Titled ‘The Art of Tuna’, the event of the year which forms major homage to the red Tuna that chef Dani García has organised in several of his worldwide restaurants and performed with Balfegó Group.
Every year, Málaga’s famous chef Dani García pays special homage to one of southern Spain’s most iconic delicacies: which is known as the bluefin red tuna. A lover and connoisseur of this amazing product, Chef Dani Garcia devised on Monday May 9, at Marsa Malaz Kempinski’s Palazzo ballroom a unique tuna cutting ceremony that was an educational experience and entertaining one at the same time.
Under the title ‘The Art of Tuna’, the Lobito de Mar restaurant in Doha hosted a unique culinary event that represents an ode to this exquisite delicacy of the sea. Thus, at 7pm local time, the restaurant organised its first tuna ronqueo, in a unique display of art and tradition in front a huge crowd, including the Spanish and Italian Ambassadors.
In collaboration with the Balfegó Group, the leading experts in the capture, feeding, study and sale of red tuna on the international market, the ceremony stareted with a Kaitai experience. This is a tradition dating back to generations which the group has learned from Japanese masters and which consists of the accurate breaking down of a red tuna fish, in this particular Balfegó case weighing 172kg. One of the reprsentatives from Balfego, Mr. Youssef Meski, explained the characteristics of each piece and the rarities of the species, and two of the major parts of the fish were sampled: the marrow and the meat from the backbone. In short, a sensory journey around the different parts of this fish, together with a tasting menu.
During the event, there was a live demonstration of the traditional method of breaking down the tuna into the different cuts. As a proud ambassador of red tuna, Chef Dani gave a live masterclass preparing various dishes using the different cuts of tuna explained previously. That includes a porterhouse carpaccio of tuna with fried eggs, the tuna belly and loin duo with citrus pipirrana salad and the salt-roasted nape with Boston lettuce. This was followed by a special cocktail specially devised to complement the flavours enjoyed.
This experience formed part of an initiative by the Dani García Group to bring this spectacle of tradition and know-how to some of its main venues, both in Spain and internationally. Thus, throughout the month of May, the Puente Romano Beach Resort hotel in Marbella, Dani Brasserie at the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid, BiBo Beach House in Tarifa and Lobito de Mar in Doha will all be taking part in this entertaining event.
Located in the luxury gardens of the Marsa Malaz Kempinski island, The Pearl, in the Qatari capital, Lobito de Mar is so much more than just a restaurant. With an offering based on the flavours and dishes that chef Dani García experienced as a child, the promise is to provide the finest Mediterranean cuisine in Doha.
Lobito de Mar opened in Marbella in 2017, and in Madrid in 2019. Its opening in Doha in March marked the first Lobito de Mar venue to have opened outside of Spain. This is a restaurant that takes its inspiration from the most popular and representative dishes and products from tradition cooking in the south of Spain, where the quality of the produce is always the star of the show. As its name suggests, it is a restaurant devoted to the sea, with a restaurant menu and a drinks menu that set out two initial proposals: a more informal approach to be enjoyed at the bar, designed for all tastes and budgets, and a more formal option with a menu based on seafood, crustaceans and molluscs from Spain, fish grilled over coals, tuna recipes and a wide range of rice dishes and paellas, all in the Alicante style.
Lobito de Mar therefore joins BiBo Doha, located in the luxury St. Regis hotel in the Al Gassar resort, as part of the portfolio of restaurants that bring the universe of Dani García to the Qatari capital.