El Rincón de Juan Carlos is the restaurant of chef Juan Carlos and pastry chef Jonathan Padrón on the Costa Adeje, Tenerife. Their wives, María José and Raquel, function the sommeliers. Initially opened in Los Gigantes in 2003, the restaurant earned its first Michelin star in 2016. In 2021, it moved to the highest flooring of the Royal Hideaway Corales Resort, adopted by a second Michelin star in 2022.
As a result of I imagine seamless communication between the kitchen and the cellar is crucial—and plenty of of my favourite eating places share a household bond, corresponding to De Librije, El Celler de Can Roca, and Laite—I used to be wanting to expertise this dinner.
The restaurant affords a single 13-course tasting menu for 180 euros. Three tiers of wine pairings can be found: 6 glasses for 90 euros, 8 glasses for 115 euros, or 12 glasses for 195 euros. We naturally selected the latter; solely a devoted pairing for every dish can obtain the optimum stability, and it’s merely extra participating to discover a greater variety of wines. Bread service is billed individually at 9 euros. The eating room overlooks the ocean, providing lovely sundown views.
We began with a glass of Cava, unaware that the wine pairing would start instantly with the amuse-bouches.
The primary wine was a Listán Blanco from Tenerife, which I had encountered earlier within the week throughout a go to to the Viñátigo bodega. They talked about this particular wine is produced completely for the restaurant. It was advanced and balanced, with distinct aromas of uncooked lobster and crushed seashells.
The wine paired nicely with the great assortment of amuse-bouches, though the creamier objects discovered a greater match within the Cava. A crispy nori chew was stuffed with a wealthy foie gras pastry. The fragile crispy roll with uncooked child shrimp was seasoned with savory soy butter. A lobster tartlet was topped with a flavorful miso mayonnaise. Contemporary sea lettuce was stuffed with a creamy cod brandade. A basic creamed spinach was served in a fragile tartlet shell. Crispy hen pores and skin was mixed with smoky eel and a light-weight chantilly, which was maybe probably the most pleasant of all of them.
The subsequent wine was a Manzanilla En Rama, an unfiltered bottling from 2021 that includes notes of inexperienced apple, nuts, and an intensely savory palate. Whereas I’m not normally a fan of Fino sherry, this was a superb specimen that leaned towards an Oloroso as a result of its outstanding creaminess.
The wine was pairing for the candy onion soup with damaged flan and grated black truffle, which was accompanied by a brioche stuffed with pungent native Flor de Guía cheese.
The third wine was a sublime Sancerre, a Sauvignon Blanc from central France.
It paired fantastically with the mussels and scallops served with French dressing.
We continued with a really dry Champagne.
The Champagne served as a palate cleanser for the dumplings, which have been filled with tender cuttlefish and served with a creamy sauce and caviar.
The subsequent wine was Lara from Vega Spínola, a novel wine from the island of Lanzarote produced utilizing a solera system just like Sherry, however with out fortification. It’s made out of Listán Blanco, which is the Canarian identify for Palomino, the first grape of Sherry. The solera system for this wine contains parts relationship again to the Eighties. The outcome was saline and oxidative, but additionally possessed a refined look of sweetness.
It was a superb pairing for the Canarian black pudding nougat with salted almond praline. The wine simply dealt with the darkish chocolate notes, whereas the salinity and almonds within the dish have been mirrored by the aromas of the wine.
The subsequent wine was a mineral and elegantly fruity white Burgundy with little or no oak.
It served as a superb pairing for the calmly smoked lobster, which was lacquered with candy pepper and served with an ajo blanco sauce. Technically, it was spectacular that the lobster had been sliced so thinly to make it exceptionally tender, carrying an exquisite smoky aroma from the Huge Inexperienced Egg. The mixture with the candy peppers and ajo blanco made the dish much more particular—actually worthy of three Michelin stars.
Subsequent was one other Canarian wine, a Listán Blanco, that includes the everyday saline and volcanic aromas.
It was pairing for the fragile fennel cappelletti with fennel cream and anchovies.
The subsequent wine was a white Rioja Reserva from 2017.
The earthy and nutty notes of the aged white Rioja offered pairing for the celeriac roll with celeriac toffee and pine nut, though the toffee was maybe barely too candy for such a dry wine.
We continued with an aged Rolle (Vermentino) from the Côtes de Provence.
The tertiary aromas and creamy texture of the wine labored very nicely with the native Cherne fish, which was served with a light-weight white sauce and crunchy greens. The fish was completely fried with a pleasant crust on the surface, however tender and juicy on the within.
The next wine within the pairing was a Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Vergelesses, a really elegant and complicated Pinot Noir from Burgundy.
It was a superb pairing for the pigeon breast, which was served completely tender and juicy alongside beetroot. The earthy notes of the wine introduced out an exquisite beetroot taste.
The wine for the ultimate savory dish was a 2012 Rioja from the famend Viña Tondonia bodega.
This advanced wine, characterised by its silky tannins, offered an ideal pairing for the tender and flavorful Wagyu beef and porcini mushrooms. The richness of the meat was properly complemented by the varied preparations of the mushrooms.
The primary dessert wine was a 2018 Château Coutet, a comparatively elegant Sauternes with a fantastically advanced aroma.
It offered pairing for the recent dessert of tomato, cucumber, and mustard, which was served with ardour fruit ice cream.
The opposite two desserts have been paired with a Madeira Malvasia Reserva, the sweetest sort of Madeira.
The sunchoke with butter ice cream and truffle was fantastically earthy.
The corn millefeuille with toasted butter cream and black garlic was advanced and delicate.
With a pastry chef as one of many homeowners, the friandises have been each bit the spectacle you may think.
Right here is the outline that was offered to peruse at your individual leisure.
Our dinner at El Rincón de Juan Carlos actually lived as much as our excessive expectations. Each dish was like a small piece of artwork, and the wine pairings have been beautiful; it was really great to expertise such an enormous array of programs and wines. If it had been as much as me, a 3rd star would definitely have been merited.
Maybe a limiting issue for the restaurant in receiving that third star was the inherent issue of basing a signature id totally on native components. Though they did an admirable job of incorporating native produce and wines into their providing, there was solely a lot they may do, provided that such a small quantity of meals is produced on the islands that just about 90% have to be imported.
The service leaned barely towards the formal aspect, with the notable exception of the very candy and charming María José. Whereas the bread was wonderful and we had eaten a really gentle lunch in preparation for the 13 programs, the parts have been delicate—every consisting of solely about three bites. Consequently, we discovered ourselves repeatedly asking for extra bread to go well with our appetites. I might have anticipated the employees to select up on that and provide the bread spontaneously, however that didn’t occur. That actually didn’t have an effect on our night, nevertheless; we had an exquisite time and left with an excellent motive to return to Tenerife quickly.
