CALETA — Restaurant in San Felipe

Last week La Caleta at the Sofitel hosted a dinner that was a collaboration with Fonda lo Que Hay. The flavors were spectacular - the best of Panamanian and Mediterranean cuisine complementing each other. There was also an optional cocktail pairing - which was a terrific exploration of a variety of flavors, wines and alcohols. We understand there are more collaborations in the works, so keep an eye out on the Sofitel Instagram site if you're interested in following what's on the horizon.

More detail on the collaboration experience is below.

There were two seatings. We took the earlier one at 6:30 and it was definitely quieter than later in the evening.

The meal started with Caleta's fabulous seeded bread, and amuse bouche of two bites: shrimp in a sweet fruity, sauce and a profiterole filled with a porcini cream. The shrimp was cooked perfectly and the fruity sauce blended well with the sweetness of the shrimp. The profiterole was light and crispy and a contrasting back drop to the creaminess of the mousse.

Next up were pumpkin flowers filled with kampachi. Growing up I often ate zucchini flowers fried or filled with cheese. This was completely different. The freshness of the kampachi, wrapped with the delicate flower and then topped with a creamy sauce with a multitude of flavors and crunchy corn created mouthfuls of bursting flavors. The corn's pop with the kampachi's smoothness was a wonderful contrast of textures. The sparkling maracuya flavored cocktail was a vibrant complement to this dish.

This was followed by crab served with a maracuya based sauce. The crab meat was perfectly shelled but for us, the star of this dish was the maracuya sauce. It had the sweet-tart flavor from the passion fruit and also had a spicy kick to it - which we really liked.

Then came a yucca tortilla with carne. The yucca tortilla was very delicate and the perfect wrapping for the meat that was incredibly tender and juicy. And the sauce on this dish - called "a potion" - was out of this world - with just a touch of sweetness. Another unique aspect of this dish was that it was paired with a white wine - which surprised me- but it worked amazingly well and especially didn't overpower the yucca.

The last of the entrees was an octopus dish. What really stood out for me in this dish was that the outside of the octopus was crispy - which again provided an interesting contrast in textures (crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside). It was served with a creamy, nutty and flavorful sauce.

Dessert was frozen vanilla yogurt inside a shell of white chocolate that was dusted with saril. It was served over strawberries with an ornate tuille. It was beautiful to look at as well as delicious - with the sweetness of the chocolate and the tartness of the yogurt enhancing each other.

Service was also excellent, with our waiter being knowledgeable about the pairings and generally attentive. But for a fine dining experience, we felt it was a notch down from the last time we visited. They were a little slow in ensuring that water glasses remained full and in cleaning the table after a few splatters during one course.

Overall it was a spectacular meal and we were glad we went; we look forward to attending the next...

We hosted a dinner in the private room at Caleta and all the food was wonderful. We started with a refreshing welcome cocktail of Prosecco and maracuya with snacks of fried mozzarella (which was perfectly crisp and not greasy at all) mini tacos of pulled pork.

Amongst our group we tried a variety of dishes during the meal. For starters we ordered tartar de res, centollo, cobia acevichada, kampachi marinado, and berenjena frita. For mains we ordered cordero, cochinillo, pulpo and corvina en arcilla; all were delicious: fresh, perfectly cooked (with innovative ingredient combinations) and beautifully presented. The sauces were something that stood out across a number of dishes; they added richness and enhanced flavors.

Caleta also excelled in presentation - for example using the crab shell as a dish and encrusting the corvina and breaking it with a small hammer upon serving. The desserts were also a work of art. It's hard to tell the difference between the cacao shell made of chocolate and the real cacao pod and the tuile on the pavlova was beautifully ornate. Service was good and it was lovely to have the opportunity to chat with Chef Lorenzo who greeted us at the start of the evening. The private room is a very nice space - quite...

Caleta is a decent fine dining restaurant with excellent service that is sometimes held back by execution on the food. From the get go you can see that Caleta really wears its heart on its sleeve and tries to impress. We were given a lengthy explanation on what the menu meant and how it ties into Panamanian culture which I appreciate. The bread course is very emblematic of both good and bad. You get butter in a custom ceramic dish in the shape of Panama which is creative and cool! Unfortunately that also means it's way too little butter to actually enjoy the taste. We really enjoyed the passion fruit looking course which combined tart and savoury flavours in a satisfying way. A couple of the following dishes however are different ways of combining seafood stews and rice which was less nuanced in flavour and not as interesting presentation wise. Overall I'm glad I went and really appreciate the care put into the presentation but would not necessarily come back after the novelty...