On the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, the restaurant El Diablo cooks its food on a grill powered by the heat of a volcano!
What could be more natural than to organise a barbecue evening on a volcano? At the El Diablo restaurant, located on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, chefs cook food using the heat produced by a volcano.
El Diablo is a unique restaurant where the chefs have free and direct access to a volcano. Of course, the volcano does not spew lava, in which case it would be difficult to eat quietly. The crater looks more like a well, from which volcanic heat rises from the depths of the Earth.
And it is precisely this heat (between 450 and 500°C all year round) that the creators of El Diablouse. Long before the creation of the restaurant, visitors from the volcanic region (especially from the Timanfaya National Park) came here to taste a dish of sardines and wine. But in 1970, César Manrique, a local artist, decided to create an official restaurant in the region. With the help of the architect Eduardo Cáceres and the artist Jesus Soto, a giant grill was built on the ground in order to use the incredible heat beneath the surface of the Earth. This is how the restaurant El Diablo was born. The grill is used to prepare several meat, poultry, and fish dishes that are served at the restaurant's tables.
The construction was not easy of course. All this heat on the surface made it impossible to dig foundation trenches. So they laid nine layers of basalt rock to serve as a base for the structure. Traditional Canarian specialities and dishes are offered on the restaurant's menu, but the menu is only one of the attractions of the place.
Many people come to the "volcano restaurant" to admire the beautiful surroundings and the view it offers. The "Martian" landscape of the island, although barren, is breathtaking. The best time to come is during sunset, when the light fades and creates spectacular effects on the sandy slopes of the volcanoes.
You should know that the restaurant has consulted scientists and volcanologists to check the food and the way it is grilled, and they have given them their green light, judging the dishes on offer to be healthy. So there is no danger for this type of cooking.
If you thought you were going to enjoy a delicious local dish with lava eruptions in the air, you missed it. There hasn't been any activity since the last eruption in 1824.
You will also be able to see some curiosities like this one:
Photo sources in order: abcnews.go.com, yabbedoo.wordpress.com,
