The island that before the pandemic was Carles Abellán’s refuge has become his new home. The chef lives in Formentera with his partner, Natalia Juan, since that fateful 2020 in which he closed his most ambitious project, La Barra, awarded a Michelin star at the W in Barcelona, ??for not reaching a reopening agreement with the hotel . Both came to the island with the intention of doing a reset and clarifying their ideas a bit, but the business concern of this chef, who in 20 years of experience has opened 19 establishments, was able to find a charming local in the center of Sant Ferrán Ses Roques.
There he decided to disembark in 2021 with a Tapas 24, a replica of his two Barcelona establishments and the place with which he triumphs in Singapore, a concept that did not quite take hold on the island and that he abandoned without even being a year old to open Casa Natalia, a much more intimate and personal restaurant, which since this summer also houses the new Charly’s Bar.
In it, Abellán forms a tandem with Natalia, the great hostess – that is why the establishment receives its name – who, although she had never worked in the hospitality industry before, moves freely around the room as if she had been doing it for a lifetime. You can see the affection and closeness with which they have been deciding, between the two of them, every detail, including the decoration, with eighties touches and musical references, of this restaurant that serves up-to-date Mediterranean cuisine designed to share.
We start dinner (they only open at night) with what has already established itself as one of its star dishes, the Akami tuna with black butter, soy, pine nuts and blue cheese, delicious. We continue with the spicy and refreshing oyster tsukiji style and kizame that awakens all the senses for what comes next. Grilled fennel with Parmesan and green pistachio seems bland to us, although it pays homage to one of the most beloved ingredients in the Balearic pantry. We are convinced by the tartare with tomato from the garden prepared in the classic style that surprises because it looks like a steak tartar, or the brioche with crab, a crustacean that is served in different ways.
Among the main dishes, the deconstructed lasagna of beef and chicken fricandó that they prepare with homemade pasta stands out and, among the desserts, the strawberries with cream that have already been a hit at La Barra.
There will also be those who visit Casa Natalia for the wine list, which has more than 800 references from all over the world and includes everything from some of the iconic wines of Álvaro Palacios to those produced by Abellán himself in different wine regions of Spain.
This year the couple has also decided to enter the world of nightlife for the first time with Charly’s, a musical bar with a retro air hidden in the basement of the restaurant that has karaoke in its speakeasy for drinks after dinner.
