Tom Powell
By AJ Linn
LIKE many people I was brought up to believe that French cuisine was the best of the best. Rather like French wine.
And while over recent years the Spanish have really given them a run for their money (some would say mushed them into a pulp), thankfully there are a few top French restaurateurs who can really turn it on.
The Benisty brothers at Albert y Simon are perfect examples of that.
Their father opened his first restaurant in Marbella in 1968, later morphing into Casa David, and subsequently Le Soufflé in El Pilar in 1987.
By then his sons were involved and soon deservedly landing a Michelin star, the second in Andalucia after Paul Schiff’s La Hacienda.
The crisis of the 90s provoked a move to the successful Nueva Atalaya, and the current resting place, probably for the foreseeable future, is in San Pedro.
And it is well worth hunting down, to try Albert’s delightful cuisine, possibly the best in Marbella.
Constantly upping his game, he is the region’s representative for the Eurotoques group, which counts Spain’s best restaurants such as Arzak and Akelare and a host of famous French chefs including Paul Bocuse.
While Albert slaves away in the kitchen, the suave Simon is in the restaurant.
With an expert knowledge of wines (the list is one of the best in town), he can recommend the perfect blend to accompany the new ‘Miniatures’ menu.
A list of around 30 small dishes is their new project. Correctly avoiding the use of the word tapas, these dishes are much more, involving everything from scallops with parmesan and truffle vinegar, through turbot cooked with spinach and almonds in red wine, to ravioli of langoustines, all costing an average of €5each.
An interesting option if you are lunching or dining with someone who tells you they do not want to eat too much. They can have one dish and you can have five or six.
