{"id":2243,"date":"2024-04-29T12:32:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T12:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jardindelcalifa.com\/our-kitchen\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T10:06:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T10:06:21","slug":"our-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jardindelcalifa.com\/en\/our-kitchen\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The inspiration<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Our menu reflects two decades of collaboration between James Stuart, co-founder of the Califa, and Khadija Essaadi, our Executive Chef. Their teamwork and shared vision have been essential in building the culinary reputation that El Jard\u00edn del Califa enjoys today. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The garden<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When James Stuart and Regli \u00c1lvarez began restoring the historic Casa del Juzgado in 2002, the Hotel La Casa del Califa had already been open for a year. With no experience in hospitality, they saw in that abandoned space – full of old tomato plants and broken washing machines – the perfect place to serve breakfast to hotel guests. But their vision went further: Vejer needed a restaurant with its own identity, and what better inspiration than the deep historical connection between Andalucia and Morocco to create a space where the Middle East and the Maghreb would come together at the table?
The relationship between Vejer and Morocco is not only geographical. Five centuries of Islamic rule have left their mark on the architecture, language, and, of course, cuisine. With North Africa on the horizon and a perfect garden to bring their idea to life, James and Regli decided that, despite being a novel concept at the time, this could be a defining moment in the region\u2019s culinary culture. As James says:
“The ingredients are Mediterranean – just combined in a different way.” <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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James<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Some of James\u2019s earliest memories are the scent of aubergine skin blistering on an open fire; he tells the story of Mounira, the family cook when they lived in Lebanon between the 1960s and early 70s. “Mounira was a Maronite Christian from northern Lebanon, her cultural heritage being a blend of indigenous Phoenician and foreign influences from all the different cultures that have ruled the country over thousands of years. She was, of course, an accomplished cook, and my parents were wise enough to never try to teach her to make a cottage pie! We ate strictly classic Lebanese food; Mounira’s repertoire was broad in the Middle Eastern sense, as the food cultures of Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria are commonly shared. My mother learned from Mounira, and in time-honored fashion, I learned from my mother. One of the joys of old-world cooking is the knowledge that we are eating a timeless dish, possibly unmodified in millennia.”
Much later, James added to his culinary knowledge when he became a tour guide in Morocco, traveling all over the Atlas Mountains, often sharing meals with local tribesmen and their families.
This background, and a love of good food, became key to the creation of the Califa, where he has overseen flavours and recipes from the beginning to ensure authenticity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Khadija, our Chef<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Khadija was born into a family of farmers in Souk el Arba, in the fertile north of Morocco. As the eldest of eight, she grew up amid the scent of freshly baked bread – made twice a day – and the constant bustle of a kitchen always in motion. There, she learned the importance of fresh ingredients and cooking from scratch, with a range of recipes that made the most of the land\u2019s vegetables, fruits, legumes, and meats. <\/span><\/p>

At 25, she arrived in Spain, and a year later, a family friend of Regli\u2019s tried one of her dinners and didn\u2019t hesitate to recommend her to the Califa. At the time, it was difficult to find trained Moroccan chefs in Spain, so many of the Middle Eastern dishes had to be learned from scratch, with James as the main reference to ensure authentic flavour. <\/span><\/p>

In 2005, Khadija was promoted to Head Chef, and a few years later, she also took on the role of General Manager while maintaining her position as Executive Chef. More than 20 years after opening, she continues to form a solid team with James and Regli, establishing El Jard\u00edn del Califa as a benchmark for Moroccan and Middle Eastern cuisine in Andalusia. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Regli<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Regli has always had a deep passion for gastronomy. Home-cooked meals – often prepared by her father – were a fundamental part of her childhood, shared at the table with her four siblings. Her father had a special talent for finding the best ingredients, travelling far from Vejer to get the perfect bread with just the right flour blend or visiting a shepherd in the Sierra de C\u00e1diz who made the best cheese in the province. <\/span><\/p>\n

Today, as manager of El Jard\u00edn del Califa, she maintains that same commitment to quality and authenticity. She also runs her own small farm, which supplies many of the organic vegetables used in the restaurant kitchen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Her passion for travel has led her to discover the flavours of other cultures – an inspiration that\u2019s reflected in her daily work. As a director of the Califa Group and manager of her farm, Regli is a key figure in the restaurant. Beloved by guests, she\u2019s known for her warmth, lively conversations, and unwavering commitment to excellence. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The inspiration Our menu reflects two decades of collaboration between James Stuart, co-founder of the Califa, and Khadija Essaadi, our Executive Chef. Their teamwork and shared vision have been essential in building the culinary reputation that El Jard\u00edn del Califa enjoys today. The garden When James Stuart and Regli \u00c1lvarez began restoring the historic Casa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2243","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nOur Kitchen - El Jard\u00edn del Califa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jardindelcalifa.com\/en\/our-kitchen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Kitchen - El Jard\u00edn del Califa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The inspiration Our menu reflects two decades of collaboration between James Stuart, co-founder of the Califa, and Khadija Essaadi, our Executive Chef. 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