On the beaches of Ibiza, names keep coming back: El Chiringuito, Beachouse, Laylah, nūn, soon Maison Le Vrai. Each time, we find Olivia Fleury, moving from Parisian offices to waterside services. His journey intrigues and shakes up our idea of success in the restaurant industry.
Born in Algeria into a family with French, English and Egyptian roots, she returned to France at the age of eight. She followed the classic path: prep class, business school in Paris, two years at TotalFinaElf. In the background, however, a dream persists, that of a restaurant by the sea.
From Mediterranean roots to Ibiza for Olivia Fleury
The memories of generous tables, spices and herbs from his Mediterranean childhood remain very present. Where her classmates were aiming for finance, she chose internships in the hotel and catering industry, then double training in cooking and pastry at Le Cordon Bleu. The office is gradually disappearing behind the stoves.
In 2006, Ibiza caught up with her when she returned there to work. El Chiringuito, on Es Cavallet beach, has up to 120 employees and 800 seats for lunch, before Beachouse and Laylah, other emblematic places on the island. In this whirlwind, she affirms it: , she confides to Nouvelles Gastronomiques.
From the excess of beach clubs to a more intimate table
Managing establishments with several hundred seats teaches him rhythm, demands and responsibility. But with maternity and the seasons that follow one another, volumes increase, the direct link with customers diminishes. She spends more time in meetings than in the dining room and is starting to dream again of a table on a human scale.
In 2022, she was offered a restaurant that had been closed for several years in Cala Llonga, an area she barely knew. There she discovers a family bay, a beach, a pine forest and feels that something is aligning. In Ibiza, she likes to say, . She accepts, makes it her 100% personal project and calls it nūn, her family nickname linked to the Arabic word for .
Maternal management and a visceral connection to Ibiza
At nūn, around thirty people work with her, including a restaurant manager who has followed her for fifteen years. She assumes management which she describes as: listening, feeling tensions, supporting difficult times. For her, , and even, she repeats, . Difficult, therefore, to be a distant owner; taking an order or clearing a plate is still part of the job.
This attention to humanity ties in with his way of experiencing the island. Ibiza remains for her a space where we free ourselves from the injunctions of our original environment. She says she loves this, this diversity of nationalities and this refusal of judgment, while recalling that freedom needs a framework. , she confides, talking about her children, her businesses, the sea, winter swimming and, tomorrow, a new urban chapter with Maison Le Vrai in Marina Botafoch.
Who is Olivia Fleury?
A French restaurateur-entrepreneur based in Ibiza since 2006.
What restaurants has she opened in Ibiza?
El Chiringuito, Beachouse, Laylah, nūn and soon Maison Le Vrai.
What is nūn?
Its intimate beach restaurant in Cala Llonga, hosted live by Olivia Fleury.
