Restaurante Messina is Marbella’s Michelin star destination restaurant, led by husband-and-wife team Chef Mauricio Giovanni and Maitre d’/sommelier Pia Ninci. Discover with us the Messina ’24 tasting menu, a case study of ‘less is more’, where each exquisite plate is a restrained, minimalist creation, where only a small number of exceptional ingredients are needed to deliver an abundance of captivating flavours.
Pia Ninci and Mauricio Giovanni surely took a gamble when they left their charming, bijou Messina restaurant in Marbella’s old town after just two years to open the strikingly new, and much larger premises in 2005. Yet it has paid off, and the restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2016 and has been instrumental in raising the bar of fine dining in the city.
Bijou Beginnings
Messina originally opened in 2003. It was where I first met this pioneering young couple, bringing sophisticated dining to Marbella’s old town. The restaurant’s name is evocative of Mauricio’s grandparents’ love story. Originally both from Messina in Sicily, they emigrated together with their families to Argentina during the First World War. They never knew each other in Sicily, but by chance they moved to the same city and neighbourhood in Cordoba, Argentina, where they both grew up, met, and fell in love.
New Look
We have returned to Messina to devour the next chapter in the enthralling story of this restaurant. 2024 sees a new Messina, with the dining area completely remodelled, while upstairs a completely new space has been created, ‘insIDe’, which is the private dining area of Messina, as well as a culinary working space for Chef Mauricio, where he can experiment and create.
Downstairs the new dining room is a perfect oasis of calm and style – a cool and refreshing place for summer dining. The tall walled and windowed contemporary space embraces you with a warm welcome. Each detail is considered and curated, from the to exquisite ceramics and tableware, to the handcrafted window blinds with a design that is a visual metaphor for the restaurant’s DNA that encompasses their kitchen team, the Front-of-House team, Messina clients, suppliers, and the exception produce used.
A subtle green dresses the woodwork, contrasting with the uncomplicated concrete pillars and the simplicity yet sophistication of the brilliant white tablecloths. The signature Messina minimalism remains, yet it feels warmer, and even more welcoming. A string of incandescent light bulbs hangs over the new Chef’s Table, where diners can enjoy front-row seats to the new open kitchen where Chef Mauricio and his team work their magic with almost meditative calm, while Pia, front-of-house manager, Maitre d’, welcomes guests with natural warmth, before showing her skills as sommelier and mixologist.
The Chef’s Table is an innovation, explained Chef Mauricio. He tells me, ‘I’m quite shy, but with the renovation of Messina I decided to take a step forward. That’s why I decided to create an open kitchen and the new chef’s table so that I can be more in contact with our customers in a more natural way, not just going out to greet them. The chef’s table is a very personal space where I can interact with guests, where we get to know each other better, and I can share with them some of the secrets of our preparations and techniques. I must say I’m truly enjoying it!’
The new design is something that’s motivated by guests. ‘We continually want to improve for our customers,’ Pia tells me. She continues, ‘We love what we do, and we truly enjoy it when people have an immersive experience in our restaurant, and we believe that this redesigned space will elevate and complete our customer’s experience.’
Messina Menu ’24
The new Messina Menu ’24 is a delight. From the moment you devour the tasty pigeon tapas and the pre-starter morsels including pine nut pesto with Atlantic mackerel, and an ingenious Andalusian almond paste, you know you’re in for an extraordinary experience. The champagne of choice is Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old, a remarkable blend of their Maison’s oldest vintages.
This is certainly fine dining, but Mauricio and Pia have stayed true to their roots when they first opened Messina back in 2003. The Michelin star hasn’t changed their desire to make great food approachable and truly enjoyable. Pia tells me, ‘Fine dining still (luckily) stands for excellence, but having a polite, professional service doesn’t mean you are not close and friendly to diners. Our guests become friends and are part of the success of Messina.’
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Our meal started with signature cocktails, expertly mixed by Mia – mine a contemporary take on a Naked and Famous and my dining partner had a Messina Negroni. Both are prepared and served with finesse. Service flows in a subtle, measured, and efficient way, creating a relaxed setting for our feast of 10 exquisite plates, where painstakingly prepared reductions, sauces and emulsions add a punch of clean flavour to each dish.
We began with marinated prawn with a blue cheese mousse – a light and refined dish. This is followed by scallops with a lamb aspic, a clear stock that is transformed from solid to liquid at the table by the elegant servers wielding culinary torches. It’s a little moment of theatre in this oasis of calm. The flavours are extraordinary.
The squid ‘gazpachuelo’ is a homage to a local recipe, but here elevated to a subtle, balanced dish of fish with its roe. More seafood follows, with the Norway lobster with mushrooms, served with shavings of truffle, prepared at the table. Another surprise was the Rubber-lip grunt, a fish I do not often see on menus here, but a delight, again served with a flavoursome stock, which had a touch of sweetness that married beautifully with the parsnip Vichyssoise.
Two meat plates embrace sweetbreads with grilled leak, and chargrilled Picanha, with an intense seared crust. There were two desserts, including a remarkable red apple strudel ice cream that is ingeniously prepared to appear like a pastry. Elevated further accompanied by a glass of Valveran gourmet cider.
The petit fours are handmade chocolates, prepared by the pastry chef. You can make your selection from a collection of vintage chocolate boxes.
Taste and aesthetic
Each dish is a visual delight too, and I ask Pia about the impact of social media on the dining experience. Pia explains that ‘Thanks to social media, fine dining is more accessible, and people can see dishes and get to know many great chefs. Often our guests already know the menu from seeing other guest reviews on Instagram. You don’t have to belong to a certain social class to go enjoy fine dining. Everybody can enjoy a Michelin experience.’
Interestingly Mauricio declares he’s unfazed by the current focus on social media. In fact, he doesn’t have an account or follow the networks. ‘I have always avoided being influenced by current food trends. I like to have a very personal cuisine and style’ explains Chef Mauricio. He continues, ‘Only when customers or friends comment on our Messina posts does Pia let me know so we can reply. For me taste and technique is much more important than the aesthetic. Both aspects must be balanced.’
This is a Michelin star restaurant, but Chef Mauricio tells me it’s all about the guests. ‘The motivation has always been the same regardless of criticism or recognition, and the best way to repay a customer’s trust in us is by giving them an unforgettable experience.’
I am so grateful to have been able to dined again at Messina and experience the latest chapter in the restaurant’s story. It’s almost 20 years since the Messina first opened its doors in Old Town, a tiny space of just a few tables. I asked Chef Mauricio if he had any nostalgia for those days. He tells me, ‘The truth is there is a lot of nostalgia, for those moments, not only making our work dreams come true, but of shared moments of life. Not only was Messina born there, but everything that Pia and I are today began there too.’
Information
To be part of the Messina story, enjoy lunch or dinner, Monday to Saturday.
Contact Details
Website: restaurantemessina.com
Address: Messina Restaurante Avda. Severo Ochoa 12, 29603 Marbella
