King of the

IT was listed as an ‘Experience of tomatoes, consomme, sorbet & confit’... and on the hottest night of the year (plus the absence of gazpacho) it was about all I fancied eating. Fortunately, if anyone understood this it was head chef Clive Rogers, who insisted drolly: “If it’s 35 degrees out here can you imagine what it’s like in the kitchen?” (actually pretty cool and calm, if you really want to know). And off he went to reappear 15 minutes later with one of the stand out dishes I’ve tried this year (and certainly this summer). Beautifully presented, like a crow's foot, its colours alone cooled me down. Comprising half a dozen types of toma-

AFFORDABLE: The road to Ronda is graced with elegance and fresh flavour to in five different guises, its textures were as interesting as its flavours. I started with the consommé in a shot glass, before being blown away by the intensity of the sorbet and then a crunch of skins.

“After we mix up the ingredients we then filter it all through a muslin cloth for 48 hours to create the concentration of flavour,” explained Rogers, 42, who is also the co-owner - alongside Lord Stanley Fink, the former chairman of the UK’s Conservative Party.

The South African knows a thing or two about cooking, having done his time in the UK, helping win a Michelin star for charming Feathers hotel in Oxfordshire, before heading to the Alps, where he ran various Michelin-starred kitchens.

Alongside sous chef Sam Tineo ( the cousin of celebrity chef Dani Garcia, no less, and a former charge at Sketch, in London, plus Calima, in Marbella) they have sculpted a short, but varied menu, heavy on local ingredients and top quality produce.

“And we are working really hard to keep the prices down,” continues Rogers, who estimates the average spend is only about €50 to €60 a head. On first glance it does seem extraordinarily cheap for its location, sandwiched between the two most expensive urbanisations in Andalucia, La Zagaleta and Madronal, 15 minutes up the Ronda road from Marbella. The costliest dish on the menu was a splendid beef fillet and foie gras with lemon thyme Rosti potatoes, spinach, carrot and ‘Coto jus’, at just €37.60…