IN AN INNOVATIVE twist on the traditional “Week of…” gastronomic extravaganzas, Barceló Málaga Hotel is offering diners a fusion of art and cuisine from 31 October to 5 November.

David Sanmartín, chef of the hotel’s award-winning El Andén restaurant, has used works of art on display at the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Málaga as the inspiration for a week-long “From Canvas to Plate” menu.

Contemplating a painting and savouring a dish of food have a common exponent, he explains. “They are both experiences for the senses, with personal sensitivities playing a a key role.”

The first “brushstroke” is ajoblanco, a traditional Andalucian cold soup served with grapes, inspired by “La fuente de Reding”, an oil painting by Guillermo Gómez Gil.

The next aperitif is a mini-hamburger of oxtail, alluding to “Picador herido” by Marià Fortuny i Marsal; followed by a salad consisting of purple-coloured potatoes, bacalao (cod) petals, spring onion and elderberry flowers, and imitating the colour palette and geometric shapes of Juan Gris’s “Mujer sentada”.

The natural colours featured in Claude Monet’s “La maison vue du jardin aux roses” inspired a deer steak dish accompanied by green mustard and rose petals.

Finally, for dessert, Sanmartín took inspiration from Henri Matisse’s  “La Conversation sous les oliviers”, to create a colourful dish of chocolate flakes, pistachio and lemon mousse.

The menu costs €35 (including wine) and is available for hotel clients as well as members of the public. The wine served at a special presentation lunch for the media was Codorniu 1551, Solear sherry and Enate red from Somontano.

SPAIN’S PREMIER food channel has joined Málaga restaurant La Reserva del Pastor to create the first Bar Canal Cocina in Andalucía.

Launched in Madrid last year with the slogan, “Unidos por una misma pasión: la comida” (“United with the same passion: food”), the initiative will be presented in other Spanish cities after concluding in Málaga on 30 November.

Thursday is the key day for Bar Canal Cocina, with “multiple surprises” and gifts for clients visiting the restaurant (in C/ Sánchez Pastor), as well as a free tapa courtesy of Canal Cocina. Various other activities are featured on the website CanalCocina.es, including a competition offering dinner prizes.

The only channel in Spain specialising in gastronomy, Canal Cocina is – according to presenter Mandi Ciriza – aimed at viewers who enjoy food and are interested in learning about new gastronomic trends. The schedule includes programmes on travel, “eco-cuisine”, nutrition and healthy cooking, reality shows, and series featuring Spanish and international chefs such as Jamie Oliver.

Canal Cocina in Málaga

FRIENDS AND GUESTS will be able to enjoy lavish celebrations on 29 July when fashion accessories brand leader Carmen Steffens officially inaugurates its Marbella boutique.

Singers Mario Vaquerizo and Marta Sánchez will be present to help get people in a “magical” festive mood, and model Ariadne Artiles will be joined by brand creator Mario Spaniol, designer Monalisa Spaniol and Carmen Steffens representatives from Uruguay, Paraguay, Holland and Paris, as well as Marbella manager Carmen Domínguez.

One of Brazil’s most successful international brands, Carmen Steffens (founded in Franca in 1993 and named after Mario Spaniol’s mother) has over the years created a high-tech and hand-crafted collection of 3,600 shoe models and 1,400 handbags.

The Marbella boutique is located in Avda. Ramón y Cajal, where clients can find the latest collections as well as the Raphael Steffens line for men and CS Teen. Drawing on a “coquette” style from the 1950s and rustic chic from the 1970s, with a touch of surrealism, the spirit of the 2012 collection is described as “exuberant, maximalist and very sumptuous” – featuring a variety of materials, colours and textures.

FOUR HUNDRED guests enjoyed the lavish celebrations as luxury menswear brand officially inaugurated its new boutique in Puerto Banús. Celebrities attending the launch included Philippe Junot, Hubertus von Hohenlohe, Gunilla von Bismarck and Carmen Lomana.

Hosts Silvio Galimberti, managing director of Ermenegildo Zegna for Spain and Portugal, and Eduardo Nieto, manager of the new boutique, also welcomed Marbella mayoress Ángeles Muñoz to the opening cocktail party.

MARC GENE joined local authorities and 200 guests for the official inauguration of the new Ferrari and Maserati showroom at C. de Salamanca. The first Spaniard to win the Le Mans 24 Hours race (with Alexander Wurz and David Brabham behind the wheel of a Peugeot 908 HDI FAP.5 in 2009), Gene arrived at Marbella’s premier luxury car dealership in the new FF.

The Sabadell-born driver made his Formula One debut for MInardi in the 1999 Australian Grand Prix, and went on to gain a best career place of fifth in the 2003 Italian Grand Prix, before becoming Ferrari’s test driver in 2005. An economics graduate who speaks five languages, he also commentates on Formula for Spain’s La Sexta and Sky Sports in Italy.

Also on show at a special exhibition launched in conjunction with the inauguration was the F2003-GA driven by Michael Schumacher when he won the 2003 world championship, as well as historical photos showcasing special relationships over the years between Maserati and international celebrities.

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by C. de Salamanca manager José Carlos de Salamanca, Marbella mayoress Ángeles Muñoz, deputy mayor for San Pedro Alcántara Miguel Troyano, fellow town hall councillors José Eduardo Díaz and Antonio Espada, and C. De Salamanca president Cristina Toda.

Technically speaking…

The FF comes with the first GDI V12 engine to be coupled with the seven-speed F1 dual-clutch gearbox. The V12 unleashes 660 CV at 8,000 rpm, and maximum torque of 683 Nm at 6,000 rpm, with 500 Nm already available at just 1,000 rpm. It covers 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds and has a top speed of 335 km/h.

Efficiency has been significantly boosted with fuel consumption of 15.4 litres per 100 kilometres, and CO2 emissions at 360 g/km, a 25 per cent reduction compared to the previous V12s, thanks in part to the HELE (High Emotions-Low Emissions) System – which incorporates Stop&Start technology.

The price of the FF ranges from €295,000 to €425,000. Four models currently being manufactured for C. de Salamanca have already been sold. Extending over 1,000 square metres, the new installations feature an innovative touch screen enabling clients to configure the car they want, with a direct connection to the manufacturer.

THE WORLD of luxury menswear has found a new home in Puerto Banús. Top Italian brand Ermenegildo Zegna opened a stylish new boutique in the Port in June and is planning a lavish inauguration fiesta on 14 July.

Located at Local 32 on Paseo Rivera, and extending over 100 square metres, the boutique was designed by Gianmaría and Roberto Beretta of Milan’s Studio Beretta with the aim of showcasing Zegna’s timeless and elegant sophistication.

The exclusive ranges available at the boutique include Ermenegildo Zegna, Sartoria, Upper Casual and Zegna Sport, as well as an über-chic selection of accessories – shoes, sunglasses, eau de cologne and leather items.

Now run by the fourth generation of the Zegna family, the fashion group was founded in 1910 in Trivero, in the Biella Alps, by visionary young businessman Ermenegildo Zegna. The company began expanding its global presence in the late 1980s, and there are now 560 boutiques in 80 countries – with total sales of €963 million in 2010.

THE TABANKO chain of Basque-style “asador” restaurants has now stoked up a new grill on the Fuengirola-Mijas Road. Finca Tabanko Asador extends over a 6,000 square metre setting, with ample terraces overlooking the Mediterranean and a backdrop of the Mijas mountain sierra. 

Meat (including exquisitely prepared chuletón de buey) is the piece de resistance of chef Miguel Palma’s cuisine – as a group of inveterate bon vivants discovered to their pleasure during a special private presentation lunch – but the menu is varied and extensive, with traditional Spanish classics such as Manchego cheese, Navarran asparagus, Cantabrian anchovies, bacalao (salted cod) omelette, potato salad with melva (tuna from Barbate), and Murcia salad.

The other two Tabanko establishments are in Málaga city: Tabanko Asador Málaga (Avda. Pintor Sorolla) and La Luna de Tabanko (C/ de la Luna).

Finca Tabanko Asador

Spanish Food & Wine

ANDALUCÍA’S links with Somontano bodegas were highlighted when tourism and regulatory council representatives celebrated the wine region’s 25th anniversary with a special media lunch at the La Reserva restaurant in Málaga.

Mariano Beroz and Francisco Beroy, president and manager, respectively, of the Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Somontano, noted that Jerez company González Byass owns top Somontano bodega Viñas del Vero (which produces six million bottles a year); and the pioneering Bodegas Pirineos belongs to the Barbadillo Group in Andalucía.

The Somontano Denominación de Origen area comprises 34 bodegas and more than 500 wine-growers.

Sozzled in Somontano

ORGANISED AROUND the theme “The Power of Optimism”, the eighth European Meeting and Friendship Days of the Soroptimist International Organisation will be held in Mijas from 15 to 17 October at the Hotel Mijas.

The theme will be reflected in the presentations by leading speakers in politics, neuroscience and sociology. It was chosen, according to the organisers, “in order to infuse the participants with good vibrations and renewed energy (as) there is already too much focus on the negative in the world, which can hinder the motivation to try and make the world a better place.”

Around 200 women from all over Europe, together with visitors from Africa, are expected to attend the event. It is being organised by Spanish Soroptimist clubs from the Costa del Sol, Madrid, Marina Baixa, Sitges and Valle D’Aran.

Local authorities from Mijas will inaugurate the conference, which includes a reception at the town hall and specially arranged visits to the town and surrounding area.

The president of the European Federation of Soroptimists, Eliane Lagasse, from the Geneva-based headquarters, will be present as well as international president Hanne Jensbo. Together they represent over 90,000 Soroptimist members worldwide.

Soroptimist International Club Costa del Sol raised €905 at a Zumba for Charity event in Mijas, with the money raised going towards efforts to prevent human trafficking from Moldova by providing life-skill education and sustainable living conditions for vulnerable children.

Spain was chosen as the venue for this event in order to promote the Soroptimist organisation in this country and to encourage more women to join and more clubs to be created. Simultaneous interpretation will be offered in three languages.

More information from coordinator Daphne Theunissen: amistad.soroptimist@gmail.com; si-es.org

A SPECIAL FESTIVAL featuring ska and reggae music will be held on the outskirts of Coin to mark the pending end of summer with a “musical big band bang”.

Headlined by the Costa del Sol’s Looney Toonz and supported by Absalut Pantz from Orgiva and Polish group Skadictator, plus others, the one-day festival will begin at 2pm on Saturday 28 August with stalls, bouncy castle, artisan stalls and food, and music kicking off around 5pm until 2am.

It is being organised by a local group of music lovers in conjunction with local radio station Heartfm Spain and will be held in the function room at Venta Los Arcos on the Coin to Cartama A355 road. The objective is to promote ska and reggae music in a bid to lure south London-based ska band The Dualers to southern Spain next year.

Flavours of Jamaica will be providing traditional food while Los Arcos will be hosting their barbecue platters. Tickets are €5 in advance or €7.50 on the door (children under 12 free) and proceeds will go to the Have a Heart charity, which works with needy people within the Heartfm 95.7 broadcast area.

Tickets are available from: Pogs Irish Bar, Funky Cutz Hair Salon, Heartfm studios (Alhaurin el Grande) and Los Arcos. More information: heartsandska@hotmail.com (or contact heartfm Spain).