While I was waiting for the main dish, out came a plate of customary pa amb all i oli – Mallorcan pan moreno (dark bread) served with alioli spread and green olives. Usually pan moreno (dark bread) is quite bland with very little or no salt, but Misha serves his warm, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt flakes. Now, this I like! His alioli was also really nice, very light and creamy. If you follow my columns, you know that I don’t eat olives, so I have no idea what they were like, but he assured me they were tasty.
As I was enjoying this upgrade on plain dark bread, the main dish came out. It smelled delicious and looked like something a Mallorcan grandma would prepare for her hungry family. Misha told me that they first sauté the onions and tomatoes, then top this up with crumbled sobrasada made with porc negre (black pig’s meat, the best you can get on the island) and two eggs. The whole dish is then baked and served piping hot on a beautiful ceramic plate. The eggs were slightly harder than I would have liked them to be, but I understand that this is more difficult to control in the baked dishes than it is if you make your eggs on the stove. Still, this took absolutely nothing away from the flavour The whole dish tasted fantastic! I loved the touch of sweetness sobrasada provided to this savoury dish and I scoffed the whole thing down in minutes.
While enjoying my food alone, I looked around… The clients seemed to be a mix of locals and expats. The place does not have a touristy feel, despite not being far from any of Palma’s central tourist attractions. A couple at the table not far from mine ordered a huge plate of pamboli, probably enough to feed several more friends, and finished it all sooner than I finished my meal. Everything that came out of Misha’s kitchen looked delicious and prepared with love, using the best local ingredients he can source.
Considering the food I am describing, you might imagine Vi Vermell to look quite traditional, but this could not be further from the truth. The restaurant is relatively small, about 35 places inside and 20 outside, but really stylish. Bronze coloured metal tables are matched with comfortable dark brown leather chairs. The contrast is added by vases of bright pink freshly cut roses on each table. I love these kind of details! Fresh flowers are always a plus in my book. I asked Misha where he gets these beautiful flowers from, and he joked: “I understand eggs, but I don´t understand flowers!” Apparently, he gets a fresh supply every week from a Ukrainian florist, he relies on her taste, and the result is beautiful.
I finished my meal with a strong cortado and a slice of a very moreish home-made carrot cake and promised myself that I will return to try some of the other dishes Misha recommended, such as “ensalada trampo malloquin” (with onion, tomato, green pepper etc) topped with either octopus or tuna. Can’t wait to go back!
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