Walking into Macarena, the restaurant is warmly lit from elegant lights that hang from the ceiling. The restaurant is divided into a main seating area, private dining room and bar, each space lined with green plants and trees, and having clear views into the kitchen in the back. Sleek booths and individual lamps at each table give the restaurant a sense of elegance.
Macarena, owned by husband and wife David Linares and Elisabet Reviriego, opened on Feb. 28 in downtown Palo Alto. The restaurant has been engaged in controversy since Teleféric Barcelona, another Spanish restaurant in Palo Alto, filed a lawsuit against Linares and Reviriego, who are both former employees. According to Palo Alto Online, the lawsuit claims that Linares downloaded 17,000 documents from Teleféric Barcelona’s Google Drive to his personal account, and Reviriego downloaded Teleféric Barcelona’s customer marketing list.
Macarena, in addition to being the name of a popular song, is the name of a neighborhood in Seville, Spain.
Reviriego said that the restaurant prides itself on creating a traditional Spanish atmosphere.
“We wanted to bring tradition. It’s [Macarena] a very old name, and we wanted to do the same with the recipes, bringing recipes that have been there for generations, that our grandmas would cook and to make a timeless restaurant that would function and would be nice today and in 10 years from now,” Riviriego said.
Macarena’s kitchen is led by chefs Sergio Box, who opened two restaurants in Barcelona, one of which has a Michelin star, and Toni Santanach, from south Valencia, which is known to have some of the best paella in the world.
“Everyone can make paella, and just like Pad Thai, it always comes with the same ingredients,” Linares said. “But what’s different is who cooks it right, the techniques, and so Sergio has done, I think over 300,000 paellas, he’s just doing paella, and that’s what he loves.”
Linares and Riviriego said that the two head chefs are co-owners and co-founders of the restaurant, and they are dedicated to creating a warm and friendly environment so that all the staff and customers can enjoy their time at Macarena.
“Having this job is the best thing in the world,” Riviriego said. “You just see happy faces and people just living their best time, surrounded by their friends, and you’re just there to help them with this experience.”
Croquetas de Jamon Iberico ($10 — 4pc):
A croqueta is a traditional Spanish tapa typically made from a ham or cheese sauce and then deep-fried in bread crumbs. Macarena’s croquetas have a traditional crispy exterior with a creamy interior. The filling was rich and fatty with small cubes of ham. The flavor of the ham felt dull, unlike traditional jamón iberico, but went well in the filling of a croqueta.
Churros Bravas ($10 – 5pc):
Churros Bravas, Macarena’s take on traditional Spanish patatas bravas, are deep-fried potatoes with a thick crust and soft interior, served with a creamy, spiceless brava sauce. The churro shape for the potato is fun and innovative, however, given its fried nature that could overpower the flavorful interior at times, the dish felt somewhat inauthentic and overly catering to an American audience but was nonetheless delicious.
Roasted Tomato Salad Tapa ($14):
As part of Macarena’s opening week and as an apology for the rest of the food taking longer than anticipated, we received a complimentary roasted tomato salad tapa (starter) with roasted tomatoes, olives, and pickles atop an almond and olive ajoblanco cream (a sauce made of almonds, bread, olive oil and garlic). The sauce tasted heavily of fresh olives, which contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the tomatoes, creating a light, refreshing compliment to the relatively rich and heavy rest of the menu.
Seafood & Squid Ink Paella (Paella Negra con Vieiras) ($48 – serves two):
Macarena’s Paella Negra Con Vieiras is a rice dish smothered in black squid ink and comes with no shortage of scallops, squid and shrimp. The seafood tastes fresh and flavorful. The rice was very rich, being umami from the squid ink and having a strong seafood flavor. The dish came with an aioli on the side as a dipping sauce for the paella. The aioli added to the richness of the paella, which was borderline overwhelming at times.
