Travel News

Heart Ibiza

Spain’s Adrià brothers team with Cirque du Soleil founder for a heartfelt project.

By Christopher English
Spain's Adrià brothers team with Cirque du Soleil founder for a heartfelt project.
Ibiza's reputation for hedonistic nightlife has never been matched by its culinary scene, which adds to the buzz around the opening of Heart Ibiza, a music, dining and theatrical venue that can accommodate a thousand people by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and Spain's famous chef brothers Albert and Ferran Adrià.
Heart Ibiza, in the Ibiza Gran Hotel complex in the main port, comprises Terrace, a collection of street food-inspired stalls and live performances upstairs, a fine-diner downstairs called Supper Club with cabaret performances in Cirque du Soleil style and, this being Ibiza, there's Club, for clubbing.
Most of the Terrace stalls serve one dish only, often with a twist. "We've taken inspiration from the freedom and fun of a street-food market experience, a journey through countries like Japan, Peru, Spain and China," Albert says. Downstairs, Supper's menu continues the global journey with the likes of Galician lobster done Singapore chilli crab-style.
Quebec-born Laliberté, who lives in a clifftop estate on the island, sold the majority share of Cirque du Soleil to multinational investors this year, enabling him to focus on projects he hopes will raise Ibiza's cultural profile.
The idea of Heart was born in the late '90s, when Laliberté visited Ferran's legendary El Bulli, and in turn invited the brothers to see his latest production at the time, Alegría, in Barcelona.
Heart is a characteristically ambitious project for the trio, creating a light-hearted alternative to the island's typically more formal approach to dining.
"Fundamentally we want people to have a good time," says Albert, "to have them look forward to experiencing something unique, hoping that they leave with their expectations wildly exceeded."
Heart Ibiza, Passeig de Joan Carles I, 17, Ibiza, Spain
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  • undefined: Christopher English