If you haven't been to the magical and mystical Benirrás beach in the north of the island, you have a joy to discover. We were there to eat at Elements on a Tuesday, the location of the official pre-party for Flower Power at Pacha, and the third year of that arrangement. And what a setting it is: beautiful sunsets, an amazing vista of the small cove quickly turning into a blanket of stars as night fell – it all makes it feel like you are at one with nature.
Hippy-style decorations
When we arrived the place was decked out with hippy-style colourful long silk scarves and symbols, as a tribute the famous Pacha party to get you into the right frame of mind if you're heading down to dance later. Beautiful decorations aside, when you unpack Elements, there's a lot to experience: you'll find an all day restaurant, juice bar, large boutique, massage and treatment area, plus a snack bar and a lounge bar. You could easily move in.
As is tradition we started with cocktails just before the sun set, mixed by master mixologist Claudio Bombini. There's a great selection here of classics and more adventurous cocktails and some classics with a twist, many of them using fresh fruit. Claudio is big into flavours and we were lucky enough to have him select a couple that show off his style.
Flower Power cocktails
We had the Indiana Cooler, a vodka based drink with lemon grass, strawberry, mango and passion fruit; they'd even carved the top of a banana to make it look like a dolphin to adorn the glass. It was quite delicious and you barely noticed the vodka in there, potentially lethal if you're a guzzler. The Flower Power Gin & Tonic was a real work of art, containing real flowers, lavender seeds and using a lavender tonic. Hands down, one of the best gin and tonics I've ever tasted.
Fresh inventive menu
The menu is not over long and nicely balanced and prepared by Pep Herrero the head chef, using the freshest, most local food as is possible. Bread and pasta are both made in-house, the olive oil comes from Benirrás and the salt of course from Ibiza. The style is Mediterranean, with lots of small touches to mix it up a bit. We decided to share the starter of home-made tagliatelle with baby lobster. The pasta was mixed through with fresh tomatoes and peppers, using what we believe was a lobster stock, and the lobster sat on top in the half shell. It was one of those dishes that I'd love to eat every day: the sweetness of the lobster being perfectly complemented with that of the veg. Fresh and delicious.
For mains we went for a ‘From the Sea' dish and one ‘From the Ground' as the menu has it. The ‘sea' dish was fresh tuna in small blocks, lightly seared and lightly peppered on top of a bed of candied shallots, with a tomato aspic sauce, which had a slight touch of spice to it. It was super tender and a great dish if you don't want to feel too heavy afterwards; it almost felt it was doing your stomach a favour as it melted in the mouth, with it's nicely balanced condiments adding just the right amount of flavour. The ‘ground' dish came by way of a sirloin steak; it too is amazingly tender and had much more flavour than a traditional sirloin, and was cooked a perfect medium rare. Steak with potatoes is a must and these potatoes were something else, being flavoured with vanilla pod and packing a lot of flavour. They do this as a side too, so if you're not going for the steak, make sure you bag those potatoes.
Attention to detail
We didn't make it to dessert, since we were talking so much to the charming staff. I can tell you that there is a good selection with everything from traditional greixonera, cheesecake or a platter of very fresh fruit; we were a touch sad we missed out. However, we left feeling slightly elated and happy to have been there. Owner Kiko, puts a lot of attention to detail in everything, from the food and drink served to a nice professional but not over-fussy service. I'm sure whatever day of the week you went, you'd feel the same.
Quick Facts
What? Elements Ibiza
Where? Cala Benirràs (south side)
When? Open every day from 10am to 2am
Why? To release your internal hippy
Average spend per head? €50 for starter, dessert and main course excluding wine
Veggie Options? Some of the starters, salad and pasta, but no main veggie dishes
Disabled Facilities? Easy to enter the restaurant, though the toilets require some small steps to get up there
Top tips? Be more adventurous with your cocktails as they are worth it and take advantage of the locally-sourced nature of the food and do try those vanilla spuds
Room for Improvement? Hard to say since the fine detail is very much taken care of
For more information and to book a table, please click here.
WORDS | Julian Heathcote
