For great food on Formentera, you used to have to head north, to restaurants like Juan y Andrea, whose white boat-uniformed staff serve lobster and Cristal to supermodels and shipping magnates, and Es Molí de Sal, where Spanish king Juan Carlos moors his yacht.
You might have got away with adding a sarong or T-shirt to your beachwear at Juan y Andrea, but you had to dress up at Es Molí de Sal.
On a finger of land pointing north towards Ibiza, these restaurants are perfectly positioned for day-trippers from the party island. But if you really want to get away from it all, the beach to head for is on the south coast. That's where you'll find the best food now - and you don't have to dress up. All you need do on five-mile-long, clothing-optional Platja Mitjorn is pop on your bathing suit and head up the beach.
The change began in 2004 when Vista y Sol opened above a rocky patch of beach, kitted out with white canvas seats and white tables on dark wood decking. As the DJ spins laid-back beats, the fashionable and the footballers sip mojitos, sangria and espressos. The food is elegantly simple. Salads come in bowls that match the sunglasses: huge. Two of the best dishes are the cold octopus and potato tower - and seafood tagliatelle, with huge green-lipped mussels, clams and shrimps.
The success of Vista y Sol has spurred on other restaurants to go gourmet this summer. An Australian chef and Italian bartender, who previously worked at hip Amsterdam eatery and hang-out, The Mansion, have shaken things up at Las Banderas. Aussie Jody cooks sun-dried tomato risotto in nori seaweed tempura, salmon sashimi drizzled with hot sesame and olive oils, and Vietnamese shrimp, vermicelli noodle, coriander and peanut salad.
Jody's other half, Ferruccio, makes mean cocktails such as apple mojitos and his own Touch of Dutch - a mix of gin and ginger ale with slices of ginger, cucumber and mint.
Previously an ordinary beach cafe, Flipper & Chiller was souped up and reopened in June by a Spanish trio of porn star Nacho Vidal, his artist sister and a fourth-generation restaurateur who owns one of Barcelona's top restaurants, Cal Pinxo.
They painted the building sugar-pink and bright green, and decorated the walls with columns of mirror and mosaic. It may sound OTT but in the blazing Balearic light it really works.
On the sunset side is a lounge area with daybeds and cushions shaded by billowing muslin drapes. Four feet above the sand, 20 yards from the sea, dinner starts and ends here with mojitos and shots of semi-frozen apple and peach Ibizan liqueurs.
On a menu that includes four different carpaccios - oxen, cod, shrimp and duck, and perfectly cooked rustic paella, make sure someone tries the tuna. Sourced from the same people who supply El Bulli, it comes as tartar with nori seaweed or diced with tomato and avocado concassé. As a refreshing finale, try kitchen garden strawberries in mint-infused yoghurt.
If you need a break from 21st-century beach dining, the Es Arenals café-restaurant serves great chipirones (baby squid in crunchy batter) and grilled squid with chips and salad. And there's still Piratabus, one of Formentera's original chiringuitos, (beach-side shacks) serving cold beer to a soundtrack of Bob Marley and Eric Clapton.
· Vista y Sol, Km10.7, Platja Mitjorn (0034 971 328 485, Vistaysol.com) Flipper & Chiller, Es Arenals, Platja Mitjorn, no telephone. Las Banderas, Km8.7, Platja Mitjorn (+606 64 4832).
