Miquel Sànchez, the cosmopolitanism of Smoix

Bep Al·lès/Ciutadella - It will now be two seasons since Miquel Sànchez and his partner Vianey opened the new restaurant Smoix in La Contramurada de Ciutadella, after a year that we could call a sabbatical, where he hesitated to start a new professional period in Mexico or restart his Smoix changing its location, where the change has been more than positive and correct, offering a new restaurant, more current, of higher quality, with a correct and clean decoration, bright and at the same time that makes you feel comfortable and at ease.

Miquel Sánchez Planes is the chef and owner of the "Smoix" restaurant in Ciutadella, which has become one of the main references of the new Menorcan cuisine.

{photo 2}

He started in the world of cooking while studying at the School of Cooking and Hospitality in Barcelona, ??and worked for different Catalan restaurants, including "La Lluerna". In the 90s, he began his Menorcan adventure with the "Es moix" restaurant in the Cala Blanca shopping center. He then went on to direct the stoves at "Cas Ferrer de sa Font", and before recovering the project - unfinished llavonces d'Smoix - he dedicated himself to catering and spent a few months in the kitchen of Asador Molí des Comte.

{photo 3}

Experience, honesty and commitment to local products are some of the main virtues of this great master of the new Menorcan cuisine of which he was one of the pioneers and also of what is known today as "Km0" cuisine, a trend he set started more than a decade ago in Cas Ferrer and continues to do so in Smoix. "It is security and at the same time quality for your customers. I have opted for the product and the recipe of Menorca, this does not mean that there is a dish of cod or tuna on the menu and not every day, but always accompanied by products from the island. In Ciutadella, this wheel of cooperation between producers and customers works very well. I can buy a meat, a fish, a vegetable, and the producer also comes to visit me as a customer to try my cuisine, what I do with what they have brought me, and this is very positive. If we consume local products, we boost the local economy. We all win."

{photo 4}

When we talk to him about the future of the kitchen, where we are going, Miquel is very clear: "The protagonist of the new kitchen will be the ecological product, the organic and healthy product. There will be a change in trend towards a healthier cuisine, with less sugar, less fat. The bet will be on seasonal and local produce, which are now the basis of zero kilometer. We need food to live, but we must know what we eat and how. Maybe we need to learn to eat well and it wouldn't be bad if one of the subjects in schools was dietetics. We are what we eat and what we eat is a reflection of how we are, and therefore if we want to be healthy people we must bet on these organic, healthy and close products. Maybe we're not aware of it now, but we'll end up having a lot of it."

{photo 5}

In this new stage on the front of Smoix, in the new premises, there you can see the duo Miquel and Vianey. He commands the stove, but his partner is the one who serves the customers in the room, where you can also see his hand in the design, in the decoration. It is a space that reminds us that the place was an old jewelry factory, and therefore the decoration, done with great taste, leads us into the industrial style, in the tables, in the lamps... It catches our attention the large high table, where you sit on bar stools, and there many times not only conversations end up being shared, but the bottles of wine, and even the dishes. Because to go to Smoix is ??to immerse yourself in committed cuisine and in a cosmopolitan, pleasant, attentive atmosphere and at the same time enjoy with the 5 senses a committed cuisine, of extraordinary finesse and which makes it one of the main references of 'this new Menorcan cuisine.