L'Escrivania

Gastronomic feast

Dishes that contain the flavor of the Mediterranean and transmit that humble freshness of the recipes daring to play but without pretending to be something different from what they actually are. Humble, but original; with common sense, but catchy.

Author: Aina Coll

Photographer: Jaume Oliver

The building that houses L'Escrivania has enjoyed many lives: guarding the square of Porreres, the space was the town hall for four centuries, a market and even a prison. Now it is a restaurant that bets on seasonal products and prepares its weekly menus according to the market offer. Between the original stone of its walls -which was rescued after a renovation- and the coming and going of locals and visitors, a gastronomic feast that we are looking forward to discovering takes place here.

It is Thursday and the façade of L’Escrivania -which narrates part of the history that awaits us- welcomes us with an apparent calm of a working day in a town that always breathes lively. As soon as we enter, one of the waitresses takes us to our table, next to the window, among wooden chairs, stretcher tables dressed with roba de llengües and a long vermilion sofa, at the foot of a small mezzanine with a few tables.

Behind the glass of a large display case, the bottles of Mallorcan wines we know well are displayed: the porrerencs Trispol and Sincronía, from Mesquida Mora, and Origen, from Blanca Terra, but they are not the only island wines: Can Verdura, 15 Mil gotes and Can Feliu keep company to the rest. It is almost mandatory to order a glass, so we follow orders.

We take a look at the seasonal menu - here it changes at the pace dictated by nature - which oozes local produce with proposals with a star ingredient: the apricot. An emblematic local fruit, we discovered that L'Escrivania has a brother, Can Parrí, which produces products made with this Mediterranean delicacy: dried apricots, apricots with chocolate, apricot liqueur... which, of course, can be purchased at the restaurant.

The weekly menu -in half or full version- has nothing to envy to the à la carte menu: it consists of seven appetizing proposals and three desserts to choose from. After some consideration, we decided to go for the spring rolls with homemade apricot sauce -of course- and a salad with filo pastry parcels filled with blue cheese and plum jam. Fruity, rich and original appetizers that bring a smile to our faces.

The choice of main course is more expensive, but we finally decide to order rice with vegetable ratatouille and tofu tempura, and a portion of salmon ravioli with spinach and raisins.

The rice is tasty and mellow, and the crunchy touch of the tofu tempura creates a very interesting contrast of textures. For its part, the salmon in the ravioli, delicious, shares the limelight with the sauce, which gives a lot of personality to a dish with apparently simple ingredients, but cooked with sensitivity and the occasional dose of ingenuity.

The desserts of the day are presented as an unavoidable temptation to our palate. All of them are homemade, so we ordered two to share: the coconut flan, masterly plated, looks very good, but its flavor is even better.The crème creme -or crema catalana- is also a success: the texture of the caramel layer is possibly one of the best we have tasted in a long time.

L’Escrivania is one of those restaurants that celebrate gastronomy: they extol seasonal produce, revitalize simple ingredients and celebrate homemade elaboration. Dishes that contain the flavor of the Mediterranean and transmit that humble freshness of the recipes daring to play but without pretending to be something different from what they actually are. Humble, but original; with common sense, but catchy. That is why we understand that, when coffee time comes, the place is crowded. It is difficult not to enjoy it here because this kitchen makes you feel at home. We will surely be back.