Denia is sun, it is Mediterranean, it is life. Denia is to understand why that lifestyle typical of the land, so winter sun and on the shores of the Mediterranean, engages Madrid, Valencians and Europeans who have installed their mid-season palaces here. But also to the rest of us from Alicante, who regularly make a pilgrimage to Denia to eat well . As soon as you arrive you will realize that there is talk of gastronomy at all hours.
Although there are a thousand reasons why Denia is epicenter of Mediterranean gastronomy , we have chosen six, that you have to start somewhere. The other nine hundred and ninety-four we leave to you, because here it is better to let yourself go.
- The gastronomic festival D*na Restaurant
For three days, Denia has been bustling to the sound of gastronomy, inside and outside the bars and restaurants. One more year, the D*na has whet our appetite, has invited us to ask ourselves questions and, above all, has brought gastronomy to the street so that, like a boomerang effect, we enter the eating houses of the so-called Creative City of Gastronomy by UNESCO. That has been its mission: to support the hospitality industry. And hence the name of this edition, D*na Restaurant.
Pau Barba (Pacha Group) and Óscar Molina (La Gaia) at D*na Restaurant 2021.
"We wanted to return to celebrate and embrace, dialogue, disseminate, train and reflect to realizing where we are and where we are going ”, he explained Quique Dacosta, ideologue and gastronomic curator of D*na . The luxury staff was completed with chefs of the caliber of Albert Adrià, Begoña Rodrigo, Ricard Camarena, Kiko Moya, Rafa Soler or Alberto Ferruz , but also with others from Creative Cities of Gastronomy, such as Vilde Lunde Traeet from Bergen (Norway), Maja Lindholm and Marina Löfgren (Sweden), Eduardo Luengo (Burgos) or María Amalia Anedda, from Parma (Italy).
As a guest city, neighboring Ibiza , to which there is little more than 100 kilometers in a straight line, Baleària through. Pau Barba from Grupo Pachá and Óscar Molina from La Gaia Restaurant , like the rest of their colleagues, went up to the Cuinant stage, an open-air auditorium at the foot of the Denia castle.
Coca workshop.
On the other stage, Compartint, a cozy greenhouse served as a multipurpose space in which producers presented their projects and brands, or where workshops on cokes, cookies or Christmas sweets were held.
2. Since 2015, Denia has been a Creative City of Gastronomy for the unesco
It is one of the 246 privileged worldwide that make up this network. "It is a designation, more than a brand and, above all, a commitment, since every four years we have to go through an evaluation process," he tells us. Floren Terrades, director of the Office of Innovation and Creativity.
The objective? Show the gastronomy of Denia to the rest of the world. But not only do they look outside, but they also do an exercise in introspection. “We try to convey that feeling of pride which represents the fact that a city like Denia, with 45,000 inhabitants, can rub shoulders with much larger ones like Cochabamba (Bolivia), which has more than two million”, reflects Terrades.
3. The red prawn from Denia
Here the most heard word is "product", but one stands out above the rest: the Denia red prawn, the undisputed lady of local gastronomy. In this block deserves an honorable mention The Pegoli. In this restaurant, Pepe has left a legacy, that of red prawn boiled in sea water and served cold . Although the big question is always on the table (“boiled or grilled?”) and it is a matter of taste, there are many who have continued with this ritual that was actually a serendipity. Like El Faralló, Restaurante Mena (its terrace above the Mediterranean is an earthly luxury), Sendra or Aitana.
Boiled red prawn from Denia.
And Quique Dacosta, the ambassador who has made such a great product with the surname of Dianense cross our borders.
4. Here is the only tri-star from the Valencian Community: Quique Dacosta
Let's get down to business: there are many restaurants (and with an overwhelming quality), but with three Michelin stars and three Repsol Suns, only one. “It is a restaurant that wants to constantly dialogue with the territory in which it is. We want people who come from far away to feel that they are here, in Denia, in the Marina Alta. We use our closest products, but the fair radicalisms: also we leave a window open to the world . Part of who we are is what other cultures have brought and that is why our language is always open”.
The prodigious hands of Quique Dacosta.
You will fall for his charms, because Quique is coherence and discourse: for him, his territory is an opportunity that he has been able to see and take advantage of.
5. Its long list of good restaurants
In addition to the restaurant of restaurants, Denia has several raw material temples such as Peix i Brases (which has just received its first Michelin star in the 2022 edition) or Casa Federico. Apart from red prawns, try what that lively pantry that is the Mediterranean gives us (thanks to those fishermen to whom we owe so much): sepionets, sea urchins, salted fish, baby octopus, dried octopus or tellinas.
If you want a more informal plan, settle in the bustling and crowded bars Benjamin House or Tasca Eulalia, where they toast with muscats from the area , but also with wines made from native varieties such as Giró.
Coca of figs.
Nor can you leave Denia without trying the traditional cocas. And for that, there are few places like Pont Sec: the coke factory that, in 2013, created pep romany.
“It is a concept that did not exist , because before the cocas were only made in the ovens of the bakeries first thing in the morning. That's why we wanted to create a letter of cocas made at the moment so that the diner could choose. Pep's projects have always been a bit combative: his thing is to dignify the traditions.
Before Pont Sec ran the Tasca Miguel Juan , on Loreto Street, where he recovered traditional tapas that were being lost and that at that time could only be found in the bars of the towns: dried octopus, bull amb ceba or shrimp amb bleda. Now, he continues his work in the front line of fire to give cocas the value they have.
His contribution from him? "Incorporate fundamental bakery concepts such as sourdough, own yeasts and slow fermentations that make coca digestible and tasty." His cocas are fermented for three days and on the third day they are baked. “ Coca has made us link to the territory ”, He reflects. Impossible not to fall in love with sobrassada and figs (only in season), spinach, raisins, pine nuts and goat cheese; or wild herbs with blood sausage from La Vall de Laguar. At Pont Sec you should also order their salted meats, paellas and rice dishes or stews.
Denia is also trying to book at El Baret de Miquel. A tip: it's not as difficult as they say, you just have to try and be willing to go on a Tuesday or Wednesday, for example.
6. The Market for a Better World, The Magazines, is also in Denia.
This is one of those places that is listed in your must-see list for all vacationers worth its salt (applicable also to people who visit out of season, because the summer spirit here lasts all year).
Federico Cervera, third generation of a saga dedicated to the hospitality industry, he thought long ago that his town deserved to have the best gastronomic and cultural market in the world . In the spring of 2019 he fulfilled his dream by opening Els Magazinos: an inspiring and magnetic space where you can enjoy Mediterranean life and good food. with more than twenty gastronomic proposals which is, on its own merits, the Market for a Better World.
Sea urchins in Els Magazinos.
Their social aspect is reaffirmed day by day and this 2021 they have received the National Award for the Company for their commitment to people with functional diversity from the Confederation of Hospitality of Spain (CEHE), for initiatives such as their social inclusion program with the Raquel Payà Special Education College and its collaboration with Aprosdeco.
But Els Magazinos is also, and above all, territory: its Cuina de Territori project ennobles the product of the Marina Alta and gives visibility to the producer.
And here is our journey: a small cover letter , because it takes several getaways to Denia to soak up its essence, but only one to want to return and again.