Universo Chef

Rodrigo Vallejo is a young professional that we must include in the list of chefs who cook with a lot of foundation and contribute to make Mallorca a gastronomic paradise, not in vain, as he explains in the interview, his training has taken place together with several great of cookers.

Rodrigo displays his culinary skills in Ciutat, precisely at the Nimos rice bar, opposite Ocimax. In the public eye, this charismatic chef handles a very chosen raw material, made without many nooks and crannies but with a lot of personality, until turning it into delicacies that involve an authentic enhancement of each ingredient.

Rodrigo, who are you?

I consider myself passionate about my work, very dedicated to my profession and I really like to communicate with people through food, or that's what I set out to do.

How did you decide to dedicate yourself to the kitchen?

From a very young age I needed a work of discipline, to find a direction, and I was very stung by the knowledge of products, transmitting through the kitchen and being able to travel, I think I found the perfect fusion for my life.

Do you consider yourself a cook or a chef or both, or is that the least of it?

Cook, worker and didactic. We must never forget our work. We are a union that has always been helpful, we work where others have fun, our trade is developed with our hands and in addition to that when we evolve a lot of psychology is needed, then I think the most beautiful thing about our profession is teaching work methodologies, development of recipes, creation of human teams ..., the list is endless

Let's talk about his style, what type of cuisine defines Rodrigo Vallejo?

I consider myself a chef who is not pigeonholed in any type of kitchen, because throughout my career I have been in very different projects, I really like challenges, I love the flavor, the roots and the technique, the dishes with very few ingredients and maximum respect for the product.

And we come to the Nimos bar, explain the concept to us, what do you propose?

In the gastronomic bar our proposal is a very close treatment with the client, a lot of interaction and a lot of quality in the product, treated with our criteria, getting the client to repeat, we want them to feel like they are in their living room.

How do you approach the preparation of your dishes? Can we talk about creativity?

I approach my dishes as I learned from my teachers in these years, Martín Berasategui, Andoni Luis and Rene Redzepi, with absolute respect for the raw material and weighting of the garnishes, simplicity and technique, but that the client does not see, we like that when a client tries one of our dishes it reminds him of a good stew, of flavor, even of his childhood.

At the gastronomic bar of Nimos, tell us a combination of ingredients that result in a dish of great polychrome.

Well, regarding this polychromy question, I don't usually take colors into account when finishing a plate, I think more in the sense of the plate, the evolution, the sensations, what it transmits ..., we don't always have to look for the decoration , to say the least, but people tell us about the octopus that there is a great palette of colors and they really like the pickle with the purple potato, the trampó de fabes, which with the octopus give a great color.

Choose a dish from your proposal that stands out for its aroma.

The confit cod dish that we make with fennel and potato pil pil.

That eminently surprising texture in one of your dishes?

People ask us a lot how we make the turbot torreznos with their skin, they tell us they look like Boca Bits or barks ...

Flavor. In which dish you get an unobjectionable flavor, the best of your repertoire?

In a dish that we are making of crispy tail stewed with shrimp and date juice, a combination of stew flavor and highly recognized sea and mountain products.

Recommend us a dessert of yours and by the way tell us why.

I would recommend a very special dessert that I learned in my years at Martin and it was the caramelized French toast that we made at Mugaritz (2 Michelin stars); clients ask us “how from a piece of bread do you get this tasty and childhood snack from grandmother…”, this dessert always goes with me, among others, and it seems to me that with little the result is good, for me that defines the kitchen of a restaurant.

We cannot forget about the pocket; What about the price per person at the Nimos bar?

We have an average price of € 20-30 in this way to be able to get closer to a large public with our different proposals.

Well thank you very much Rodrigo, it has been a pleasure talking with you. I wish you all the best of luck in your career at the head of the Nimos gastronomic bar.

Thank you very much Rafel, for making me feel so good and at ease, here is your home for any event and celebration.