The New Ibiza Chiringuito: Cala Bassa

Cala Bassa: introducing a cool new concept in beach dining to cater for all tastes and wallets.

CALA Bassa beach is about as picture-perfect as they come: rugged coastline, tree-topped cliffs, curved cove of silky white sand stretching into turquoise water. If you follow the wooden boardwalk to the bright, beachside chiringo on the grassy rise – with the dark cane chairs by twisted trees – you can sit and toast the breathtaking sunsets with a crisp beverage and observe the anchored boats bobbing in the bay. This is where the Cala Bassa Beach
Club (CBbC), an exciting new concept in dining, will be reigning supreme this summer.

Located on the south-west coast of Ibiza, a few bays along from Sant Antoni, Cala Bassa is one of the most popular beaches in the area. This May the already established chiringo will be joined by a further two venues, a high-end restaurant and a laidback snack bar, to complete the new Cala Bassa Beach Club experience.

The CBbC Chiringo is a smart but relaxed eatery serving pastas, salads, fish, meat and rice dishes with fresh, local produce. Next door, the CBbC Restaurant offers elegant dining for up to 80 guests, serving lunch and dinner
plus drinks from the cocktail bar. Stroll across to the opposite side of the beach and CBbC Snack provides a quick, easy and economical option, with a takeaway menu that includes salads, hamburgers and pizza for quick convenience.

Owned by Xavi Margui and Roger Requena and managed by Ismael Nuñez, the Cala Bassa Beach Club ethos is all about
providing quality food for a diverse range of customers.

“We have three different restaurants for different targets,” says Margui. “And then we have services such as beds, showers and VIP parking. The whole beach will have the same image, but the food will be different from one to the other. The restaurant during the day will have rice and fresh fish. At night it will be more fusion cooking. We’re going to have a chef, David Reartes, who was Spanish New Chef of the Year 2010, cooking modern food, with one philosophy during the day and another at night.”

Featuring Indonesian furnishings with an Ibiza influence – white decor and a chill-out theme – the club expands the length of the beach with unbroken views of the sea and, while it’s not exclusive, there is a VIP service too.

“We’re very focused on service on the beach,” Margui adds. “You can eat and drink on the beds on the beach. We’re going to have a dingy service and a boat service for when people arrive to bring them to the restaurant.”

As well as providing a first-rate culinary service on three levels, the Cala Bassa Beach Club can also accommodate weddings and events for up to 1,000 guests. “What we want to achieve is to be able to give a very good service to the different kinds of people coming to the beach. In Ibiza Town there are many options where you can go, but in the south-west of the island there is nobody with this concept. We want to give a different service to different people who want to spend different quantities of money. So if you just want to spend a little bit of money today and have a good salad or have some good pasta then we have food that is cheap and fast.”

First published in Pacha Magazine, Ibiza, May 2011.
© Abbey Stirling