Mojitos and daiquiris, piña coladas and sangrias. In Ibiza, nothing is ever lacking, but when it comes to cocktails, everything was lacking. Especially when life in the sea is supposed to be tastier. It was impossible to lean on a bar on the island and find a perfect Martini, a correct Negroni or a Pisco Sour that would compete with a sun lounger and a sunset.
Ibiza, you have techno, you have mambo but you still needed to dress up behind the bar with drinks to match from European capitals such as London, New York, Madrid or Barcelona. And. do it for real, with heart, without looking at the masses and with the creativity of true professionals.
From this moment we make a clean slate with the arrival of the Overall restaurant/workshop, which has come to remedy the matter in the Santa Gertrudis Square , a very quiet and familiar little town in the center of the island.
“We are working class and passionate about our work, that is why the space looks like a workshop and we wear overalls (overoles in Spanish, breastplates in Spain) ”, Explains Jorge Álvarez Conde, owner of the restaurant with his partner, Mónica Patiño. "It's a concept where dynamic and itinerant play a great game, the cocktail menu changes every week, even faster, and the food menu changes every so often."
Both have been working in hospitality since they were 16 years old and they met in Ribadeo, Galicia . Since then they have lived in the Basque Country and Barcelona, to eventually settle in London and Singapore, so their roots have been nurtured by the tradition of various cultures and their learning comes directly from their movements around the world.
"Our drinks menu is based on ingredients, we do not describe brands , Not even the distilled or the liqueur used, since practically all the production is made by us", explains Conde of a menu that has creations such as a melon cocktail and yuzu leaves; one of flaó dessert in liquid format; the short trunk elephant, made with thai tea , coconut and a mix of agricultural rums or the Luxury farm, with redistilled spices , lemon verbena, mezcal and pet nat wine . "We work with ingredients in such a way that we preserve them in a liquid format, whether alcoholic or not, whether they are fresh in season or those that were used in the kitchen and do not reach the plate."
Your work tool is a Rotavap , a machine for pharmaceutical use that distills under vacuum and that helps them to extract flavors and aromas to aromatic herbs, bark or spices, wood, sauces... and even Doritos. If it can be eaten or drunk, they can extract its essence. "We have the bar workstation designed by Monica Berg and Alex Ktatena In collaboration with Behind Bars Agency , is an adaptation of the original station designed for cocktails Tayer Elementary , in London", explains Jorge.
Another of his obsessions is ice , leading them to become the first in Ibiza to produce clear pure ice abundantly and self-sufficiently, designing and preparing it according to your glasses or specific cocktails with unique shapes such as spheres or diamonds. Or even with fruit inside.
"Ice is the most important thing, it is also drunk and it is what keeps the drink fresh... or what spoils it by adding excess water to it. Quality ice is super important technically, in addition to visually decorating," they explain. Theirs are obtained in a machine that they have imported from China and that produces twelve blocks a day.
They don't have industrial soft drinks, not even fresh juices because the shrubs , the pickles , the smoked and dehydrations, but also lactofermentados and kombuchas, vinegars, different cold macerates and coldbrews such as long infusions at sustained high temperatures. Adding to the experience natural wines and carbonated cocktails to take home in beer bottles – a product of confinement – and that have evolved into a canned version.
The premises, which was previously a art Gallery , is designed following the style of its owners. "It was a completely empty open space. It only had two columns covered with brightly colored decoration on sand that we have preserved," they detail. Everything here is meant to be itinerant , from the “shelf” where the bottles are placed to the work station, to adapt to the needs of each day, each letter or even each moment.
Their kitchen is expressed in a menu that always changes and never remains fixed, coupled with an eclectic and dynamic interior design with dishes with clear bases Galician and Colombian (Mónica was born in the South American country), together with a asian influence that uses local and seasonal products. Like the arepas that currently dominate the offer. "They have been a complete success," Jorge exclaims of Mónica's creations that follow her grandmother's classic recipe, like the one to which he adds Galician cheese and cold-smoked butter; or in which a chicken Nashville style with coleslaw and spicy Korean jam; as well as one of brisket , bacon, honey from Galicia and chili; wave of pulled pork , smoked for 32 hours and served with pickled red onion.
"The fermentation Y preservation of food through pickles and marinades form a large part of our work, in addition to the different types of cold smoking and the low temperatures that we use to prepare the vegetables that we collect daily directly from small producers, as well as the best cuts of national meats", they add.
With proposals like Overall, eating and drinking is becoming more and more an affordable and possible luxury on an island like Ibiza. A reality that heralds a new era of ibiza tourism . Welcome be.
