaga’s city centre, not far from the central Maria Zambrano train station hub, is a restaurant that truly dazzles diners with the intrepid creative genius of Álvaro Ávila, its chef and co-owner (with wife Lara Izquierdo).

Not that La Alvaroteca has passed unnoticed. The restaurant already has a coveted Spanish Repsol “Sol”, as well as several other national awards, and surely a Michelin star is not far off – perhaps after a major refurbishment currently underway in the two main dining areas is completed.

Álvaro Ávila defines himself as restless, non-conformist and passionate about his work, while always remaining faithful to his roots in Málaga (where he was born) and Jaén (where he has close family connections).

He was attracted to cooking from an early age, tinkering with his grandmother’s pots and pans when he was eight years old. He studied at the Jacaranda hospitality academy and began his professional career at the Meliá Costa del Sol and Villa Padierna hotels. Later, he worked at the Real Café

Bernabéu and Jardín de la Leyenda restaurants in Madrid and completed an internship at Arzak, before returning to Málaga, where he was part of the kitchen teams at Adolfo and Mar de Alborán.

In 2013 he launched his own project, La Alvaroteca, which initially opened as a tavern serving pinchos (tapa-style portions) and traditional cuisine with a creative twist, and the establishment quickly became a flagship gastronomic establishment in the Cruz del Humilladero neighbourhood. Today, a significant proportion of his clientele are international, especially Scandinavian. Álvaro’s audacious philosophy towards cuisine is reflected in La Alvaroteca’s décor. Many first-time diners will be bemused by its electric style, which is highlighted by a liberal use of graffiti images – and knives. The knife, it turns out, is a personal emblem for his kitchen operations, and the vivid dining room aesthetics derive from his passion for comics and science fiction films. As for the cuisine, La Alvaroteca offers diners a traditional menu of starters, mains and desserts, or a more informal selection of tapas, as well as two less conventional, but attractively well-balanced, tasting menus.

Bearing in mind the restaurant’s burgeoning reputation in fine dining circles, the prices are “easy on the wallet”. Available from Tuesday to Friday, the tapas menu, for example, costs between €35 and €40.

The “Carta Blanca” is a fun and casual concept devised by Álvaro to offer clients the possibility of trying many different dishes from the menu in the form of a succession of tapas. Diners place themselves completely in the hands of the chef until they have eaten enough and decide to call it quits. The kitchen team determine the dishes, and their serving order, depending on seasonal ingredients from the local markets.

The “Origen”, on the other, is a more classic – albeit just as avant-garde – tasting menu. It is what we enjoyed during our visit, with a few additional delicacies. Available every day the restaurant is open, the menu is priced at €67 per diner, and served for a maximum of six people per table.

It consists of 14 courses, based on Álvaro’s signature cuisine, and includes dishes prepared with ingeniously meticulous inventiveness – and sometimes a little spice of provocation to challenge the palate.

It is difficult to give them due creative credit with a simple description so suffice to say the key ingredients include: “gummy” olives; cod; red prawns, “ortiguillas” (sea anemones); acorn-fed ham; oyster, ponzu and kimchi; goat taco; black rice toast, smoked eel and ali oli; a sardine that “wanted to be a tomato”; turbot; quail; suckling pig confit; mango chutney and ginger ice cream; cheese trolley; and, for dessert, violet and amaretto ice cream, and petit fours.

The restaurant is committed to offering service that mixes an appropriate level of formality with warm cordiality, with the staff knowledgeably informing diners about the dishes and recommending options, both from the menu and the wine list – which includes more than 150 national and international wines.

Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: 1.30pm-4pm and 8.30pm-11pm

Lunch only Wednesday and Sunday: 1.30pm-4pm

Closed Monday

Calle Gerona 38, Cruz de Humilladero, Málaga Tel. (+34) 680 625 214 laalvaroteca@hotmail.com www.laalvaroteca.com