It was a little after nine in the morning when our easy-going hostess, with her infectious smile, joined us at the breakfast table on the secluded back patio at number 17, Carrer de la Infanta.
Cristina was eager to return to the place where she had been happy. She quit her job in a communications office and her determination to give her life a new direction prompted her to search for a house in the historic area of Menorca. "I had family here and we used to visit Menorca every summer. One day they told me about these two abandoned buildings, a hostel and a hotel, which already had operating permits and, with my husband also being connected to the hospitality industry I immediately thought "let's do it!” And she went ahead and did it in the only way she could have: with all the drive of someone who has dreams but no vices; and with none of the things that "end up being a nuisance in a hotel. "If you come to my house, you won't have someone asking you all day long if you need anything. I want people to feel at home, to even come down in their bare feet for breakfast if they feel like it."

She acknowledges that the pandemic "obliged her to postpone things" and in May 2021, just a year after the date originally planned, she finally opened the doors of Cristine Bedfor, together with her friend and entrepreneur Daniel Entrecanales. Inside, the stories accumulate in the same proportion as the art and objects. Her friend, the designer Lorenzo Castillo, is responsible for developing the interior design, a place that celebrates colour and memory, with requisite extravagance and impeccable taste. "I asked him to create a house as if it were for me personally. He laughed and advised me to think about the utility of the pieces, that it wasn't the same thing to have a chair to seat 10 or 300 people. And if it breaks, then you simply replace it with another one. The lamp, hanging in the living room, was the first object to be acquired. This was followed by a series of traditional Spanish bottles, which provided inspiration for the restaurant's ambience. "I began with the most useless pieces," he says, smiling.

Carpets made by local artisans, old mirrors, animals and aristocratic characters from English society framed on the walls and local furniture come to us salvaged from neighbouring areas, as well as from France or England. In Cristine Bedfor's story, there are no happy accidents, only successful combinations. Perhaps, for this very reason, the collaboration with the architect Emma Martí and the landscape architect Álvaro de la Rosa would also prove to be instrumental in the design of one of the most special places in the whole project: the very intimate 600 square metre garden behind the property. "In Menorca, you really aren't allowed to do much unless you have the utmost respect for the environment. We had to meet several requirements. Besides, I hate plastic. It's a conviction. From the watering of the garden, to the 100% sustainable aprons, to the carpets, which are produced from plastic bottles, we had to find producers who work closely with the environment. And we reused a lot of furniture too, not wanting to buy everything new."