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Dani Garcia was born in Marbella in 1975, and went on to study at La  Consula School of Hostelry in Malaga. In 1996 he completed an apprenticeship in the restaurant of Martin Berasategui in Lasarte, Northern Spain, and he then became famous in his own right for his innovative cooking.

Dani went on to promote Andalucian cuisine all over the globe, and he worked alongside the Ministry of Tourism to launch Spanish cuisine in every corner of the world. Dani combines typical Andalucian ingredients with modern methods of cookery and incredible attention to detail.

After heading the kitchen at famous Tragabuches Restaurant in Ronda at the age of 24, Dani went on to open Calima Restaurant, which is situated in the Grand Hotel Melia Don Pepe in Marbella, and which has earned the chef a Michelin Star. Now one of the most recognised chefs in Spain, Dani Garcia was awarded the Best Chef Award in 2008 by Spain´s Royal Academy of Gastronomy, particularly for his promotion of Spanish cuisine around the world.
Calima lies in the most magnificent of settings right next to the Mediterranean and it boasts a bravura terrace where guests eat during the summer months, much to the envy of those looking up from the Marbella paseo below. Calima Restaurant has received one Michelin Star.

Dani´s cuisine at Calima is fresh, clever and innovative, and it is particularly notable for its beautiful preparation and excellent use of local ingredients. Although the menus include some delicious meat dishes, seafood and fish is definitely the chef´s forté at Calima, and simple but delicious dishes include Fresh Sea Bass, served flanked by smouldering coals and black sand, as a homage to the beach barbecues the chef enjoyed in Marbella as a child. Dani sites that 80% of his menu is historical, and the rest he attributes to culinary philosophy and flavour.
Three menus are available at Calima, including Soft, at €86, Degustacion at €106, and Experience at €116, and all feature fresh Andalucian ingredients and incredibly subtle flavours.

Some of the recommended dishes at Calima include: Gazpacho with anchovies and queso fresco snow, Spring salad with olive oil clouds and cañaillas (local snails), Morcilla infusion with jumbo prawn and greens , Fried Sole with its skin / Sole in Miso with slow-roasted tomato (two-tier dish), Skewer of sea bass, Passion Fruit Tocino de Cielo broken with Herb Broth and Eucalyptus Thyme.

The specially created menus include dishes which provide a new focus on chilled soups, Mediterranean and Atlantic Seafood, Iberian pork and traditional Andalucian products which form the basis of Dani´s cuisine. The chef´s cakes, pastries and bread are particularly unique, and all prepared by hand. A comprehensive wine list includes great Spanish classics, plus international wines from France, Chile, Argentina, Germany and Hungary.

Along with the food, the ambience of the Calima is perfect, with its warm colours, modern interior and background of sea and mountains. The restaurant seats 70 people and the terrace, 50, and provides the perfect venue for winter or summer dining.

Situated in the Marina Banus Shopping Centre, another of Dani´s creations is the fabulous La Moraga Iberica tapas bar, offering haute cuisine at reasonable prices. Andalusian tradition blends with creativity and art that characterizes the chef , with its  Moorish influence , with hints of Japanese influence. You can sample from a potato and onion omelette , through the croquettes praised ‘ pringá ‘of stew served in bamboo basket or the Iberian pork carpaccio with yuzu, miso dry sesame to the traditional oxtail burger or grouper sashimi with soy , lemon and miso.

If you plan to visit one of Dani´s restaurants in the evening, rest assured you will find plenty of nightlife and clubs in the vicinity, and if you want a few drinks after dinner, or dance the night away in style, the nearby Golden Mile is home to some of the swankiest venues. When the sun sets, Puerto Banus really comes to life.  Pavement cafés, fish restaurants and a host of superb late night bars open their doors to welcome crowds of partygoers from all over the Costa del Sol. You are spoilt for choice where restaurants are concerned, and the late night crowd are never disappointed.  Whether you fancy a game of snooker, a trip to a pole dancing club, a 70´s disco night, or relaxing to the sound of a Spanish guitar after dinner, you will find it all in Puerto Banus. If you want to enjoy some hot clubbing sounds, try Tibu Banus. If elegance and style is more your thing, visit the famous Olivia Valere Club on the Golden Mile between Puerto Banus and Marbella.

This glitzy resort offers the best of both worlds – superb, sandy beaches and year round sunshine during the daytime, and the best restaurants and nightlife you will find in Spain after dark.  Only 30 minutes drive from Malaga Airport, this is the perfect resort for families or individuals who want to let their hair down, and have fun.  Puerto Banus is as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it, and you can get here a lot cheaper nowadays with a budget airline flight to Malaga Airport.

Calima Restaurant is situated at Calle de José Melia, s/n, 29602 Marbella, Tel: 0034 952764252.
La Moraga Ibérica Gourmet Tapas Bar, C/Ramón Areces, 1, Puerto Banus, Marbella, Malaga. Tel: 0034 952 817 448.

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