In Conversation with Mouji

Your beautiful restaurant, La Paloma, was started by you and your family. How did the idea of opening a family-run restaurant come about?

It's a very long story, and quite a magical one too, I'll try make it as short as I can...

I was pregnant with our second child (we have three now), when I called up mum and asked her to come here and help me out with the kids. At the time, she was the chef of a very trendy restaurant in Milan and was ready for a change. When she first moved to Ibiza she worked in a local restaurant and when my baby was born we had no money and two small babies. We have no experience in this sector, expect for my mum who was always a very good and passionate cook. She has an inherent love for the best ingredients and always cooks from her heart - both traits she inherited from my grandmother.

La Paloma is such a special place. How did you choose the location?

We came across the very beautiful place in San Lorenzo, which of course looked like nothing special then. But we could feel that there was something unique about the place. We painted every chair and table in light blue, which our friend and architect Rolph Blackstad suggested. It was the most economical way to transform the old and dark finca. Blackstad also had a dream about a white dove flying over the town, so he gave us the name and painted the sign with our logo. Everyone told us that we were crazy, because San Lorenzo wasn't even on the map! There is no bank, shop or pharmacy here. No one ever stopped here, except for dropping off the kids to school or to go to church. We were young and passionate about this dream, and with the help of our friends and a very low budget, we just decided to open the doors. Slowly we made the garden beautiful, fixed corners and before we knew it, it was been 16 years since we opened!! We could never have dreamed this place would become what it is today, we worked very hard and never took it for granted.

What are your favourite things to do on the island when you aren't working?

Spending time with my family! Restaurant life can be very demanding, so we try to be together when we have the time. I love swimming in the sea, going on a boat, and I also love to sing, so making music with friends is also one of my favourite things to do. There are so many beautiful places to explore on the island, when I can, I adore going to Formentera. It's the cherry on the cake about living here, being able to be in a completely different island with Carribean-like beaches, without having to get on a plane. Pack the kids in the car and in less than one hour, we are there - it's heaven!

We love that the restaurant has the feeling that you are eating in someone's garden, surrounded by beautiful orange and lemon groves. What made you

decide to go for this aesthetic for the restaurant?

It was easy, the garden was wild but so beautiful and full of citrus trees. We just had to work around that. Nature is the best inspiration, the world would look different today if we all followed nature a bit more! Instead of breaking and cutting trees to make space for tables around the trees, it's very simple.

The menu is simply mouth-watering! Does all the produce for the restaurant come straight from the garden?

I wish it did! But we would need half the island to cultivate that much. We are now in the process of making our organic vegetable garden, so we will have much more. We try to source all the rest locally and organically, but I would be lying if I said everything is. Honesty and transparency are important in this business. I can say, we really do our best to use our products that are local and organic.

As a fond environmentalist, what are your major concerns in terms of how hospitality industry is polluting the planet?

This is actually a very dear subject to us, and we are working to become more and more green. Not only because I think it's the only way to go, but also to set an example. As a restaurant there is a lot we can do. And to all the hospitality industry I would say 'LESS GREED, MORE GREEN.' The fashion and hospitality industries have the power to influence people. As so many people pass through La Paloma for example, or follow it on social media. When people come to a place that they love, or buy a piece of clothing that they like, they will start following the brand's philosophy and will get inspired. That's why I think we have a very big responsibility here.

As a brand, we have been working hard to move towards using considered materials and environmentally conscious processes for our collections. From using recycled swim fabrics to organic linens. In what ways is the restaurant moving towards a more sustainable path?

We are in the process of making many changes in that direction. But of course this takes time, it isn't something easy to do over night, like breaking any bad habit. However, it's really only about changing the chip in our minds. We have managed to eliminate single use plastic, such as plastic bottles and straws from the front of house and we are working with our providers to help us do it also from the back of house. We also have plans to enlarge our vegetable garden. We have installed fat traps on our drains, so that we don't pollute the grounds with soaps and fats. We will install rain water collectors as well as a filtration system to clean the grey waters, in order to use less water for irrigation, especially on an island where water is a big problem. We are researching to find ecological industrial products (easy to do for a household but not for a restaurant, at leas not here!) We have also added 1 euro per table that goes to the Ibiza Preservation Fund (IPF) an organisation committed to environmental causes here on the island.

How would you describe your personal style? Do you have any style rules that you follow?

I think my style is quite simple and classic. Living in Ibiza, I love colour and a bit of a bohemian vibe, but never too much. I don't wear make up, I much prefer a natural and pared-back look. My only rule is "dress how you feel." I love beautiful things, precious fabrics and embroidery, and I love to mix these styles in how I dress. For instance, wearing sneakers with a beautiful elegant silk dress or a t-shirt with a long skirt.

In the very beginning we were actually thinking of having a tapas place with only a few dished and sandwiches for the nearby school. My husband even thought of getting a bicycle and deliver them to the school - hilarious! The place has grown organically into what it is today. Sometimes one can have an idea of what we want to make, but it's always good to stay open minded and see where the flow takes you. Somehow people started showing up and loving the food and atmosphere, so we started opening for dinner and coming up with the Paloma Cafe lunch concept, together with another friend and chef.

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