Georgina recommends – Tempora
Tempora is a little restaurant in Marbella’s Old Town which opened its doors in June. For a small kitchen, the food certainly packs a punch, delivering a real gastronomic treat with stunning presentation at surprisingly affordable prices.
The location– Calle Tetuan 9, Marbella Old Town. It’s in a nice little pedestrianized street so that the restaurants can spill out onto the pavement. To find it cross the main road by Parque de Alameda, walk right until you get to the horse fountain and it’s the first street on your right. Tempora is in the middle on the left hand side.
The food– What a treat, this is a restaurant for real foodies!
Tempora means products of the season in Spanish and this sums up their philosophy to cook with seasonal, fresh ingredients to produce the best food possible. They go to the market each day and let their imagination run riot with delicious little amuse bouches which change daily. When we went the raspberries were good so the chef knocked up a raspberry gazpacho, which was a surprisingly savoury chilled shot with a rich olive oil note and then the background sweetness from the fruit. This got our taste buds tingling and made us realise we were in for a treat.
The menu is really refreshing, with dishes I have never seen before, showing real creativity and flair. The cuisine is Mediterranean “gastro” and this gives them the opportunity to choose delicious dishes, ingredients and inspiration from France, Italy, Spain and really whatever takes their fancy, to create an intriguing but not confusing selection of dishes.
Andy started with Duck Carpaccio with parmesan, pine nuts, apple and rocket, a light, fresh starter with lots of interesting flavours served with fabulous olive oil and bread. I chose their salmon tartar with avocado and rocket which showcased the most wonderfully fresh salmon and was a perfect summer starter.
For main course we both went for the duck magret with a raspberry reduction, mushrooms and a potato and vegetable stack. The duck was perfectly cooked with crispy fat rendered down just enough and pink, juicy meat. The raspberry reduction went really well with the duck and I was amazed by the quality of the ingredients as well as the cooking.
We followed this by sharing the lemon sorbet with cava, a tart sorbet of fresh lemons served in a martini glass and topped with a healthy dose of cava at the table. It was like a very grown-up ice cream float and really good to clean the palate.
We spoke to the owner about the menu and the philosophy behind it and he told us that he wanted to do something different which gives the diner real gastronomy, using superb ingredients but without the high prices. He doesn’t want to do the normal Spanish or tourist fare and so he’s taking a gamble with an unfamiliar menu with lots of unusual ingredients and flavours. This is brave stuff but really works! If you’re bored with the standard food and willing to try something new you should really come and check out Tempora.
The service – The owner Andres works the front of house and is charming with the guests. His passion for the food and the wine is clear to see and he’s very good at making recommendations of what’s particularly good that day.
He recommended a really excellent red wine and to Andy’s delight then produced a decanter and advised us to let it breathe for a while. He was great at topping up the wine and generally making us feel at home and even gave us a bowl of the most delicious chocolate buttons at the end of the meal from his chocolate shop.
The decor/atmosphere – Tempora is a cozy little restaurant with dark wood and a warm interior and tables outside on the street. It has a charming, friendly feel.
The price – Seriously good value for money for the quality of ingredients, standard of cooking and level of service!! Average starter is around 10€, mains start from 16.50€ for the duck breast, up to 22€ for the steak and desserts are 6€.
This is real gastronomy for less so we’ll be making it a regular haunt and because they will have daily specials you won’t get bored – perfect.
Contact – 952 85 79 33 / 618 51 44 69 temporarestaurant@gmail.com