MATEO LOBILLO, our Chef

The Port of Sóller is a very special place for various reasons. Being one of the most emblematic ports on the north coast of Mallorca, our port offers experiences for all tastes and ages. From activities in the Mediterranean, to excursions and mountain sports in the Sierra de Tramuntana, as well as offering two beaches to enjoy the summer to the full. However, there is another very special experience that completes the Port of Sóller 100%: the gastronomic experience. The Port of Sóller has a gastronomic offer of unequalled value. Whether it is the high quality local products or the dedication and passion of the different chefs who cook them, offering unique flavours. So if you like gastronomy, you'll be in the right place. And that is why today we are going to talk about local gastronomy and how our chef, Mateo Lobillo, transmits it through the dishes of Airecel Restaurant, our restaurant.

MATEO LOBILLO'S CAREER

Originally from Andalusia, Mateo Lobillo began his cooking studies at the Alabardero Hostelry School in Seville. A prestigious school of the Lezama Group that started several decades ago with a priest who decided to teach cooking to poor people, which brings unique values to the centre. After finishing his studies, Mateo started working in Tarifa during the summer and the following year he left for Cantabria, where he worked in the prestigious haute cuisine restaurant Cenador de Amós, where he learned to master the gastronomy of Northern Spain. After his time there, Mateo decided to broaden his knowledge and went to England. There he grew a lot as a chef working in Ibérica Food & Culture, a restaurant with 2 Michelin stars. He then travelled to Mexico, specifically to Guadalajara, where he worked for 3 years as a cooking teacher before moving to Los Cabos, a very famous region for large weddings and themed events. There he worked at the 3 diamond Arrecife Restaurant. After his time in Mexico, Mateo decided to return to Spain, specifically to Puerto de Sóller. After his arrival, he started working at El Faro Restaurant (2014-2017) and Nautilus (2017-2019) before finally arriving at Airecel Restaurant.

Mateo Lobillo came to Puerto de Sóller with great national and international influences, as well as cultural knowledge from different corners of the world. With all this, Mateo started working as sous chef at Airecel Restaurant in August 2019. This is when he became fascinated by the local produce, the produce of our islands and the infinite possibilities they bring to the world of gastronomy, being one of the places in the world with the greatest wealth of raw materials and quality produce, as Mateo commented. So, after three years learning and expanding his knowledge of local produce, in 2022, Mateo became head chef at Airecel Restaurant.

Although it is true that Mateo brings with him a wide range of culinary knowledge and, thanks to his travels, has mastered various types of cuisine, he defines himself as a chef who adapts to the place where he is cooking, giving great importance to local produce and the culture of the place, seeking innovation but always trying to maintain a culinary base specific to the place where he is cooking.

Therefore, since his arrival at the Port of Sóller, Mateo Lobillo has acquired a great appreciation for local and seasonal produce, searching for avant-garde techniques to be able to apply to his idea of product cuisine with avant-garde touches. Techniques that made him grow as a chef of produce and especially of local and Mediterranean produce, concluding with the creation of dishes that are apparently traditional to our islands but which have a unique touch and technique thanks to our chef's knowledge.

MATEO LOBILLO'S KITCHEN

Mateo's gastronomic journey is what has ended up defining his idea of cuisine. The place as the basis of his cuisine. Mateo's cuisine is culturally and traditionally based on the geographical place where he is. Focusing on the products and traditions of the place where he is cooking at any given moment. That is why it is not a static cuisine. Mateo likes to learn the customs of the place where he is cooking, but he never extrapolates the cuisine and culinary techniques of other countries. That is why his cuisine can be defined as a cuisine that is faithful to the place where it is, seeking to transmit through it the essence of the place, its gastronomic bases and to give value to local and seasonal products in a way that perfectly combines tradition with the most avant-garde techniques.

This is why Mateo Lobillo's cuisine at Airecel Restaurant can currently be defined as a cuisine based on local and seasonal products with Mallorcan bases and avant-garde techniques that are not very invasive, but in short, a cuisine based on the product as its base. In Mateo's own words, the best cuisine is based on the freshest product, a product that in turn must be treated in the best possible way, and the best possible way to treat it is always the simplest. A cuisine with a 100% Mallorcan base, connected in its entirety with the island and the Port of Sóller, which we invite you to discover at Airecel Restaurant through our lunch and dinner menus and our set menus. Undoubtedly, one of the great treasures of our hotel which we are very proud to be able to share with all of you.

If you are staying at our hotel and would like more information about the local and Mediterranean gastronomy, as well as more specific knowledge of the typical products of the Sóller Valley and the Port of Sóller, do not hesitate to ask our reception team, who will be happy to help and advise you!