El Arriate, El Puerto de Santa María

Funky El Arriate is in calle Los Moros, street of the Moors, right by the dock for the catamaran from Cádiz and surrounded by the sherry bodegas that made El Puerto prosper. Right opposite the restaurant is the renowned Osborne, that bodega of the iconic bull silhouette that pops up on hilltops beside the freeway. Yet El Arriate whisks you into a very different world. Beyond a serene garden of orange trees you enter a cavernous, boho-chic space packed with eccentricities, color, and with a cool jazz soundtrack. In the tiny kitchen, David Méndez, the chef-owner, and two sous-chefs produce complex morsels that bring together different worlds from Japan to Mexico to Al-Andalus—his soul food.