Finca Santa Luzía: a dazzling alliance of bluefin tuna
Summary:
A logbook by Sensei Hiroshi Umi.
A high-class event to present a luxury car, a business lunch to close a deal with succulent cuisine, an intimate and secluded dinner for two, an outdoor drinks party for the beautiful people of Alicante and nearby… Located between Santa Faz and Sant Joan d’Alacant, the Finca Santa Luzía undoubtedly boasts versatility among its key strengths.
Its lofty palm trees rise like flagpoles above a 19th-century estate furnished with different spaces: light and airy rooms within, an outdoor terrace and chillout area surrounded by greenery and gardens. This all goes hand-in-hand with a modern but welcoming sheen (so in vogue among interior designers), blending natural materials with avant-garde tones. None of this would make for anything more than an impressive shell, though, unless robed in gastronomic finery to match.
Grupo Juan XXIII is the company running the show at this restaurant, to ensure that not the slightest expense is spared in the kitchens. Impeccable service, like choreography of a ballet, the perfect setting to forget the pressures of time and stress, and above all, market cuisine employing select ingredients, with bluefin tuna from the Fuentes family brand centre stage.
Fuentes bluefin tuna at the 1st Gastronomy Days
Finca Santa Luzía held its 1st Gastronomy Days, with bluefin tuna a central theme. The event lasted for six days, proving a success with the public and also achieving a subsequent impact, with exclusive menus made up of products from reputed suppliers, along with wine pairings, tastings, show cooking demonstrations, presentations and masterclasses. One of the days was marked in bright red on the calendar… dedicated as it was to showcasing cuts of our silvery fish with a crimson interior.
This highly refined and comprehensive spotlight session opened delicately with a tuna salad. Rather than the familiar slices of yellowfin tuna or bonito, it was topped with bluefin tuna loin, with akami. Melting in the mouth, not too rich, potatoes of perfect texture, and the akami delivering a burst of umami.
This was followed by a wonderful tuna belly tiradito, the accompaniment revealing the perfect alliance. “It has sun-dried tomato stracciatella and black olive powder, as well as wasabi sauce,” explains chef Iván García, under the supervision of his boss, Nacho Blázquez.
The sequence continues with the tartar, combined to perfection with shallot, contact sauce and dried flowers, before giving way to a cold interlude, the perfect intermezzo to take a pause, enjoy and resume. Because the tataki was served as a classic escabeche of oil, bay, garlic, sweet pepper, carrot and onion. “We plunge it into hot oil with vinegar, leave it to rest for 25 minutes, and serve. We have garnished it with a little wakame and sesame, and it has its own escabeche,” explains one of the chefs, Iván García.
The stewed cheek served as the main course, with mashed sweet potato and edamame. To finish, yozu sorbet and apple tatin with crema catalana ice cream. Angel Rey did the honours as sommelier. The different rounds of tuna were thus paired with Catalan fizz, reds from South Africa, chardonnay from Alicante and a muscatel with all the purity and strength of the Teulada-Moraira variety.
Refined, local cuisine
With Javier Ruiz at the helm, the event revealed the class and attention to detail of Grupo Juan XXIII, the group responsible for the Juan XXIII restaurant and catering business, 2&Tres, as well as the Torre de Rejas estate. In the case of Santa Luzía, the culinary offering focuses on highly refined, local cuisine, with rice dishes, premium meat seared in a Josper charcoal oven, and a host of home-made desserts.
Looking ahead to the future, all the signs are that chargrilled tuna belly will be added to the menu at Finca Santa Luzía. And they continue working with the noten cut, the wonderful tip of the bluefin tuna, to continue offering both Alicante locals and visitors from elsewhere dishes full of Mediterranean brightness.
