Foodies on Menorca Awards to honour the leading figures of Menorcan gastronomy in 2026 on 19 September

Menorcan gastronomy will once again have an important date with its professionals, establishments and producers next Saturday, 19 September. At 6 p.m., at the Es Mercadal Fairgrounds and within the framework of the ninth edition of the Arrels Fair, organised by the Consell Insular de Menorca, the awards ceremony for the second edition of the Foodies on Menorca Awards for Menorcan Gastronomy will take place, with the support and collaboration of Fra Roger, Menorca Restauració, the Menorca Association of Cafés, Bars and Restaurants, Gastroselec Menorca and the Association of Gastronomic Journalists and Writers of the Balearic Islands.

The awards, created in 2025, aim to give visibility and recognition to the people, restaurants, producers and projects that contribute to preserving, renewing and promoting Menorca’s gastronomic culture. The first edition already brought together a broad representation of the sector within Arrels, and this year the awards consolidate their continuity with new distinctions that draw a highly diverse picture of the island’s restaurant and agri-food production sectors.

The 2026 Restaurant of the Year will be La Cocina de Cristine, in Maó, a gastronomic proposal integrated within the Cristine Bedford boutique hotel that is committed to cuisine closely linked to the territory. At its helm is young Menorcan chef Pau Sintes, European Young Chef Award 2022. His philosophy is based on local produce and on recipes and flavours from Menorcan cuisine, reinterpreted from a contemporary perspective while remaining faithful to the roots of traditional preparations.

The award for Best New Menorcan Cuisine Restaurant will go to Micat, in Cala en Bosc, Ciutadella. The restaurant, owned by Grupo Moga Menorca and located in the Casas del Lago hotel, is under the gastronomic direction of Luis Valls, a chef whose career is closely linked to haute cuisine and who earned two Michelin stars at El Poblet. Micat places Menorca at the origin of every proposal, with signature cuisine based on local produce, the island’s producers, seasonality and contemporary technique at the service of Menorcan identity.

In the more traditional category, the award for Best Menorcan Cuisine Restaurant will go to Loar, in Ferreries, an establishment deeply connected to village life that maintains the traditional home-style cooking of a lifetime. Its menu includes dishes such as oliaigua, stuffed aubergines, stuffed squid and lobster stew, alongside a firm commitment to local products.

The award for Best Long-Established Restaurant will go to Cas Cònsol, in Ciutadella. Located in the former French Consulate and enjoying privileged views over the harbour, the restaurant maintains a proposal based on Menorcan cuisine and fresh produce, with a particular focus on fish, seafood dishes and emblematic recipes such as lobster stew.

La Terraza del Balear, at Villa Le Blanc Gran Meliá in Sant Tomàs, will be distinguished as Best Hotel Restaurant. It is one of the most notable gastronomic additions of the 2026 season, resulting from the collaboration between Villa Le Blanc and Café Balear. The proposal brings Menorca’s maritime tradition into a high-end hotel dining context, with fresh fish, rice dishes, seasonal produce and Mediterranean cuisine as its main pillars.

The award for Best Daily Menu will go to Pins 46, in Ciutadella. Located in Plaça des Pins and part of the Café Balear group, it combines an informal atmosphere with versatile Mediterranean cuisine that in recent years has broadened its offering, from breakfasts to sharing dishes.

In the Best All-You-Can-Eat Buffet category, Sur Menorca, in Sant Lluís, will be recognised for its commitment to the island’s local produce and for the quality and diversity of the dishes offered by this establishment belonging to the Menorcan Minura Hotels chain, especially at its Sunday buffet, which attracts people from all over the island.

The award for Best Gastrobar will go to Calucha, in the Port of Maó. Biel Sintes’s establishment has become one of the benchmarks of popular and maritime Menorcan cuisine in an informal format. Casserole dishes, octopus with onions, oliaigua, broth, cuttlefish and its well-known omelettes are served alongside fresh fish and proposals that change according to the produce available.

Ca na Marga will receive the award for Best Grilled Cuisine. With a history dating back to 1988, the restaurant in the Fornells area has made wood-fired grilling its main hallmark, for meat, fish and vegetables alike, while maintaining a clearly Mediterranean-inspired proposal.

Traditional pastry-making will also take centre stage. Lluís Febrer will receive the award for Best Bakery/Pastry Shop, after more than four decades devoted to a craft in which he has combined traditional Menorcan baking with innovation. From Ferreries, and later also in Maó, his workshop has also become a benchmark for gluten-free products, including ensaïmadas, breads and a large part of his pastry range.

The award for Best Producer will go to Aceites Francisco Almagro, which began planting its first olive trees in 2010 at the Santa Mariana estate in Alaior. They have recently acquired Pont Modorro, one of the island’s main olive mills as well as an olive grove. In addition to olive oil, they also produce soaps and honey.

The award for Best Wine will go to Ciutat de Parella by Binitord, a winery in Ciutadella that has made artisanal production, sustainability and its connection to the land some of the foundations of its well-established wine project, which continues to earn national and international recognition year after year, including the Gran Oro for Ciutat de Parella.

One of the most emotional moments of the ceremony will be the Lifetime Achievement Recognition, which this year will be awarded to Francisco Domínguez Mohedano and Maria Aurea García Martín, from Mr. Bep’s restaurant in Cala en Blanes. Open since 1998, this family-run restaurant has developed, over almost three decades, a Mediterranean proposal with a strong family character, featuring traditional Menorcan and Spanish recipes and a history closely linked to one of Ciutadella’s historic tourist areas.

Finally, the Special Jury Prize will go to Luis Galán Durán, from L’Àncora restaurant in Cala en Blanes, a family-run restaurant founded in 1982, when Luis Galán and his wife Maricarmen Román took over a small bar that over the years would become one of the best-known restaurants in the area. Their son, Luis Galán, the second generation of the family, took over the management in 2018 after having worked there practically all his life, maintaining the establishment’s popular spirit while gradually updating its offer.

This second edition of the Foodies on Menorca Awards will therefore once again bring together very different projects united by a common thread: gastronomy as an expression of territory, culture, craftsmanship and produce. From contemporary haute cuisine to the daily menu, from grilling to artisan pastry-making, as well as wine, producers and restaurants with decades of work behind them, the awards aim to offer a plural and representative picture of Menorca’s current gastronomic scene.

The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, 19 September, at 6 p.m., at the Es Mercadal Fairgrounds, during the Arrels Fair 2026, Menorca’s major annual showcase for agri-food products and gastronomy.