Italian dynamo – one of the most-established chefs in Pollensa

HIS previous job was running a group of 14 restaurants in California.

Including the highly-rated Locanda del Lago, in Santa Monica, where he worked as head chef, Roberto Maggioni had little time to relax, let alone think.

It was a hectic time, but then again he had previously worked at Lady Diana’s favourite restaurant, Quaglino’s, in London, and before that at the Carluccios group, so it was all in a day’s work.

Today the Italian chef, 36, is one of the most-established chefs in Pollensa, having worked in the town for nearly ten years with his current restaurant Osteria 15, regularly picked out among the best.

What is it that so entranced him with the area? And how does he rate the current food and wine scene?

“I fell in love with the place after living in France for a year, travelling around the whole country on a Vespa,” explains the Italian-trained chef, from Milan.

“But few areas in the world are as beautiful as Pollensa and the food scene has grown a lot over the last two years, in particular in terms of quality, but as well with more spices.

“People expect decent quality food in Pollensa and I always try and deliver it with fresh, wild fish and meat, which is properly reared and sourced… I am super crazy about what is on the label.

“On top of that there are some excellent vineyards around the town and they get better by the year,” he adds, digging out a series of his favourite wines and spreading them out on the table in front of him, to reinforce his point.