El Alquimista Gastro and Cocktail Lounge

El Alquimista Gastro Cocktail Lounge, Condada de Alhama, began its meteoric success in June 2024, initially as top class cocktail lounge, serving fine wines, spirits, local and international beer, as well as redefining cocktails with their signature blend of flavour and innovation. The concept was initially developed by Marcello Cossettini and Sean Dunne who came to Condado separately, some five years ago and met, just by chance, over a property sale.

Marcello, having moved to Spain after 26 years in the shipping industry, wanted to pursue something a little diﬀerent and oﬀer the local community a more sophisticated option for an evening relaxing with friends. Sean was taking a fresh opportunity to change career after having worked for 35 years in corporate IT as a project manager. Equally driven by the opportunity to try something completely new, Sean also set about looking for a business on his own.

Condado de Alhama became their home and as their friendship grew, the idea to run their own business together also developed, and as they shared their ideas, they became excited by the prospect.

After a long search to find the perfect premises, a property became available at The Al Kazar Commercial Centre in Condado de Alhama. A complete refurbishment was necessary to create the elegant and relaxed style they both envisioned, but now, some 15 months later their ambitions have been realised and they are rightfully proud of the well established and recognised brand that El Alquimista has become.

Despite the the huge success of the El Alquimista Cocktail Lounge, Marcello and Sean had much bigger dreams. Realising there was a gap in the market for a fine dining experience within the community, they investigated the idea of becoming a high end gastro bar. It was a bold decision and provided a number of challenges but they were undeterred.

Left to right
Marcello, Elizabeth, Matt and Sean

To allow for expansion, two investors were brought on board, Matt and Elizabeth Kingsman. The couple had been massive supporters of El Aquimista since the original idea was first conceived. Matt had recently retired from 30 years in the RAF and was eager to utilise his skills in this exciting venture. For Elizabeth, who had owned businesses in the U.K. and abroad, it was a fantastic opportunity to realise her personal dream of owning a restaurant.

No restaurant would be a success without a great chef at its helm and El Alquimista was extremely fortunate to secure the services of Head Chef, Gary Cromie. Who shares his story here.

“From a very young age I always wanted to be a chef. I was lucky to be trained by some of the top chefs in Scotland, who guided me throughout my career and continue to mentor me today. Culinary greats such as David Murray and Joe Queen to mention just two, who took this boy from Bo’ness and made me into all I have accomplished today.

I have had the privilege of working in some amazing places throughout the U.K. but I decided I wanted more. I progressed through the ranks of the industry to win a Michelin star for my art. I moved overseas to further my career, working in America, France and Italy and then of course, Spain. I have lived here for 7 years now, working for and setting up businesses throughout my time.

For my eﬀorts at Number 6 by Genoa, I won The Best Menu Del Día in Murcia and Best Family Run Restaurant. I then moved to Los Elementos where I worked alongside John Haythorne. We have been friends for a long time, we learned from each other and grew as a team rising to number 1 restaurant for the area on Trip Advisor and Best Restaurant on Restaurant Guru.

I have also being a major contributor at the Food Festival in Torre Pacheco which is broadcast live on radio, and had the honour of preparing food at the port of Cartagena for the Mayor and her guests. Perhaps the highlight of my career was working with Scottish Culinary Olympic team and competing with them to win two silver medals.

My food isn’t complex, but what I do try to do, is use the very best products and enhance the flavours. Here in Spain, we are blessed to have all this right on our doorstep, seasonal products,top quality meats, and excellent fish, with which, as an innovative chef, I really enjoy creating new dishes. My other passion, of which I’m very proud, has been to train young upcoming chefs. They need guidance and care, not just when they are working with you, but afterwards as well. There are many that I am still very close to; mentoring is always an ongoing role.

I am delighted to be working at El Aquimista. It’s vibrancy and class mirror the dishes I create. The venue has already established itself as an stylish cocktail lounge, serving the most delicious cocktails; my challenge, is to bring fantastic food to Condado de Alhama and to maintain exceptionally high standards. I am very much looking forward to working closely with the all the team to achieve our shared goal of excellence. Exciting times ahead!”

Chateaubriand sharing for 2 prime fillet steak hand cut chips creamy mash and seasonal vegetables with red wine jus and pepper corn…

Pan-fried local salmon seasonal vegetables pea puree basil pesto…

For Marcello, Sean, Matt and Elizabeth the challenges of launching the restaurant have been many, but together they are focused on creating a sustainable business that provides a year round, unrivalled dinning experience in elegant, sophisticated surroundings.

In their own words – “We want our customers to enjoy a level of service never seen before on Condado de Alhama and the wider community, and that our patrons are finally receiving what they truly deserve in service, quality and choice. We look forward to many more years serving this community and would like to thank all of our supporters throughout the last year, without whom, we simply would not have built the wonderful business we have today.