Rehab Chef Simone D’Elia’s Recipe For Success

He is the man behind the delicious food at new Talamanca hotspot Rehab Beachclub Ibiza, wowing guests with his imaginative menu and mouth-watering creations. And, having previously headed up the kitchen at culinary gem Babylon Beach Club, Simone D’Elia knows a thing or two about sating the appetites of his guests, whether they are strolling in from their sunbeds or come to enjoy a pre-party dinner.

Originally from Tuscany, the chef is a meat specialist and values quality over quantity, while championing local, organic produce to achieve the finest of flavours. Being tasked with developing the kitchen team and creating the menu for a brand new beach club, a hospitality concept that is not short of competition on the White Isle, could be considered daunting, but judging by the buzz around Rehab and its creative foodie events – such as Lobster Mondays and Paella Wednesdays – he is succeeding. We caught up with the passionate kitchen talent to find out how he is taking Rehab straight to the top of its game.

What is the philosophy behind Rehab’s culinary offering?
As Rehab is a completely new business, we wanted to come up with fresh ideas. The concept is Asian fusion, but when I took this job it was important to me to create the dishes with as much local and organic produce as possible. The Rehab philosophy, which extends to the food, is about helping our guests to relax. We see them come from the sunbeds to the restaurant and all we want is when they leave, the feel totally chilled out.

Your gourmet events have really taken off, tell us more!
The Lobster Mondays have been a great success. Raymond, the owner of Rehab, had this idea to have a special day for lobster, where we offer it three different ways. We serve it as either the classic French thermidore, from the barbecue grill or the Catalan way, which is steamed with smoke.

Rehab has a dedicated sushi kitchen. Is it challenging to coordinate the two menus?
Yes, it’s been a challenge to integrate the sushi kitchen and there is a lot of competition for this type of cuisine in Ibiza. For the first year, we don’t want to offer a very complicated menu but let it develop. I have been working with the sushi chef on the quality of the fish, which is very important to us. For example, I believe we have the best kind of tuna in the world, a variety that is very difficult to find. Generally, I want to use as much Mediterranean fish as possible.

Finding the right produce is very important to you. How do you go about it?
It’s important to us to have good relationships with our suppliers and we only work with quality ingredients. For example, we import our beef from a specific region in Japan that is only producing a limited number of meat each year, so it is literally ‘rare’ meat. Up until now, we have been the only restaurant in Ibiza to have this beef, but now the Nobu hotel will be the second place. But generally, using local and organic produce is very important to me.

What are your recommendations from the menu?
From the meat section, I recommend the Tomahawk steak, which is quite choreographic in the preparation to achieve the best possible flavour. And for fish lovers I recommend to try the catch of the day, because it’s really outstanding quality. I have a few boats I work with in Ibiza, from which we get the Ibicencan roja and turbot, and we also work with a farm in Galicia from where we source red snapper and a few other varieties.

Do you also offer something for vegan and vegetarian customers?
We are still developing our menu to see what the demand from the customers is like, but of course, we have vegan options available.

You must be proud of your team…
We have built an international kitchen team and from when we opened in April until now, we have become strong enough to do 150 to 200 covers. It might be manic at times, but in the end we always finish with a smile.

Information & Reservations
t: + 34 971 313 566
w: www.rehab-ibiza.com