If we had to describe the paradise it would be like Cascada Marbella. It is a typical Andalusian big house placed five minutes from the centre, where the nature flows through the water. The moment you get into its gardens you feel relaxed as the sound of the waterfall, the birds and the frogs surround you. The smell of flowers is mixed with that of the food, the cooking is based on the elaboration of fresh local products that surprise you with their flavours. The exquisite attention to details and the customer driven service makes that the visit to Cascada becomes an unforgettable experience.

Jacques Lagarde brings his experience acquired while working in places so singular as New Zealand. His magic touch consists on taking out unusual flavours from fresh local products using the most pioneering technics, but always based on their essence and with simplicity. Having a humbly character, he started in Cascada as chief of the team, but just in a few days he showed his value as a cook: “I don’t want a Michelin Star, I use the same technics than those restaurants, but on a simple menu, so that when the plate arrives to the table it looks like a normal one, you find the difference when you taste it. Every dish is home-made and the products are local and fresh” says Jacques. The young chef, whose origin is Portugues, studied in France and his interest for new flavours made him travel in search of them. Love brought him to Marbella and his passion for the Spanish food is obvious in his dishes: “Each region of Spain has spectacular plates, there are different kind of meat, cheese and wine everywhere and they are all fresh. We often go to the mountain to get aromatic herbs, such as wild onions, asparagus or flowers, and with them we prepare a dish.” he explains.

The surroundings of Cascada Marbella are superb: “This is a place in the middle of nature to take a break from the city, we are an oasis in Marbella”. Benjamin Jennes asserts. He takes care of every detail of the restaurant: the maintenance, the flowers and all the administrative tasks. Together with him, Marion Renard is in charge of the public relations, the staff and the marketing. They started this project together last year, when by chance they passed by and fell in love with the place. They have found that Jacques has the same philosophy, the same love for simple things, for the fresh local products and the customer driven service: “Our customers become friends because we have an open kitchen and I like to see and talk to them. Some of our customers bring vegetables from their gardens. Onces someone brought me some nisperos, I haven’t tried them before and the day after I made a nisperos dessert. Here the cooking is not a service, we are inviting people to eat at our home”. Jacques says and Benjamin finishes: “We rather let our customer to be comfortable and stay longer than doble our services, so we don’t take more customers. We want them to have the best of the experiences from the moment they come in and see the place, including the food and the personal attention”.

Even though they say they don’t have a star dish, we cannot but recommend their salad; their roasted goat, cooked at low temperature during 24 hours; their bread with truffle; their grilled meat and fish and their surprising desserts, everything is delicious. The team working at Cascada Marbella consists of 14 people, in the kitchen there are not two persons with the same nationality, a proof that the palate doesn’t speak a unique language.