Vandelvira

If you’re visiting Baeza’s marvellous historic quarter, a Renaissance jewel that has been declared a World Heritage Site, eating in this restaurant will add an extra-special touch to the experience. Vandelvira occupies part of a 16C monastery with comfortable dining rooms and beautiful covered cloisters where guests can nowadays enjoy a glass of manzanilla sherry. The focus of owner-chef Juan Carlos García is on two tasting menus of creative cuisine, with a preference for humble ingredients from his own vegetable garden or the region, which he transforms into haute-cuisine dishes that showcase finesse, flavour and an extraordinary level of presentation. One dish that particularly appealed to us was the squid and Iberian ham, accompanied by a concentrated Iberian ham dashi broth and a delicious squid tartare.