“I suppose that everything begins with a dream.” This evocative line marks the opening of the gastronomic experience at Botànic, by Jhonatan Maldonado. Written by himself, the poem is handed to each diner in print, as an aperitif. It is a kind of statement of intent, an existential revelation, or perhaps, a lifeline in these so prosaic times we live in.
The poem also speaks of an identity built on memories, which weave together who we are and what we create; and this is the essence of the Pewma menu, which in Mapuche means dream, the essence of the chef Maldonado revealed in his dishes.
There are journeys that begin long before packing a suitcase. Sometimes they start with a flavor, with the scent of a childhood kitchen, or with the memory of a sea that lies thousands of kilometers away. These moments show us, without a shadow of a doubt, that two places that seem far apart can recognize one another when they meet around a table.
Two ways of looking at the world
In the old heart of Palma, between the centuries-old stone and the lush greenery of Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden, Botànic has just begun a new chapter. At the helm of its kitchen is Jhonatan Maldonado, a chef born in Viña del Mar who arrived in Mallorca more than two decades ago and who, after so many years living on the island, has learned something that perhaps only makes sense when you have lived between two worlds: belonging to a new place does not mean forgetting where you come from.
Maldonado cooks from that intermediate territory where memory ceases to be nostalgia and becomes creative matter. Chile is there, in the background, like a music that never fades. Mallorca is present in the product, in the light, in the markets, in the Mediterranean that has accompanied a large part of his life. Between the two, a language of its own is born.
