Ca n'Ela

This is cinnamon stick

We entered Ca n'Ela with our senses wide awake and we left mesmerized. Seeing is believing.

Author: Joan Ramis Boscana

When we stroll through Palma's old town, our senses tend to awaken as if they have fallen victim to some kind of lethargy. We stroll through s'Hort del Rei and let ourselves be lulled by the lullaby of the water, resting on a bench in the shade of a gigantic ficus. But it is the statue of the slinger who seems to indicate, from his shot, the direction we should take to go and eat. We enter the neighborhood of La Llotja, crowded with art galleries and tourists admiring its architecture. Suddenly, the door of a place that appears almost by magic, as if it had fallen from the sky, opens. The restaurant Ca n'Ela is located in a privileged place, and when we enter inside we feel it too.

It is Andrea who welcomes us, the same one who inaugurated this project a year ago with her mother. As we walk through the door, we put our feet on a hydraulic floor that gives personality to  the space. The decoration is flirtatious. Daylight streams through tall windows. It illuminates the modern wooden furniture, which combines well with a vertical garden that climbs up one of the walls. The dimensions of Ca n'Ela are just enough to feel a warm welcome. We are guided by a staircase to the upper floor and we are seated at a table from which we dominate, now in the heights, almost the entire premises.

Andrea sings the menu to us, dishes that we have already been able to observe - we are too curious - at the neighboring tables. To whet our appetite, we are served an orange juice, beet and turmeric  accompanied by a hummus garnished with green sprouts. Slices of wholemeal bread with seeds rest on a tray. We can't suppress our impulses: we grab the bread, spread it with hummus and an unexpected ingredient comes to our palate. It is beet, again, which splashes the chickpea paste to give it a sudden freshness. We enjoy the first in slow bites, washed down by the naturalness of a juice that seems too brief. 

Everything tastes like a vegetable garden: legumes, vegetables and fruits. This is the culinary composition of a vegan restaurant whose letter of introduction requires no fuss. The person who devises the restaurant's recipes is Ella, who was a cook at Bon Lloc for twenty-one years.

The next dish is placed on the table by Aida, who informs us that we are going to taste two spoon dishes, one cold and the other hot: the first is a soup made of cucumber and mint; the second is a cauliflower and lemon cream. The soup is perfectly tempered to the summer weather, and the acid touch of lemon acts as a prelude to a cauliflower that tastes light, great for such a hot September. A winning hand as successful as the third batch of food that Aida, solicitous and friendly, brings to the table. On the one hand, we have a millet and zucchini cake with a peanut cream that fits like a glove. The peanut melts over  a combination that could not be more juicy and healthy. A risky bet that comes out as round as its shape. The other elaboration does not fall short, as it is a vegan version of hash parmentier in which the red cabbage claims its presence in the middle of the tenderness of the potato.

Desserts, as if we didn't have enough, consist of the smoothness of a raspberry yogurt made from soy and a fig and almond sponge cake that looks like it just fell from the tree. We entered Ca n'Ela with our senses wide awake and left mesmerized. Seeing is believing.

The next dish is placed on the table by Aida, who informs us that we are going to taste two spoon dishes, one cold and the other hot: the first is a soup made of cucumber and mint; the second is a cauliflower and lemon cream. The soup is perfectly tempered to the summer weather, and the acid touch of lemon acts as a prelude to a cauliflower that tastes light, great for such a hot September. A winning hand as successful as the third batch of food that Aida, solicitous and friendly, brings to the table. On the one hand, we have a millet and zucchini cake with a peanut cream that fits like a glove. The peanut melts over  a combination that could not be more juicy and healthy. A risky bet that comes out as round as its shape. The other elaboration does not fall short, as it is a vegan version of hash parmentier in which the red cabbage claims its presence in the middle of the tenderness of the potato.

Desserts, as if we didn't have enough, consist of the smoothness of a raspberry yogurt made from soy and a fig and almond sponge cake that looks like it just fell from the tree. We entered Ca n'Ela with our senses wide awake and left mesmerized. Seeing is believing.