Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
JOURNEYS are so often adventures in themselves.
To take a drive up to Cortijo Santa Maria 1962 in the hills above Sotogrande is magical from the moment you turn off the motorway and drive through the security gates.
As you take in some of Spain’s most expensive villas, and glimpses of its most exclusive golf course, Valderrama, you just sense you are in for something special.
The tree-lined avenues and perfectly clipped lawns give an overriding sense of privilege and, while the arrival at the resorts’s top five star hotel, SO/ Sotogrande, is a little underwhelming, once inside you’re back on track.
With interesting, yet unfussy, architecture and clever use of planting and water, you are in another world, a fecund paradise full of cascading levels and subtle colours and furniture.
You are also certainly a few steps closer to heaven at Cortijo 1962, a top floor restaurant with one of the most extraordinary dining terraces I’ve eaten on.
Overlooking an amazing backdrop of mountains right down to the sea, from here you take in the Serrania de Ronda, Sierra Bermeja and even La Concha above Marbella.
Squint and you’ll also see Africa, even on a grubby day, while you look down across the Cortijo-style roofs of the hotel.
I am firstly thrust a glass of bubbly, just 12 euros a pop, from Laurent Perrier and by royal appointment to the Prince of Wales, don’t you know. There’s cava by the glass, of course, as well, but champagne seems appropriate for four euros more.
Before you can blink, scallop tartare ‘eclairs’ and mussels in a Peruana tiger sauce are brought to the table, along with three types of local bread from Malaga with Cordoba olive oil.
The wine list is carefully laid out over one page, unlike many of the long, complicated lists one expects of five star hotels these days. Handily, there are at least ten of them by the glass, and it was good to see some local wines, such as Iceni, a red from nearby Arcos de la Frontera.
The menu itself is a trawl of Andalucian classics, things like suckling pig and grilled octopus, thankfully added to with the Conil tomato tartare, as well as an interesting sounding beef tiradito with blood orange and cucumber essence, at just €15.
Obviously there was Jamon Iberico ‘Belloterra’, as well as a good number of vegetarian dishes including roasted cauliflower and vegetable ravioli.
Just as I was licking my lips over the odd-sounding ‘transparent asparagus veil’ which apparently came with prawn tartare and dashi, I was entirely sold on the special summer tuna menu, with a decent number of classic blue fin tuna cuts from nearby Barbate.
It is curated by France’s Michelin-star chef Nicolas Isnard, who has been overseeing the restaurant for a couple of years, alongside hotel executive chef Leandro Caballero, from Cordoba.
The Tuna Festival Asian Menu, as it’s called, is modelled on Japanese market dishes and comes in three sizes with the longest coming in at a reasonable €115.
The first dish for all three is ‘Tuna and Takuan rose’ – a subtle starter of thin strips of tender tuna belly wrapped in an envelope of an oriental vegetable, called takuan.
Coming in the shape of a rose, it sits on a bed of apple gel with dashi broth and needed a tiny touch of wasabi to really bring it to life.
Next up was a tuna tartare with a citrus and kumquat sorbet and ‘kalamansi’ aroma.
It rocked with flavours, but didn’t come near to the next dish, a tuna belly tartaki with a sprinkle of caviar on top and with mint pesto, sweetcorn and Thai pomelo as garnish.
We were now onto the pudding courses, including the intriguing ‘Green tea, tamarind and cinnamon’ which was rather like having tea at granny’s – a real creamy treat.
There was also a rich rice pudding, but in no way did it compare to the wonderful cheese course.
Billed as ‘Andalucian cheese – a journey’, it even had its own well presented menu that explained the five cheeses from Sevilla, Cordoba, Cadiz and Malaga.
“We’ve been given a free reign to really push on,” explained chef Leandro, who comes from Pozoblanco, and one suspects can chew the cud for hours about Rabo de Toro and Salmorejo.
“Since joining a decade ago when it was the old Almenara it’s got better and better. These days I can really concentrate a lot more on quality and being experimental.”
The journey over, I got home with a big smile on the face.
Av. Almenara S/N
11310 Sotogrande
San Roque, Cádiz
+34 956 922 911
cortijo.sotogrande@so-hotels.com
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