Wood Brisket
The always sunny Marbella attended the opening of one of its most anticipated concepts last June. was coming Firewood, Dani Garcia's grill . For this creator of concepts such as BiBo or Lobito de Mar, this was a new challenge, because his new carnivorous temple was going to be located nothing more nothing less, where was his three Michelin stars.
TURNING A THREE MICHELIN STARS INTO A STEAKHOUSE
But, How do you go from having a three Michelin stars to a steakhouse? When the man from Marbella announced that he was going to close his flagship, the foundations of the gastronomic world were shaken. Why give it up when you're at the top? “ Life . We had a very specific goal, to reach the top in the world of cooking. We arrived and we wanted to fulfill another objective that had been hardening little by little in our heads, to be able to make other concepts, such as BiBo, Lobito... Move our concepts to the midpoint of the pyramid ”, explains Dani García to Traveler.es.
Wood Roasted Sea Bass
To speak of Dani García is to speak of not only a cook, but a businessman with his sights set, both in Spain and in the world . “I couldn't have one foot here and one foot there. Our growth was not only with restaurants in Spain, but beyond. We are talking about a multi-concept company with the possibility of being in the whole world. If I have a great chance in the United States and I have to spend a month there, I couldn't be in charge of a three-Michelin-star restaurant," he points out and continues "I can, but I don't want to, it's not the way of working that I wanted in a future. Creating something like Leña was already around my head years before it happened. I have been faithful to my way of thinking at that time”.
That was how, respecting the rule of having the award for at least one year, On November 16, 2019, Dani García gave his last dinner . A night of many emotions that has just been presented as a documentary under the name of 'The Last Supper' at the Malaga Film Festival. “What we have now is a bigger target. I had already covered my ego in haute cuisine. I do not need more".
"I had already covered my ego in haute cuisine. I don't need more"
WHAT IS, THEN, FIREWOOD?
He closed his gastronomy, but a new concept was born. Beyond being a simple restaurant, it is something much more transcendental. firewood is a barbecue , a revolutionary of grilled cuisine, a carnivorous restaurant... but also “ Firewood represents a before and after in the group . First, because it occupies the place where a three-star hotel used to be, with the inheritance of many of the things we had. Second, because that's what we want to be when we grow up . This is the vision we want for all our restaurants from now on”, says Dani García.
And it is that one is surprised when crossing the door of Leña. It's not just another grill. It's not just another restaurant. “Why now and not seven years ago when we created the first BiBo or four years ago with Lobito de Mar? very simple, because we still had haute cuisine . I've been very square on that. I have never wanted to mix the things we did in one haute cuisine restaurant with another. In Madrid, for example, we decided to make ice cream with nitrogen, but in Marbella we didn't do it, because they were made on the next wall. What was the point? Where was the line between a three-star restaurant and a 50-euro one? ”, asks the chef.
“Leña is the first restaurant that we have without having to pay homage to our own haute cuisine restaurant , therefore there are no limits, no barriers". And this is evident in many of the details that are not alien to the diner, such as cutlery, crockery , continuing to have the same winery and three-star references. "Firewood represents our own letter of intent in the future."
The interior of Lena
Definitely, the meat is the absolute protagonist and runs through all the sections of the menu . Among its grilled appetizers, you can hallucinate with a slow-smoked beef pretzel, tartar sauce, pickle and pickled onion, with a grilled Turkish lamb kebab, yogurt sauce and pita bread or with fried chicken oysters , which are prepared with the sweetest part of the chicken slightly lemonade.
ALL THE MEAT ON THE GRILL
Already the aesthetics surprise. Black and dark colors dominate , the light affects what is really important, on the tables, in their ripening chamber or in the spectacular open kitchen in the room where avid cooks put all the meat on the spit.
Tradition and avant-garde come together in the Leña menu . Cuts of meat, travel dishes, vegetables caressed by the embers... To start you have to try their grilled Malaga avocado , which is served with a coriander pesto, vegetable salad and feta cheese or with the baba gaboush, which is made with grilled eggplant, dressed with EVOO and served with pita bread. Smoke up on the table , as with a smoked burrata caprese , which are served under a hood with smoke and accompanied by dried and fresh tomatoes, basil and pine nuts.
Definitely, the meat is the absolute protagonist and runs through all the sections of the menu . Among its grilled appetizers, you can hallucinate with a slow-smoked beef pretzel, tartar sauce, pickle and pickled onion, with a grilled Turkish lamb kebab, yogurt sauce and pita bread or with fried chicken oysters, which they are prepared with the sweetest part of the chicken slightly lemony.
Wood-Smoked Burrata Caprese
Mention deserve their yakipinchos either meat skewers . This is Dani García's Spanish-Japanese version of the traditional yakitori, brought to his field, with creations such as the meatball yakipincho, as if it were a japanese tsukune , which are glazed grilled with tare or the one with lemon chicken wings.
The fire in Leña is always on and main dishes such as the already famous 'burger that gave meaning to everything' for which they grind the meat in front of the diner, pass it over the coals, accompany it with its secret bull sauce and serve it in an outstanding bite. They work with Iberian pork, roast chicken, suckling lamb and, of course, the noblest cuts of meat such as Wagyu A5 top loin, old beef ribeye and steak, a beef Tomahawk or Made in the U.S.A preparations such as beef brisket or smoked rib . For all of them, they offer the diner to choose their own knife from a collection worthy of three Michelin stars.
And how not to talk about their desserts? The rose cake from mia mamma is a hit, a delicate brioche accompanied by toasted butter ice cream, as well as the cheese flan that wanted to be bacon from heaven , the baba with rum or a refreshing tiradito of roasted pineapple with passion fruit and eucalyptus candies.
Tarta di rose from my mamma de Leña
Firewood will continue to evolve . “It has been a year and a half of maturation, never better said. With the pandemic we even open later than expected. We are learning about ourselves. The difference is substantial, when you have worked on a concept for six months or a year. Now we are more for the work of working things with time, capacity...”
And of course, there will be more firewood . “A long time ago we decided to start most of our brands in Marbella. The idea is that it be Marbella first, then Madrid and then the world . Madrid will follow the next step. We are not in a hurry, but we are not stopping either. We are looking for the perfect place”, explains Dani García.
And things do not stop there for this prolific chef. Dani García does not stop, because now Dani, the restaurant of the new Four Seasons in the capital, will open in September , a concept created ex professo for the group in which “what we believe the Four Seasons client is going to look for in a hotel and the Madrid client is brought together. Haute cuisine, but also a very good hamburger, sandwich or salad... In the menu you will be able to take the nitro tomato, being the only place where you can do it, the gazpacho or the anchovy with truffle, but also some fresh pasta noodles to tarragon with crab, a club sandwich or a good grilled meat”, he concludes.
Burger at the time of firewood
Address: Hotel Puente Romano, Av. Bulevar Príncipe Alfonso de Hohenlohe, s/n, 29602 Marbella, Málaga. See map
Telephone: 952 76 42 52
Schedule: From Monday to Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.