Santi Taura is one of Mallorca's leading chefs.

ve never sought to be the best, but I’ve always wanted to be different.” Santi Taura’s smile is that of a man who has succeeded in his endeavour. Santi Taura’s unique approach has become the trademark of this multi-talented creative. This desire to stand out, to follow his own intuition rather than trends, will never leave him. For this is a man of many talents: beyond being a Michelin-starred chef, Santi Taura is an entrepreneur, a popular TV presenter, and also a painter and ceramist.

After building his reputation in his hometown, Lloseta, in 2018, the chef joined forces with the Nybau hotel group, a strategic turning point that led him to relocate his Michelin-starred restaurant, DINS, to the heart of the Princeps Hotel in Palma. Since then, he has become the group’s creative mastermind, applying the island’s identity across all fronts: in the countryside for the rural hotel Es Figuera Nou, or in a coastal setting at Cala Sant Vicenç. Charismatic and deeply attached to his Mallorca, Taura is also a familiar face on the small screen. For many years, he has been cooking in front of the cameras for the IB3 channel. “I have no secrets; I share my recipes freely, because what is shared never dies,” he confides. This generosity extends to his ceramics studio, where he shapes and glazes all the tableware for his restaurant DINS. Santi Taura is hands-on in all senses.

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Taura’s distinctive approach stems from a decision made in his teenage years. Thirty-six years ago, choosing a career in cooking was by no means an obvious choice. The profession was not glamorous, and chefs were not yet the inspirational figures who now dominate social media. Back then, people entered the kitchen through family tradition. One became a chef, a solicitor or a barrister by family influence. In the Taura family, no one wore an apron. Yet the idea took root and grew. At the age of 13, when his teacher asked him about his future, Santi Taura made his intentions clear: he would be a chef.

Empanadas by Santi Taura. Photo by Tarek Serraj

Photo by Tarek Serraj

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e trained at the Junipero Serra centre before cutting his teeth at Ca’n Carrossa, a celler (traditional wine cellar), in Lloseta. There, under the guidance of Joan Abrines, he discovered authentic Mallorcan cuisine. “Joan was the first to dare to offer a tasting menu,” he recalls. It was this mentor who encouraged him to leave the nest to see how things were done elsewhere. Taura then honed his skills alongside big names such as Josef Sauerschell at La Residencia, or Georg Vicky at Portopi—an institution of new Mallorcan cuisine—and also worked in the kitchens of the Ermitage and Binibona hotels. But he never strayed far from his home: “I’ve always worked in Mallorca; I’ve never practised my craft outside the island.” In 2003, Joan Abrines moved his restaurant and offered his former protégé the chance to take over the establishment in Lloseta.

Santi Taura seized the opportunity with both hands. “I was 26,” recalls the chef, “and with Joan’s approval, I copied his formula, structuring it in my own way. At the time, the service lacked consistency: the meat or fish on the menu could vary from table to table depending on the day’s catch; you could also visit several times and always be served the same dessert; and, finally, there was no wine list.” Taura imposed his own order: a single five-course menu (two starters, a fish dish, a meat dish, a dessert) that changes every week, accompanied by a proper wine list. To limit losses and because he was alone in the kitchen, he made reservations compulsory. “Nobody used to book back then,” he explains. “People would walk in, see empty tables, yet I’d refuse to serve them because I’d only prepared enough for the six or eight guests who’d booked.”

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It was a risky gamble, but it paid off. Very quickly, the waiting list grew to two weeks, then two months. So much so that in 2014, Santi Taura made the headlines: his restaurant, alongside El Celler de Can Roca, had the longest waiting list in Spain at 11 months. “I had a star in the Repsol Guide and found myself on a list alongside Can Roca, DiverXO and Arzak... Nobody knew who I was, I didn’t have a Michelin star and my set menu cost 40 euros!” he laughs.

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This recognition acted as a catalyst. In 2016, when he set up his restaurant in his grandmother’s building, he took over the adjoining premises to create DINS (‘inside’ in Mallorcan). “I wanted to show what lay deepest within me: dishes from the Balearic Islands that we had lost, that even the Mallorcans no longer knew. To get into DINS, you had to walk through the Santi Taura restaurant. It was a total immersion. There, I took my approach to the extreme: I began to cook history.”

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“I wanted to show what lay deepest within me: dishes from the Balearic Islands that we had lost, that even the Mallorcans no longer knew."

Santi Taura in the kitchen. Photo by Tarek Serraj

T

asting a Mallorcan frito at DINS is like going back to the source. “The frito is a Jewish tradition; it was prepared at Easter,” explains the chef, who traced its origins in accounts of the Inquisition. It features seasonal lamb, wild fennel, broad beans and onion. For Taura, the island’s culinary heritage is a mille-feuille of Roman, Arab and Jewish influences, but also French ones. After the Revolution, many French chefs sought refuge with the local nobility, bringing their expertise with them, as evidenced by forgotten recipes such as ‘grives à la Pompadour’. This richness had faded with the tourism boom of the 1960s and 1970s, giving way to standardised international cuisine.

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Santi Taura, for his part, draws on his collection of old cookbooks to transform traditional ingredients into contemporary dishes. Recently, whilst searching for a cod recipe, he came across a ‘cod à la Sollerique’ in a 19th-century French cookbook. At the time, it was easier for the inhabitants of Sóller to travel to Marseille by sea than to cross the Tramuntana mountains to reach Palma. There is no trace of this typical Sóller recipe in the Balearic Islands’ culinary heritage. Once the recipe was chosen, Santi Taura kept the ingredients – cod, milk, cheese, spinach – and created a dish with three textures: a tripe broth, a creamy brandade, and pieces of cod topped with a sauce made from spinach milk and Roja de Mallorca goat’s cheese.

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“I’m not modernising Mallorcan cuisine, I’m updating it,” he insists. His aim? For the dish to resonate just as much with a local as with a Korean or American foodie. By incorporating the empanada into his tasting menu, he elevates a humble dish. “Never before has an empanada been awarded a Michelin star!” His version, faithful to its Jewish roots (with no pork fat, replaced by a light oil), is of the utmost refinement. Once made with kid goat in Lloseta, it is now served with rockfish in Palma. A strategy that appeals to an increasingly discerning clientele, seeking meaning and a sense of local connection. “Customers are looking for quality and local roots, and at the same time, restaurants are finally restoring the noble status of Balearic products." The movement has taken off, and Santi Taura is its most passionate ambassador.

@santitaura

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