Music Supper Club

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word Ibiza? Is it music? Parties? Beaches? Sunshine? Friends? Holidays? All of the above? For most people around the world, the image of the white isle is glamorous and glitzy; fun and fabulous; bohemian and luxurious. And for the most part, that is indeed what life can be like here. But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find – like any hip global destination – some darker undercurrents. Some well reported, others swept under the rug, such as homelessness, which is definitely not something associated with this beautiful, magical island. Until last week, I was extremely unaware of how serious the issue is in Ibiza – possibly because, well, it doesn’t cross my path in day-to-day life, perhaps because I had been unaware (out of sight, out of mind), or maybe because it just doesn’t ever get talked about. So how did the topic finally come my way? I was having a lovely Sunday roast at Pikes last Sunday when I met a warm-hearted soul named Selina Ingram, who was in the process of launching an initiative called Music Supper Club to raise money for Ibiza’s homeless, launching with a special fundraising dinner in the same location on Thursday.

If you’re anything like me (and I am confessing this honestly with my hands in the air right now), I often daydream about doing lovely things for charity, helping the less fortunate or volunteering for a worthy cause. But… in the end, I don’t (aside from the odd raffle ticket or charity dinner). I have some amazing friends who do and I really admire them for it. Selina Ingram is one such amazing person – selflessly feeding around 30 homeless people (which is the tip of the iceberg) on a daily basis, out of the kindness of her own heart. Her own experiences have allowed her to see inside this increasing problem on the island, and gave her inspiration to launch Music Supper Club, which is a way regular people, like you and me, who would like to help in a small way, can come together and make a big difference. So what is Music Supper Club? It’s a pop-up event at Pikes, where Selina and her team of volunteers take over the kitchen for the night, three-course menu that takes you on a global spice trail while some of the island’s best DJs and entertainers donate their time to entertain guests. Forget notions of stuffy, traditional supper clubs: this was a good old fashioned Ibiza knees up, in one of the island’s most authentic party destinations, with 25-percent of all proceeds going towards Ibiza’s homeless. The beauty of it is, if you like eating, drinking and dancing, you don’t even have to change your lifestyle for even a minute.

With that in mind – plus the plight of the community of homeless people Selina told me who are living in tin sheds and chicken coops in between two bastions of decadence, Pacha and Destino – I booked myself onto a table at the event. For just 50€, we received a welcome cocktail, kindly donated by the good folk at Absolut, the aforementioned three-course menu (and let me tell you, it including the best damn jerk chicken I have tasted this side of Notting Hill Carnival – I would have paid double!) plus a lovely glass of dessert wine. This is what I call a win/win situation. Dinner with your friends, amazing food and you get the bonus feelgood buzz of doing something good for others. Just to set the scene… we arrived as the sun was going down over Pikes. It’s truly a magical hour on the hills there in San Antonio as the sky changes above changes dramatically in a swirl of psychedelic colours. Speaking of psychedelic, sitar player Devanagari was setting the scene for diners with his beautiful, sometimes haunting music. A little bit exotic – a taste of things to come, no pun intended of course. The tables were filled with the who’s who of Ibiza big business, which made me feel happy. It meant perhaps I wasn’t the only one who had been running about life being so ‘busy’ and unaware of the problem, and who was happy to find a little way in which to help, that could easily slot into their lifestyles. A round of applause for the guests please…

Selina herself was bobbing back and forth between tables, often with a tear in her eye, as she was touched at the turnout, and the offers for additional donations and services for the homeless in question. She took us into the Bwell Chillout Zone, where holistic therapies were on offer for a charitable donation, including acupuncture and a Chi machine, which promised to oxygenate all your muscles and organs – 15 minutes on the machine is all you need for the equivalent of a full day’s oxygen apparently. It was so zen in there I made plans to go back later for a post-dinner nap! Pretty trays of cocktails in jam jars were being sent to each table as they took their order. The set menu included delicious options for vegans and vegetarians as well as the staunch meat eaters like myself, and the smell of sizzling spices permeated the air and made my mouth water in anticipation of things to come. Taste buds were not disappointed, with the aforementioned mind-blowing jerk chicken, a lamb khari and chapel minced angus beef kebabs. I may have also stolen a few of the vegetarian Halloumi chapals… and found myself scooping seconds (and thirds) of Selina’s ‘magic potatoes’ – delicious crispy spuds fried with red pepper, garlic, red onion and a zingy Scotch bonnet! I may have had tears of sweat under my eyes from the spice factor afterwards, but I can’t say they didn’t warn me!

The event was operating under a zero waste policy, which meant any leftovers on diner’s plate were being scraped into a big bucket to be donated to the animals at MOJIS the next day (feeding bellies, not bins according to Selina) – a lovely finishing touch, when you consider how unconsciously wasteful so many of us can be when it comes to finishing three courses. There were certainly no leftover desserts however – after one bite of that habanero cinnamon chocolate brownie with tequila cream, I would have gone around to every table and fought any animals for the leftovers myself! Ainsley May provided the dinner time beats, then later on, the action moved inside to Freddie’s Suite, where Acid Mondays and Deep City Soul kept the crowd dancing til the early hours (and all donated their time for free). There are two more Music Supper Clubs planned at Pikes this summer, July 27 (that’s very soon folks! Book your tables now so you don’t miss out) and September 7, operating under the same ethos and with Selina at the helm. Selina also has more fundraising initiatives in the works, and hopes the Pikes dinner is the start of something big.

We don’t have to be one of the Selinas of the world to make a difference (though I imagine, the more the merrier). As she explained to me, the art of giving is not about time or money (though of course, they would be helpful). It’s about an abundance of humanity. If we all pitch in and do our little bit, amazing things can happen as a result. And if we can laugh, eat, drink and dance in the process, well, doesn’t that sound like a wonderful way to be? Photography by Ibiza Photography

Food for thought

No matter what your Ibiza tastes lean towards, Pike is an Ibiza institution. Eclectic chic accommodation, the island’s best parties, poolside cocktails, fancy dress and bathtub karaoke… those are the things you’ll read about on Trip Adviser or in the press, but there’s another piece to the Pikes puzzle that is fast earning its place with all of the above. And it’s here where ‘tastes’ really do come into play. Room 39 is the in-house restaurant at the legendary boutique hotel, and unbeknownst to many, you don’t need a room reservation to enjoy its culinary magic. From early morning breakfasts (including the best full English on the island, according to those in the know) and lazy lunches, through to late afternoon poolside snacks and divine dinners, everyone is welcome. The dawn of the 2017 summer season has seen Room 39 – under the expert guidance of Food and Beverage Manager Steve Hughes and head chef Lee Milne – hone its menu concept to complement the hotel’s relaxed, fun ambience and international clientele.

“The concept this year is very much based on smaller plates designed to share,” says Milne. “We work with a lot of seasonal produce so we have more specials, more fun and by nature, it’s more social.” Unlike other busy Ibiza restaurants, Room 39 doesn’t turn over tables twice nightly in order to maximise bookings – they’d prefer you linger longer, savour the flavours and really enjoy everything on offer. “Smaller dishes mean you don’t have to be committed to just one plate for the night,” explains Hughes of the concept. “You can try a little bit of everything, and eat slowly over a few hours.” This change in dining style was prompted by seeing the way clients would really relish eating family style over a big table in previous years. With many large bookings on a nightly basis, as partygoers fuel up for the night ahead, the team knew it would be easier to cater to big groups with an a la carte menu designed to share, rather than hold the service up with huge complicated orders. “We realised people love slow dining, sharing, grazing and picking and so we’ve devised a menu that brings in many elements from the hotel’s heritage; typically English dishes, Spanish tapas and Tony’s Australian touches,” says Hughes. “The menu works for everyone – it’s a Mediterranean, family style service.”

Absolutely every dish that comes out of Milne’s kitchen is beautifully presented beautifully, prompting an “I’ll have what she’s having” mentality with restaurant guests. Now in his third season in the kitchen, the chef has really come into his own with behind the scenes techniques including in-house fermenting and smoking breathing new life into classic dishes. Expect vibrant colours, pure flavours and as much local produce as possible. Milne personally visits the fishmongers and farmers on a daily basis to choose his produce for the day and night ahead. “I absolutely love it,” he says, also hinting there are plans afoot for a Pikes veggie garden next season. “That’s why we work with daily specials, incorporating the best of what we find on the day.” The main menu is designed around the concept of five starters, five mains and five desserts, with the idea that three to four (in any combination) would be perfect for one person. Standouts include the 11-spice cauliflower (the chef’s own take on KFC – upgrading the colonel’s secret herbs upgrading them into a delicious vegetarian dish), the mouth wateringly rich pork secreto, a 48-day aged fillet of beef and Milne’s own personal favourite, the nine-hour slow roasted octopus – a bright pink tentacle served whole, bursting with the pure and natural flavours of the Med.

Nostalgia plays a part in the Pikes kitchen too, and born and bred Brits will relish the chance to tuck into savoury faggots (with lamb and vegetarian options available), bringing back memories of childhood dinners, with desserts to match. And of course, as is Pikes tradition, Sunday roasts remain a staple – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! “A Sunday roast at Pikes matches any home cooked version,” says Hughes, who says it’s not just the food on a Sunday that makes it special – it’s the feeling of being embraced into the Pikes family. Dawn Hindle, Pikes creative director sees this nostalgia as key to the restaurant’s continued success. “People come back here year after year, and they’ll see Steve and feel like they’re coming back into his home. He’s always been here to welcome them –that feeling of though you’re staying in someone’s house is all part of our ethos.” Milne talks of similar experiences, with many of the restaurant guests he’s met over the past three years going on to become good friends – not just with himself and his team, but even with his wife and children.

This year has also seen the wine list at Room 39 undergo an impressive revamp, with the introduction of many high-end Spanish drops now available by the glass. “There’s a huge wine culture in Spain that isn’t well-known globally,” says Hughes. “And just like with cuisine, people seek out local wines when on holiday. Depending on the dish you’re eating, we can recommend the perfect glass to accompany it. It may be 80€ a bottle, which can often make people curious, but cautious. Now, you don’t have to commit, because you can try just one glass first, and a different one after that. Or you could take the whole bottle if you like it!” Thursday nights at Room 39 see Milne take a step back and let guest chefs into his domain, with the launch of Pikes Open Kitchen. “These pop-ups are really exciting,” he says. “We get to learn from people from all around the world and our menu will continue to evolve organically.” And while he may be the brains behind Room 39 alongside Hindle and Hughes, he is very quick to pass credit where credit is due – to his kitchen staff. “I can be the face and come up with the dishes,” he says. “But the guys in the kitchen are the ones who make a difference to our customers, night after night.”

House of heritage

Those stories however, are well documented. What comes next for Pikes is yet to be written and the 2017 summer season lies ahead like a book of empty pages, ready and waiting to be filled with new tales of adventure, debauchery, fun and fabulousness. At the heart of the new chapter of Pikes are owners and Ibiza Rocks founders Dawn Hindle and Andy McKay. After acquiring Pikes in 2011, they were determined to respect the hotel’s heritage while putting their own stamp on the iconic space. “We feel the hotel is a living, breathing museum to everything Tony built,” explains Dawn. “We needed to modernise it, but we never wanted to strip away its identity.”

The Pikes ethos has always been to make guests feel as though they were staying in a private home – a hedonistic grown-up escape.

This passion for preserving history is evident in the 2017 refurbishments, where no two details are alike. “We want to keep each room individual and special, so we renovate ad hoc,” says Dawn, who scours the globe for unique pieces to breathe new life into the older spaces – be it taxidermy, vintage furniture or art. “Of course, there are things we will never touch, like the terracotta bathroom that was in the Club Tropicana film clip – you can’t! But the hotel was built in the 70s and things do wear out. It would be easy to rip everything out and start from scratch, but we love the individuality and want to add to it, not subtract from it.” A new, match made in heaven collaboration with eclectic British interior design and homewares company Rockett St George further builds on the hotel’s heritage, with custom designed wallpaper created using the imagery from the famous Pikes photo collection and cool neon signs emblazoning location appropriate phrases such as Kate Moss’s rather logical ‘Why the fuck can’t I have fun all the time?’ across the walls. Bespoke scented candles dubbed ‘After the disco’, cool cocktail kits, quirky notebooks disguised as bedside Bibles and mirrored disco balls are now found for sale in every room (and online). “We thought it might stop people nicking everything!” says Dawn.

Rockett St George were also invited to completely redesign Room 9 of the hotel, showcasing their dark, vintage-inspired aesthetic via black-painted walls, retro peacock chairs, mid-century cocktail trolleys, bold neon signage, quirky lighting, wall-mounted zebras and much more. Think Tender is the Night meets The Factory with a splash of punk rock in between. Described as ‘grotto-fabulous’ and ‘bohemian back to mine’, this is the room you want to be seen in at Pikes this summer. While the Pikes vibes is indeed all about mingling and making new friends, you can make it easy for yourself by simply reserving the room! A facelift was also given to the iconic Freddie’s Suite in order to further enhance its usability and fun factor. A cool pull-down bed has been added (“Just because I’ve always wanted one!” laughs Dawn), evoking that authentic house party feeling, while walls have been lined with the aforementioned wallpaper and eclectic chic palm tree lamps and neon signs softly illuminate the space. The floor has been levelled out to allow more space for dancing, the bars have been redesigned for easier access and there’s even a secret bookcase door separating the dance floor from The Potting Shed bar.

Pikes is the perfectly balanced sum of its parts – amazing music, eclectic style, interesting people, delicious food, wonderful wine and an anything can happen ambience.

The jewel in the crown of Freddie’s Suite is the new DJ booth – once a tiny, ramshackle wardrobe – redesigned by none other than DJ Harvey, who was recently named Pikes’ ‘Cultural Attaché’. Harvey also collaborated with Pikes on the installation of a new Void sound system and custom lighting in Freddie’s. All the better to dance to my dears, as DJ Harvey’s Mercury Rising residency returns to Pikes for its third consecutive season on Monday nights from August 7 to September 25, 2017. The beauty of a Pikes party is that absolutely everyone is welcome – provided you’ve signed up to the guest list (easily done here). Hotel guests dance alongside holidaymakers, island locals, Ibicencos, rock royalty and well-known Pikes characters such as Sunny in his fancy dress boudoir or bathtub karaoke room. The summer 2017 party line-ups are serious stuff, with Paul Oakenfold hosting a four-week series of parties every Wednesday in August, while Saturday nights are the signature Pikes House Party, with special guest headline DJs including Artwork, Leon Vynehall, Bushwacka! and PBR Streetgang. More international artists including Simian Mobile Disco, Midland, Mr Saturday Night Live and Mike Mayer, guest star on Mondays in July as London ‘it’ club XOYO host their first Ibiza residency, XOYO Loves…

Rounding out all the elements of Pikes is Room 39, the in-house restaurant – open to non-hotel guests for breakfast, lunch, poolside snacks and dinner alike. With chef Lee Milne at the helm for a third season, 2017 sees the restaurant define its culinary identity with a new sharing style menu drawing on the British heritage of the owners and loyal clientele, with splashes of Tony Pike’s Australian influence, plus a distinct nod to the Spanish location and traditional tapas style of eating. On Thursday nights throughout summer, Room 39 hosts ‘Pikes Open Kitchen’ inviting guest chefs to take over for the evening – a new pop-up platform to showcase exciting new gastronomic ideas from around the globe. An impressive wine list – much of it hailing from mainland Spain – completes the Room 39 offering, with many of the varieties (even those at the top of the scale) available by the glass. Cocktails, in true Club Tropicana style, are expertly shaken and stirred poolside (though unfortunately not free!) and the Pikes Sunday Roast provides the perfect taste of nostalgia to wrap up your weekend. All in all, Pikes truly is the sum of its parts – each piece of the puzzle perfectly complementing the other and resulting in unforgettable holiday experiences.

Meatopia – Warning! NSFV

I couldn’t believe it when I first saw the invitation to the Meatopia event at Pikes at Ibiza Rocks House. I had to stop and wonder if someone was playing a joke on me. Because in this day and age of veganism, macrobiotic diets, conscious cooking and health awareness, the good old fashioned slab of meat gets a little too overlooked for my liking. And this invitation showed a picture of a giant, marbled steak that made my mouth water before I’d even read the words.

Whoa, vegans! Didn’t I ask you not to read ahead? I can almost hear your backlash as I type. Now please note before I go any further, I respect your choices to be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, whatever-atarian. I really do. And so I hope, even if you disagree with my choices, you can still respect that they are indeed my own. Now seriously guys… look away. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. So as I was saying, there was this invitation. MEATOPIA Eat meat Sleep Repeat

It was like my carnivorous dream come true. Anyone who knows me will know I am partial to a little bit of… oh, ok A LOT of meat in my diet. I’m the kind of person who has to stop at the McDonald’s drive thru on the way home after having dinner at a vegetarian’s house for my meat fix. I simply do not understand the point of ordering a curry, stir-fry or noodle dish if it does not have meat in eat. I do not believe that tofu or Portobello mushrooms can substitute in any way for a steak. I think pizza is weird if it doesn’t have ham or pepperoni on it. Even simple pasta dishes have got to at least have some bacon in them or I feel totally unsatisfied afterwards. (By the way, vegans, if you’re still reading – please, no judgement. I told you to look away!) Recently, I felt completely depleted of energy and I just couldn’t understand why. I went to see my lovely Chinese Herbal Medicine doctor and she promptly prescribed 10 days of eating red meat to get me back to good health! It’s not me, it’s my blood type. Apparently. Though I don’t feel like I should have to justify it in any way. I really do need to eat meat every day, or I get edgy, tired and pretty darn hungry. (Though I must admit I am open to meat-free Mondays since Paul and Stella make such a valid argument for saving the planet. Probably best if it’s said Mondays are spend hungover and dying in bed without consuming much more than a slice of toast then.)

ANYWAY. I digress. Meatopia. It was everything I had ever dreamed of and more. A bespoke barbecue in the fairytale back gardens of Pikes – my favourite place IN THE WORLD (also the first place I ever stayed in Ibiza, many moons ago). Multi-award winning chef Richard H Turner – whose barbecue I had drooled over (not literally) at last year’s Groucho party but didn’t get to sample – was planning to prepare five different types of meat. There were a bunch of side dishes listed on the menu too, but I couldn’t get past the giant lettering that just said: M E A T. Oh – and the soundtrack was going to be provided by one of my favourite artists, Bushwacka! and it was going to be all about old school hip hop and breaks. Seriously. It was like someone had cyber stalked me, found all of my favourite things (minus my cat) and put them into one room. I counted down the days. I deliberated about whether to starve myself all day in preparation, or to graze and slowly stretch my stomach for the feast that lay ahead. The event started at 8pm and at 7.30pm I was getting edgy and antsy. We had to hit the road. I had to be the first person in front of this custom made barbecue I’d been dreaming about. So my friend – le’s call him Mr B – and I zipped up the highway, probably breaking a few speeding laws in anticipation… and then there we were. Pikes at Ibiza Rocks House.

As we stepped through the garden and were greeted with a (very British, and also very delicious) cocktail, my nostrils flared up like a hunting dog. There were spices in the air. There was juicy, crispy skin crackling. Thick, delicious meaty juices were flowing…. And then I saw her. The mother of all barbecues. A big brick structure built right into the ground, with carefully selected wood burning at ground level, oh-so-slowly smoking and cooking the payes chicken, rib eye beef, pork belly ribs and more meaty deliciousness above. And there HE was. The king. Richard H Turner, who had been slaving away over the hot barbecue since 10am that very morning in a quest to deliver the tenderest of meats, the most succulent of sausages and the most flavour-filled filets to his followers. The medieval style apron gave him an air of authority. He wielded his tongs and knives like an artist. It was magical to watch, and tantalising to smell. I was finding it really hard to be polite and make small talk. All I wanted to do was get stuck in!

When the time came, I was not disappointed. Every last mouthful was a savoury sensation. Clinched rib eye of beef. Spit roast lamb. Slow grilled pork belly ribs. Grilled quail with chorizo. jerk chicken and mushrooms – and let me just make a point here, in a little vegetable’s defence, that every single diner on my table was in agreement that those mushrooms were the finest tasting mushrooms we had ever eaten, even as good as the meat accompanying it! While some might presume all that meat was too heavy for a meal, the carefully thought out side dishes served as the perfect light palate cleansers – ranging from a baked beetroot salad, the best Caesar I have ever tasted and an amazing green chilli slaw to escarole with anchovy cream and homemade baked beans. I was in heaven. And of course, a lovely drop of vino tinto didn’t go astray to wash it all down. One of the finest feasts of my Ibiza lifetime, to say the very least. Of course, I know it’s not for everyone. I’m sure the organisers know it’s not for everyone. The event is called Meatopia after all! It’s not about discrimination to those who don’t eat meat… it’s about catering specifically to those (like me!) who do. If you don’t eat meat (why are you still reading?), don’t book a table. If you do, then I cannot recommend this highly enough. There are four more events this season… and I will be reserving my place by the barbeque for all of them!

Sundays are saved!

Anyone who knows me, or has read my blog over the years, will know that I was once a We Love girl. And I don’t just mean I was a fan of the party and went every week. I mean, I lived it! My first ever job in Ibiza was working on the beach in summer – walking up and down Playa d’en Bossa, up and down, up and down again, and AGAIN – handing out flyers for the now legendary party. The golden years. The time when I was oh-so-skinny and super-duper tanned (walking up and down the beach will do that to you). In the years that followed, I did a little bit of everything. I did more flyering. I manufactured and sold t-shirts and other merchandise. I did video interviews with all the very best DJs in the world. And my guilty pleasure – I was the guest list girl. I spent many, many years of my life working with amazing people who went on to become my Ibiza family, and so it was with a heavy heart that I called it quits in 2014 (the roles of Miss W and door girl just aren’t as easy to combine in my old age). And even though I gained myself two extra days off on the weekends, I felt at a loss for what to do on Sundays. So this week, I am so happy, so excited, so beyond ridiculously overjoyed at the news that my beloved Ibiza family (who also moved onto pastures new in 2014) – Mark and Sarah Broadbent and Andrew Livesey – are hosting a new venture in my all-time favourite venue, Ibiza Rocks House at Pikes Hotel every… you guessed it… Sunday! Hallelujah – Sundays have been saved!

I’d like to point out here that this is NOT, I repeat, NOT We Love Mark II*. It’s not like Space at Pikes. It’s an entirely different ballgame – in fact, it’s the polar opposite! The party is aptly named Pikes on Sundays and there’s no frills and fanciness about it (although I must say, it has some pretty fancypants artwork – I wonder if they’ll print me a poster?). It’s a free party that is all about good people (the island’s very BEST people!), great music and good vibes – poolside, over a Bloody Mary and a Sunday Roast… what’s not to love? You can guarantee anyone who’s anyone, and anyone who’s heard of anyone, will be around that pool at this party this summer. You’d be mad NOT to. When it comes to music, as you’d expect, this crew have impeccable taste. Calling on their ‘friends and family’ (a pretty big roster if the last 15 years are anything to go by) to drop in behind the decks, Pikes on Sundays have plenty of musical treats in store between now and the closing on October 11 (keep your eyes on their cool blog for regular updates). There’s my favourite, the wonderful Mr Doris, doing his infamous After Dark sessions bi-weekly (with some super special guests of his own joining in), and there’s also the lovely Lottie, Mark Barrott (International Feel), Phat Phil Cooper, Neil Diablo, Amp & Deck, Kitt Proudfoot, Jon Woodall and Ruairi Dunne – just to name a few. And trust me, if you haven’t heard the names before, it’s worth checking out. Remember when no one had heard of James Zabiela many moons ago?

All the action kicks starts at 2pm, by the pool, with Mark and Andrew playing everything from West Coast Rock to Balearic Beats, through African rhythms, post pop and everything in between, before the guests take over and day to turns to night, the musical tempo picks up, and before you know it, you’re on the Pikes fluoro pink tennis court and it’s 6am*… no wait. That hasn’t happened yet. But with 24 weeks of Sundays stretched out before us, you can guarantee it will!

*Fans of We Love, don’t despair. The party is still happening this year, in the new Wednesday night slot at Sankeys Ibiza.

**Disclaimer: Pikes on Sundays reckon they’ll call it a night at 2am. Any suggestions otherwise are pure fabrications by the author.