Ahlam Bahri grew up surrounded by aromas and carefully plated dishes. As a child, she would hover around her aunts as they cooked for weddings and catering events. Fascinated by everything happening in the kitchen, food had been part of her world from the very beginning, although at eighteen, she admits, she still wasn’t sure whether she wanted to turn it into a career or pursue Fine Arts instead.
The answer came through hands-on experience. She worked in restaurants and hotels and, little by little, realized that the kitchen was where she belonged. She later completed her training at the Escola d’Hoteleria de les Illes Balears, where she studied in the Advanced Cuisine Specialist program, and an idea that had been on her mind for some time began to take shape: opening her own restaurant, but not just another restaurant.
“I was always thinking about opening something that didn’t exist,” she says, sitting at the bar at Yumee, the project she envisioned and brought to life three years ago. “I wanted my project to offer something different and innovative,” a place where she could “express everything I had inside me: the cuisine of my roots and the cuisine I’m passionate about.”
“Local ingredients are the heart of our cuisine and the foundation of our success.”
That “something that didn’t exist” is a combination as unexpected and surprising as it is flavorful and captivating: an almost alchemical blend of Maghrebi and Japanese cuisines that Alham and her team bring together seamlessly, elevated by one defining element: local ingredients. “They are the heart of our cuisine and the foundation of our success.”
Here, culinary boundaries blur through small plates (such as the Umami tabbouleh, which combines Moroccan barley semolina, seaweed, edamame, and vegetable brunoise), raw preparations (the tuna tartare on a black sesame crisp is a must), robatayaki skewers (including a vegan option), and a selection of exceptionally fresh makis prepared in full view of diners.
“Fridays are a sacred day in Arab culture. In my family, it’s the day we come together, cook couscous, and enjoy ourselves. I wanted to do the same at Yumee.”
The concept itself leaves no one indifferent, but it isn’t the only thing breaking the mold at this forty-seat restaurant in Platja d’Alcúdia. Fridays are omakase open-bar nights: an unlimited selection of signature sushi accompanied by a live Arabic dance performance. The idea began on opening day and worked so well that it became a weekly event, complete with a waiting list. It makes perfect sense. “Fridays are a sacred day in Arab culture. In my family, it’s the day we come together, cook couscous, and enjoy ourselves. I wanted to do the same at Yumee.”
Yumee’s third season, in 2026, has also marked its consolidation. The restaurant opens in April and closes at the end of October, following the rhythm of Mallorca’s season. Its guests include visitors who return the following year and local residents who have made the restaurant one of their regular spots. For those discovering it for the first time, however, the surprise often prompts the same question: “People ask me all the time where I’m from because they’re surprised by how new the concept feels and by the combination of flavors.”
It’s no secret that finding passionate people in the industry isn’t easy, but the chef and owner is deeply committed to training her team, determined to “teach everything I know, from the heart, and pass on my knowledge,” guided by a simple belief: “I think we have to give people opportunities, just as others gave them to me.”
When she looks to the future, Alham dreams of expanding Yumee. Making it bigger, with more space and a larger team, while preserving what has made it different from the very beginning. “I want it to remain the same concept,” she says. And everything suggests she is on the right path: despite the geographical distance between them, she has managed to bring two cultures together around one table and make them understand each other remarkably well.
