Praised for its unique concept and excellent service, Anyway Wine Bar is the innovative bar and restaurant that has taken the costa del sol wine scene by storm. A unique concept like no other on the Spanish coast, this restaurant offers amazing wine pairings with delicious charcuterie platers, custom-made for each guest.
We are visiting Anyway Wine Bar at the start of their evening. David Camino the owner, is warmly greeting customers and recommending wines and items from the menu to the eager guests. Musik from Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles is playing in the cosy and modern restaurant. The atmosphere is bussing with energy and laughter from excited customers when the local is filling up.
The restaurant is lovely decorated with furniture hand-made by Raul, Davids's father, from recycled and refurbished material. Wine tasting books are laid out on a counter for guests to read through and a beautiful painting of Malaga, made by a local doctor, decorates the wall. Everything in this cosy little restaurant is well thought through and lots of love and care is put into it.
Anyway Wine Bar opened its doors in Malaga in 2018
The concept of the restaurant is completely new in the Spanish cost, where the owner and staff members' expertise is the key to their success.
”We are the only restaurant with this concept in Malaga. We serve a great selection of wines both on the bottle and sold in single glasses. Most other places only offer their wine assortment per bottle or just a small selection of wines.” David explains to us.
Not only are the wine assortment and serving the wines per glass their only difference, but also the way they customise every order after customers' preference.
”We normally choose the wine, the first course and charcuterie for the customer, and the customers choose the main course and the dessert. We ask customers what kind of win flavour profile they prefer and we pick out a wine and charcuterie after their personal taste and preferences”
Many years of expertise, wine knowledge and outstanding service are the foundation of the restaurant and the staff members, as well as superb wines and a great selection of delicacies and charcuterie offerings.
A lifelong passion for wine and gastronomy
When we ask David how he decided to start the business he explains that it has been an ongoing journey for many years. He started in the restaurant business in his teenage years, working in coffee shops and local restaurants. At the age of 20 decided to go to the hospitality school La Consula in Malaga, where he found his great passion for food and wine. He saw another side to the business. It opened his eyes to how it could be, working in fine restaurants instead of small coffee shops.
After graduation, David worked at 5-star hotels in Marbella and had an eager interest to learn all about wine, wine pairings and overall gastronomy. After some years working in hotels on Costa del Sol, he decided to move to London, where he worked in a wine bar for a couple of years. There he was introduced to natural wines, which now is a true passion of his.
”After a couple of years, I decided to move back home to Malaga to open my own business and start a wine bar focusing on my passion for food and wines and also for the great weather,” David says with a smile.
David has always worked in the front of the house. Greeting customers and working in the bar. His passion for service shows through when David walks around the restaurant, eager to explain the wine and options on the menu to his guests.
”I love wine and gastronomy. When I have a day off work, I go restaurant to eat and drink wine. I enjoy working in the front of the house, talking to people and greeting customers”
A huge wines assortment
Anyway Wine Bar has more than 150 different handpicked wines and about 90% of their wines are Spanish, with a great selection of Andalusian wines. David explains that he always tries to sell local Andalusian wine if possible.
They prefer to pick wines from small producers and support local farmers. The small wineries focus on the handcraft of winemaking as well as producing quality natural wines.
They usually pick only one or just a few wines from each producer, to make sure they only get the best wines as well as a good variation. When new wine is being picked out, the entire staff gets involved in the decision-making.
”We all pick the wines together. We try the new ones and discuss them and together we choose the wine best suitable as well as to give the greatest variation. We don't want to many of the same kind of wine, but rather a larger selection of different types of wines to offer to our customers” David explains with pride.
1368 Cerro Las Monjas
David’s favourite wine is 1368 Cerro Las Monjas. An Andalusian wine from the region of Sierra Nevada. It’s a handcrafted, natural wine from 2005, that is not filtered and without any sulfates. The vineyard is the highest located vineyard in Europe and sits at an altitude of 1368 meters, which is referred to on the label of the bottle.
This altitude gives the wine its distinct, lovely flavour. Davids's history with this winery started long before Anyway Wine Bar, back when he was working in a hotel in Marbella. He picked out this wine as his personal favourite in a blind tasting, which shows that a wine does not have to be the most expensive one to be extraordinary.
A lovely selection of dishes
Anyway Win Bar serves a selection of starters, main courses and desserts, but their main focus is on sensational, often locally sourced charcuteries combined with great handpicked wines. It is the gastronomic experience, combining a selection of charcuteries, that are customised for each customer, to complement the selected wine that is the restaurant's focus. The chef Daniel is an old childhood friend of David that has been there since the beginning and shares the same passion for gastronomy as David.
”Wines and charcuteries are our specialities and the main focus of our business. The majority of our customers visit us for this reason, but we also offer a selection of starters, main courses and desserts” David explains to us excitedly.
The products are all well thought through. From imported Italian crackers for the starters to bread from a local bakery, as well as a selection of regional olive oils, are just some of all the small details that show that nothing has been left to chance.
The charcuteries consist of a huge range of hams, sausages, salami, chorizo and cheeses of various kinds. With this variety, it's impossible not to find something for every wine and taste preference. Anyway Wine Bar makes customized platers of various kinds of cheese and meats and serves them with a selection of added extra such as fruits and nuts. It's a true delight, packed with locally sourced products of the highest quality.
The restaurant also serves some mouth-watering starters and delicious main courses. The Carrillada de Bellota Iberica con trufa is the restaurant's speciality and consists of slow-cooked Iberico pork served with potatoes and truffle sauce. Another big seller is the Chivo lechal de Málaga con tabulé, suckling goat slow-cooked for 12 hours and served with tabulé.
The desserts are not made in-house but are from a local bakery down the street. They are all made by a talented lady who makes great desserts on request and can be personalised for the customers, as well as gluten-free and hypoallergenic.
TripAdvisor best of best awards and great reviews Google
Praised for their unique concept and excellent service, Anyway Wine Bar is taking the costa del sol wine scene by storm. Since its first year, the restaurant has held the award for Best of best Tripadvisor travellers choice and is ranked top 5 of the restaurants in the Malaga district.
David and his team are proud of what they have achieved and it gives them a reason to celebrate every year.
”The customers read the reviews online and come and visit us. It makes a big difference in customer flow, and it is really important for the restaurant when most of our customers are tourists. It makes us proud when we give our best to the customer every single day, to see that the customers give us recognition for our hard work” David explains proudly with a smile.
The impact of the Corona epidemic
When asked about the impact of the Corona epidemic, David explains that it has been hard but they have been fortunate to stay in business. The tourist sector in Malaga was hit hard when the corona epidemic broke out and the regulations didn't make it easier.
”First, we had a lockdown and after that, there were still many regulations in place such as the number of customers the restaurants could take in as well as the distance that needed to be maintained. This made it impossible for us to open until the ”new normality” kicked in, so we were forced to be closed for over a year, without any compensation from the government and did not open until 21 April 2021. We are proud to have made it through, and been able to stay in business” David explains.
Next up for Anyway Wine Bar
Next year will be an exciting year for Anyway Wine Bar, where big changes are going to be made within their business. The restaurant is doing great and they are almost always fully booked so it is time for some changes.
”After the winter we are moving to a bigger local in Malaga and we are also planing on making Anyway Wine Bar a franshise and maybe start doing wine tasting events again” is David happy to announce.
It will be an exciting upcoming year for Anyway Wine Bar, and we can't wait to come back and check out their new local. If you want to check out Anyway Wine Bar for yourself the restaurant is open Monday-Saturday 19.00-00.00. Don't hesitate to stop by at Paseo Reding 15, 29016 Málaga Spain or contact them through email at www.anywaywinebar.com or by phone and WhatsApp at +34 695 37 77 99. You can also check them out on Facebook, Instagram and TripAdvisor.
