El Secreto de Chimiche

Verdict: A Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in rural Tenerife that punches well above its price tier

If you are driving through the inland villages of southern Tenerife and wondering whether El Secreto de Chimiche is worth the detour, the answer is yes. This is a €€ restaurant with back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and 2025, meaning inspectors have twice confirmed it delivers food worth far more than you will pay for it. For food-focused travellers exploring Tenerife beyond the resort strip, this is one of the most credible stops on the island.

The Restaurant

El Secreto de Chimiche sits on the TF-28 road in Chimiche, a small inland village in the municipality of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The address alone tells you something useful: this is not a restaurant that trades on tourist footfall or seafront positioning. It earns its audience through cooking.

The building reads quietly from the road. What looks like a modest roadside property opens into a renovated interior that moves between a working bar, multi-floor dining spaces, and terrace seating. The layout creates a series of smaller rooms with distinct atmospheres rather than a single open floor, which matters if you are dining as a couple and want something more intimate than a large restaurant hall typically allows.

The visual tone is rustic without being tired. Stone, wood, and traditional Canarian details give the space its character. This is not a restaurant trying to look contemporary; it is one that has worked with the architecture and materials of its region. For the explorer-type diner who wants a setting that actually reflects where they are geographically, El Secreto de Chimiche delivers that in a way the coastal resort restaurants rarely do.

The Cooking

Chef Travis Matoesian leads a kitchen rooted in Canarian tradition. The menu centres on regional techniques and ingredients, with a particular emphasis on wood-fired preparation. Roasted baby goat is the reference point dish here, the kind of preparation that demands both good sourcing and technical patience, and it represents the kitchen's commitment to cooking from first principles rather than trend-chasing.

Alongside the grill work, the menu includes matured meats and a curated selection of Canary Island wines. That wine list matters: regional Canarian wine is among Spain's most interesting and least-exported, and having access to a thoughtful selection of it alongside food cooked in the same tradition makes this a more coherent dining experience than you will find at many places charging twice the price.

The Bib Gourmand designation, repeated across two consecutive years, is the clearest possible signal about the value-quality ratio here. Michelin awards the Bib to restaurants where inspectors believe the cooking quality justifies enthusiasm specifically because of the price point, not in spite of it. Two consecutive awards at a €€ rural Canarian restaurant is a meaningful credential.

Who Should Book

El Secreto de Chimiche works particularly well for three types of visitor. First, the food-focused traveller who is spending time across Tenerife and wants at least one meal that reflects the island's actual culinary identity rather than an international tourist-market menu. Second, anyone who finds themselves in or near the Arico or Granadilla de Abona area and wants a lunch or dinner that rewards the drive. Third, couples or small groups who prefer character and regional authenticity over polished hotel-restaurant dining.

It is less suited to large groups expecting a party atmosphere or visitors who want a stripped-back beachside setting. The multi-floor layout with its distinct rooms and terraces suits smaller parties well, but if you are organising a group of eight or more, check availability carefully.

For solo diners, the bar area offers a natural entry point. A bar counter at a Bib Gourmand restaurant in a village setting is a comfortable solo-dining proposition, and the relaxed tone of the space makes it easier than a formal dining room would be.

How It Compares

See the comparison section below for how El Secreto de Chimiche sits against Spain's wider restaurant scene.

FAQs

• What should I wear to El Secreto de Chimiche? Smart casual is the right call. This is a Bib Gourmand restaurant in a renovated rustic space in a Tenerife village, not a white-tablecloth fine dining room. Jeans and a clean shirt work fine. You do not need to dress up, but visibly beach-holiday attire would feel out of step with the room.
• Is El Secreto de Chimiche good for solo dining? Yes, more so than most restaurants at this recognition level. The bar area gives solo diners a natural, comfortable place to sit without the awkwardness of occupying a dining table alone. A Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant at €€ pricing with a bar counter is a genuinely good solo-dining proposition in Tenerife.
• How far ahead should I book El Secreto de Chimiche? Booking difficulty is rated easy, but that does not mean walk-ins are guaranteed. A venue with consecutive Bib Gourmand recognition and a 4.7 Google rating across 566 reviews will fill up on weekends and during Canarian holiday periods. Book a few days ahead for weekdays; a week or more for weekends to be safe.
• Is El Secreto de Chimiche good for a special occasion? It depends on what kind of occasion. If you want a meaningful dinner that reflects where you are , rural Tenerife, traditional cooking, genuine regional character , then yes, it works well. The multi-floor layout with terrace seating and tucked-away nooks gives it more intimacy than the price tier usually delivers. If you need a formal, ceremony-grade dining room, the setting here is rustic rather than grand, and somewhere like a higher-category hotel restaurant would suit that better.
• What are alternatives to El Secreto de Chimiche in Chimiche? Chimiche is a small village, not a dining hub, so direct local alternatives are limited. Within Tenerife, your comparison set is primarily resort-area restaurants, which generally trade regional authenticity for accessibility. El Secreto de Chimiche is the clearest Michelin-recognised option for traditional Canarian cooking away from the tourist corridor. If you are exploring Spain's broader traditional cuisine scene at the Bib Gourmand level, comparable experiences include Cave à Vin & à Manger - Maison Saint-Crescent in Narbonne and Auberge Grand'Maison in Mûr-de-Bretagne, both of which share the Bib Gourmand credential and a similar emphasis on regional cooking.

Explore More

• Our full Chimiche restaurants guide
• Our full Chimiche hotels guide
• Our full Chimiche bars guide
• Our full Chimiche wineries guide
• Our full Chimiche experiences guide