
Chef in Residence
Andreu Genestra
Chef

Set within the 14th-century Sa Torre estate at Hotel Zoëtry Mallorca in Llucmajor, Andreu Genestra holds a Michelin star and ranked 558th in Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list for 2025. The kitchen runs on Catalan-rooted creativity expressed through three tasting menus, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Extrem, and Mediterranean Verde, each built around locally grounded ingredients and precise, restrained technique.
<h2>A Rural Estate, a Courtyard, and the Weight of a 14th-Century Address</h2><p>Arriving at the Sa Torre estate outside Llucmajor, you pass a windmill and a private church before reaching the hotel entrance. These are not decorative gestures, Sa Torre dates to the 14th century, and the stone structures around the property carry that age visibly. The restaurant sits within Hotel Zoëtry Mallorca, accessed through a courtyard that opens onto a terrace. The setting belongs to a specific Mallorcan tradition: the aristocratic <em>finca</em> repurposed for hospitality, where agricultural heritage and rural quietude are part of the offer, not incidental to it. Dining here is a long way, geographically and atmospherically, from the coastal resort circuit that dominates Mallorca's culinary conversation.</p><p>Among Spain's Michelin-starred restaurants, the majority cluster in urban centres or along well-trafficked coastlines. Andreu Genestra takes a different position, placing serious cooking in a deeply rural address 8 kilometres from the nearest town. That choice shapes everything: the pace of service, the relationship with the surrounding land, and the expectation a diner brings through the door.</p><h2>Small Plates, Multiple Menus, and the Philosophy of the Table</h2><p>The kitchen operates through structured tasting menus rather than freestyle small-plates selection. The kitchen operates through structured tasting menus rather than freestyle small-plates selection, yet the Mediterranean tradition of sharing, accumulating flavours across multiple dishes, and building a meal socially rather than individually is legible throughout the format. Spain's broader creative-cooking generation, the chefs whose names appear in lists from <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/el-celler-de-can-roca-girona-restaurant">El Celler de Can Roca in Girona</a> to <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/arzak-san-sebastian-restaurant">Arzak in San Sebastián</a>, long ago absorbed the small-plates logic into tasting-menu architecture. Each course functions as a self-contained statement; the progression builds an argument rather than delivering a single monolithic dish.</p><p>Three menus are available. The Mediterranean runs to 12 courses; the Mediterranean Extrem extends that to 14; and the Mediterranean Verde, also 12 courses, focuses substantially on the vegetable world. The Verde menu places Andreu Genestra in a growing cohort of Michelin-recognised kitchens across southern Europe that have shifted meaningful creative attention toward plant-based cooking without abandoning protein entirely. This is not a binary choice between omnivore and vegetarian formats, it is a signal about where the kitchen's research is concentrated.</p><p>Opinionated About Dining's reviewers noted a particular dish: tuna belly with courgette tartare, <em>Fava Parada</em> sauce, and toasted butter. The description points to what the kitchen does structurally, a protein anchor, a vegetable component with textural contrast, a legume-based sauce carrying regional identity, and a fat element for finish and balance. That combination of Catalan culinary vocabulary with contemporary technique is the throughline across the menu. Compared to peers like <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/quique-dacosta-denia-restaurant">Quique Dacosta in Dénia</a> or <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/ricard-camarena-valencia-restaurant">Ricard Camarena in València</a>, both operating at the Mediterranean-creative intersection, Andreu Genestra's approach reads as less maximalist, more anchored in local ingredient specificity.</p><p>For those not committed to a full tasting sequence, the kitchen also offers a smaller à la carte format with two or three dishes. This is a notable structural choice. At this price tier and with Michelin recognition in place, many kitchens push guests exclusively toward the tasting menu. The option to order less positions the restaurant as accessible within its category, and means the terrace can function as a genuine dining destination for guests staying at the hotel who want a serious meal without a three-hour commitment.</p><h2>Where This Sits in the Spanish Michelin Picture</h2><p>Spain's Michelin one-star tier is dense and geographically spread. The country hosts three-star rooms from <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/aponiente-el-puerto-de-santa-maria-restaurant">Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María</a> to <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/azurmendi-larrabetzu-restaurant">Azurmendi in Larrabetzu</a> and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/diverxo-madrid-restaurant">DiverXO in Madrid</a>. At the one-star level, the competition is substantial, and the question for any critic is whether recognition reflects technical competence or genuine creative contribution. Andreu Genestra's OAD trajectory gives a partial answer: recommended in 2023, ranked 696th in 2024, and 558th in 2025 among Casual Europe, a consistent upward movement that suggests a kitchen finding its register rather than one coasting on initial recognition.</p><p>The Catalan-creative cuisine designation places the restaurant in a peer group that includes <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/caelis-barcelona-restaurant">Caelis in Barcelona</a> and, at a broader Spanish creative level, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/cocina-hermanos-torres-barcelona-restaurant">Cocina Hermanos Torres</a> and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/martin-berasategui-lasarte-oria-restaurant">Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria</a>. What distinguishes Andreu Genestra within that group is the rurality of its setting and the Balearic specificity of its ingredients. Mallorca has its own agricultural identity, olive oil, almonds, sobrassada, local seafood, legumes like the <em>fava</em> referenced in the OAD-noted dish, and a kitchen serious about that specificity occupies a different position than one using Catalan technique with generic Mediterranean produce.</p><p>For further context on where Catalan-rooted creativity sits internationally, the comparison with <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/le-bernardin">Le Bernardin in New York City</a> is instructive not for stylistic similarity but for structural logic: both are tasting-menu rooms where the discipline of the format is inseparable from the cuisine's identity.</p><h2>Planning a Visit: What to Know Before You Go</h2><p>Andreu Genestra is at Camí de Sa Torre, km8, Llucmajor, a rural address that requires a car. The distance from Palma makes a taxi feasible for an evening without a return drive, though not cheap. The restaurant sits within Hotel Zoëtry Mallorca, which means hotel guests have the advantage of proximity; non-guests visit specifically for the meal rather than as part of a broader hotel stay. Given the price tier and the three-menu format with 12 or 14 courses, this is a multi-hour commitment: arrive with the evening free. The terrace access through the courtyard patio suggests that warm-weather evenings are the preferred season for a full experience, though Mallorca's shoulder months, April through June, September through October, offer better value on accommodation and fewer crowds at comparable creative tables across the island.</p>
The setting is calibrated for adult dining. A 12- to 14-course tasting menu at €€€€ pricing, on a historic aristocratic estate with a candlelit terrace, does not lend itself to younger diners. Families with older teenagers who are comfortable at a Michelin one-star pace may find it manageable, but this is not a venue designed with children in mind.
Rural, unhurried, and grounded in genuine history: the Sa Torre estate dates to the 14th century and includes a windmill and a private church on the grounds. Guests enter through a courtyard patio before reaching the terrace, which sets a quietly formal tone that the Michelin one-star kitchen (2024) sustains through the meal. There is no ambient noise from a city street; the silence is part of the proposition.
Andreu Genestra has received recognition including: It is clear that Andreu Genestra is at the top of his game, and it shows in his new restaurant at the Zoëtry Hotel in Llucmajor. Genestra gives free rein to all his creativity and competitiveness in s...; Chef Andreu Genestra has begun a ne….
Opinionated About Dining's reviewers — who ranked the restaurant #558 in Europe for 2025 — specifically called out the tuna belly with courgette tartare, Fava Parada sauce, and toasted butter, citing its balance and interplay of textures. Beyond individual dishes, the three tasting menu formats (Mediterranean at 12 courses, Mediterranean Extrem at 14 courses, and the vegetable-focused Mediterranean Verde at 12 courses) are the primary vehicle for Genestra's cooking, and ordering à la carte with two or three dishes is also an option.
Camí de Sa Torre, km8, 7, 07609, Illes Balears, Spain
Llucmajor

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