Ca'n Calent

Enjoyment with no regrets

At this point (which takes us to the limits of the pleasure that one can enjoy at lunch) we embrace indulgence and, without remorse, we go for a dessert to share.

Author: Aina Coll

Photographer: Aina Coll

Miquel Calent needs no introduction. His vision and his skill in front of the stove, but also his passionate and overwhelming personality, have made him a reference in Mallorcan gastronomy -beyond any star-. A regular on local television, at events and culinary shows, his restaurant, Can Calent, is a must-visit destination for anyone who understands food through enjoyment -just like us-.

Located in Campos, the restaurant that he runs with his brother Joan Vicens, who is in charge of the wine section, is a modern, well-kept and cozy space, with a large lounge that we reach after taking a look -with irremediable curiosity- at the large wine display that connects the bar-room, which serves as the entrance, with the dining room. The atmosphere, quiet on a Wednesday at noon, invites us to relax, talk and taste. Three verbs that we always feel like conjugating and even more today, when we are going to taste the dishes of a place of reference in the island.

We take a seat and explore the menu, a map that guides the route of a journey through delight and rejoicing: veal tripe, squid in the style of 'la padrina Calenta', rice dishes -cod, cuttlefish, meat and seasonal vegetables-, and a selection of meats and fish: emperor loin, octopus cannelloni, roast duck timbale, boneless black suckling pig and entrecote of Mallorcan veal are part of the indulgent list.

Attractive and succulent, the menu does not make the choice easy, but we decide to begin with a starter to share, followed by two main courses and rounded off with a good dessert, so, while we nibble on some bread with sobrasada and olives -a way of whetting our appetite and one hundred percent Made in Mallorca-, the first act arrives at the table: poor man's potatoes with egg yolk, mushrooms and black truffle. It is a delicious and very satisfying proposal with which we are almost full as soon as the meal starts, but from which we cannot resist dipping, one after another, slices of bread until the last trace of sauce disappears from the bottom of the plate.

As main courses, we choose the octopus, shiitakes and hazelnuts cannelloni, which amazes us with a surprising flavor that defies the always desirable conventional cannelloni, and the Majorcan veal tartar, foie and fried egg, a refreshing dish in the mouth, with balanced flavors and, again, in a more than generous portion.

At this point (which takes us to the limits of the pleasure one can enjoy at lunch), we embrace indulgence and, without remorse, we go for a  dessert to share. We finish the game in style: a chocolate sponge cake with milk chocolate ice cream and white chocolate flan is our final touch. And as we write it, we recreate the true barbarity for the taste buds that is this sort of deconstructed three-chocolate cake that we love so much and will most likely take a long time to be forgotten.

More than once we have heard Miquel Calent talk about how, when he was a child, he watched, listened and helped his grandmother Calenta while she cooked in the kitchen at home. That it was her who infected him with curiosity for what happens between the stoves and the passion for traditional recipes. And the truth is that when you leave Can Calent you are deeply grateful that, sometimes, the family has the ability to influence what we know and love to do. How much enjoyment we would have missed without his godmother Calenta and the good Miquel.