Mallorca Restaurant Week: Restaurants can register until February 4

Mallorca Restaurant Week: Make room now for the culinary mini-festival

When in February the olive trees are still lightly dusted with frost and in Palma on the Passeig des Born the first cafés breathe warmth into the facades, it is once again time on the island for a small, delightful occasion: the Mallorca Restaurant Week. From February 23 to March 31, top kitchens and well-known chefs on the island will present exclusive menus at fixed, affordable prices, as highlighted in Mallorca remains a magnet for gourmets: Eleven Michelin stars and five green awards. This is the second edition of a format that originally comes from New York and quickly found fans here.

The idea is simple and charming: for a limited time restaurants offer special menus — often with a clear focus on local ingredients. The menu may include dishes like truffle pasta, arroz brut or a risotto with sobrasada, but just as easily a simple, perfectly cooked fish fillet freshly bought at the Santa Catalina market. For many guests it is an invitation to try something new without the risk of a large bill.

For kitchens on Mallorca it means something different: visibility at a time when the island is slowly waking from winter, a situation discussed in Empty Tables, Tight Wallets: Mallorca's Gastronomy at a Crossroads. A place in Portixol, a small restaurant in Deià or a brasserie in Inca — those who take part can attract new guests and showcase their skills. In the streets during these weeks you can again more often hear the clinking of cutlery, voices leaning over menus, and the occasional hum of a delivery scooter bringing fresh produce. These everyday scenes are part of the appeal: food here is not just food, it is a coming together.

The event places particular emphasis on Mallorcan cuisine and regional producers. That means: olive oil from nearby groves, cheese from Menorca or Mallorca's producers of sobrasada, and seafood from the island's coast have good chances of appearing in the menu courses. For guests it is a practical way to get a quick overview of current interpretations of the island's cuisine.

Important for restaurateurs: those who want to participate must register by February 4. The organizers ask for a short email to ana@restaurantweek.es. Those who do so secure the chance to be part of the program and to benefit from promoted menu offers. For many establishments participation is also a trial run: how do guests react to new combinations, which dishes are more popular, which are not?

For visitors and locals the week also offers planning certainty: if you are on the island during this period you can put together a small culinary route — a morning market visit to Mercat de l'Olivar, a midday menu in a traditional eatery and in the evening a modern interpretation of tapas. The Restaurant Week makes it possible to sample the island without big leaps.

And a small, practical everyday tip: in February many kitchens are more relaxed than in summer. Reservations are still worthwhile, especially on weekends. A short phone call, an email or a look at the restaurant's social media pages provides clarity about opening hours and menu variations. That way you avoid the disappointment of standing in front of closed doors while the palms tremble in a light northerly wind.

The Mallorca Restaurant Week is not the loudest event of the year. It arrives without much fanfare, with the smell of fried onions and the quiet that slowly settles after winter. But precisely for that reason it has charm: it connects local producers, kitchen crews and guests at tables where some may be tasting Mallorcan products consciously for the first time. For the island it is an invitation to rediscover its own flavors — and for restaurants the chance to open their doors in spring to a somewhat different audience.

Short and practical: Dates of the Mallorca Restaurant Week: February 23 to March 31. Registration deadline for restaurants: February 4. Register by email to ana@restaurantweek.es. Anyone on Mallorca during these weeks should leave room in their calendar — and bring an appetite.