The Italian Iván Dini studied hospitality in his country and then worked in several countries. His first contact with Spain was in the Basque Country and then in Catalonia until in 2007 he was offered a contract in a hotel in Lanzarote.
Dini explains in an interview with the radio program Más de Uno Gourmet of Onda Cero-Radio Lanzarote that he had never had something so clear in his life (taking charge of the Mirador de Las Salinas) as when he saw the sunset from the restaurant.
- Where are you from and how were you trained?
I am Italian and I went to the Italian hospitality school. I left Italy very young. I spent a season in Switzerland and then I started traveling to Spain, I was in the Basque Country, Catalonia, I spent a season in Sierra Nevada…
Until in 2007 I was offered a job in Lanzarote and when I arrived I felt at home.
- How has the gastronomic scene changed since your arrival?
When I arrived, international cuisine was made and only products were brought from outside. Then I started to discover products from here and I saw that there is enormous potential here and there is a very good product.
- How did you get into the garden of assuming the responsibility of running the Mirador de las Salinas?
The culprit was Germán Blanco (Laughs). He introduced me to Maxi from the Amura group and Maxi told me that he had a restaurant that was next to the Janubio salt flats and that he needed a partner because he had several restaurants and couldn't handle everything.
I have never been so clear about something in my life. I went in the afternoon, sat down, saw the sunset and said: I'm staying here. We've been there for 6 years now.
- Did you create the menu from scratch?
I started little by little, with what was there. The base was good, and I gradually added things to see how people reacted, if they liked the dishes, I put them on the menu.
I make small changes, when I find a new product or when we create a new dish. First we put it as a suggestion and if people like it, it stays on the menu.
Do you work with a lot of Lanzarote products?
I try to work as much as possible with products from here. In fish, for example, with hake from La Graciosa, and in seafood, such as scarlet shrimp and prawns from La Santa.
We started as a rice restaurant, we make a lot of rice dishes and paellas, but we also sell a lot of fish. There is a great quality and variety of fish here and I love it.
- And is there also meat?
We work with lamb that they bring us from Fuerteventura and we also have Canarian black pig cheeks, which is a dish that has been on the menu with me for 4 or 5 years.
- Which dish are you most fond of?
I am a lover of raw fish. I love the prawns from La Santa and I think the best way to appreciate them is by eating them raw. Although we also make it with salt, classic style.
The red wine-braised black pig cheek is also a dish that I have been making for many years, so I am fond of it, yes, I like to cook too.
- What are the opening hours?
We open at 1:15 p.m. and the last reservation is at 8:30 p.m.
We work mostly with sunlight and, as we have all kinds of nationalities, it would be unfeasible to close in the afternoon. When the Spanish finish eating, the German or English or French and then the Italian come to dinner.
- How do you book?
We have two ways to book, the easiest is through the website and also on Google. You enter, click the book button and choose your table and everything, it's very, very simple.
