Rioja trip report (plus San Sebastian, Bilbao, Pays Basque)

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
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Just back from a great trip to Spain and wanted to provide a few notes in case anyone is planning a trip. We spent two nights in Rioja, driving up from Madrid, before moving on to San Sebastian. A first note on the wines, we uniformly were not impressed by the wines we tasted at the wineries, mostly too young and/or without the benefit of time to breathe… at the same time, we uniformly DID enjoy the wines we had with meals in restaurants.

We made a first stop at the Donostia Vivanco wine museum, which is a beautiful place, worth stopping at just to see their lovely grape sculpture and window towards San Vincente de la Sonsierra and Briones in the other direction.

The museum itself has some wonderful artifacts, but most of the information is fairly basic wine knowledge (understandable). It still makes for a nice stop just to see some of the old winemaking equipment and accouterments. No photos allowed inside, though, so no evidence to share on that front! They did pour an enjoyable glass of their crianza at the end of the visit.

Our first full winery stop, the next morning, was at Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia which was simply incredible with its history, traditional Rioja approach, layers of mold and cobwebs, custom barrel coopering, everything. And the stunning modern tasting room by Zaha Hadid is really a spectacular contrast to their old buildings - it shows they are open to new ideas while maintaining the traditional approach. As a bonus, our very good guide has the best eyebrows I have every seen! Truly a great experience, though I must say I was not impressed with the two wines they poured - the blanco had some nice age on it, I think it was a 1999 though I forgot to take notes, but was served much too cold; they also served their most recent tinto reserva, which still came across as too young and would have benefitted from some airing out (they didn’t open the bottle until we got to the tasting area at the end of the visit). They did have a good selection of older wines to buy, but the prices were on par with what you can find in the states at retail, given the poor dollar right now.

We did a tour at Remelluri, mainly because I wanted to buy some of their remarkable blanco, only to find out at they end that they don’t even have any bottles on site to taste or buy - they sell through it all immediately upon release. The visit was nice, the buildings have a lovely old villa style and the scenery is fabulous. They poured a 2005 reserva (tinto) that was not impressive at all, again popped and poured and would have benefitted from some air - why don’t wineries plan ahead for tastings like these? (Luckily, we were able to find the 2006 blanco at Akelare for lunch outside San Sebastian - fabulous stuff, I just ordered a few more bottles from Grapes of Norwalk when I returned)

Then the polar opposite experience of Lopez de Heredia was Bodegas Baigorri - ultramodern in approach, architecture, everything. An impressive tour, and a lovely tasting experience with a spread of jamon and other treats. Fascinating to contrast those two winery experiences. Again, not impressed with the wines they poured, a crianza and a blanco.

We also made a quick stop at Bodega Ysios to take in the splendid architecture (by Calatrava). They appear to be very “marketing” focused as opposed to “winemaking” focused, but the setting and architecture are well worth a quick stop.

Finally, we stayed at the hotel attached to the Marques de Riscal winery. I honestly had no interest in touring or tasting there, but the hotel is spectacular, amazing, wonderful (one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had as well). Frank Gehry was the architect, clearly his signature style (same as Guggenheim Bilbao, Chicago’s Pritzker Pavilion, Disney Hall in LA,…).

Rioja overall is a fabulous place to visit for a couple days, fairly compact if you concentrate on the area between Logrono and Haro, lovely scenery, spectacular architecture, interesting winemakers, and some very good wine at basically retail prices at the local restaurants. I’ll post more on the food and wines by meal later (already did over at egullet and another wine board), but wanted to focus on the wineries for this post.

All the photos from the trip on flickr at http://bit.ly/90LJp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Thanks Brad for the beautiful pictures plus no doubt helpful hints, as many of us have traipsed all over France and Italy but have little knowledge of this part of Spain.

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AMAZING!!! Thank you for sharing your fantastic pictures! flirtysmile

One day, one day.

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Brad, check this out. Edmonton Art Gallery to reopen soon.

http://www.nesw.ca/studiosavant/uploaded_images/AGAbuilding-726247.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Very cool, Gehry’s style sure makes for a great visual experience with the building and its surroundings. I’ll post some Guggenheim Bilbao pics in a bit…

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OK, now on to the food…

I’ll start with a quick recap of our meals in Rioja, with the preface that the food in Rioja was very good, but paled considerably in comparison to San Sebastian (nothing shocking there).

Best meal in Rioja: Asador Alameda, Fuenmayor
We expected the incredible steak, like none you will find in the US in its earthiness and, yes, incredible fat. What we did not expect was the artistry of a fabulous lobster and seafood salad course, or the delicacy of a simple gazpacho amuse, or the depth of flavor in the croquettas, which were like tasting a heavenly cloud of potato and ham. Great meal.
Here’s the steak - chuleton de buey:

The croquetas, the wine, a “mixed” salad:

The Finca Valpiedra was very nice, smokey, deep, typical Rioja.
Finally, the master at work on the grill:

Runner-up: Hector Oribe, Paganos
More creative, but also less “of Rioja” as many of the dishes would not be out of place in a progressive US restaurant. The pigeon and duck dishes we had were both perfectly cooked, tremendously flavorful. Lovely foie gras. Delicious zucchini “ravioli” stuffed with suckling pig (I think). And an incredibly good rendition of cheesecake for dessert! Very enjoyable meal. We enjoyed a Rioda Reserva and an R blanco (rueda).
A lovely lobster salad:

A fabulous pigeon:

The wine:

The wine “list” was clever, if not completely thorough (lacking years)…

Good stuff: Pintxos on Calle Laurel, Logrono
We hit Logrono for Pintxos on a Sunday night and loved the experience of partaking with the locals. Mostly traditional (vs. San Sebastian’s more inventive pintxos scene). From simple mushrooms to jamon iberico. A highlight though was a rustic foie in pedro ximenez, served with a nicely sweet Marques de Caceres Satinela “semi-dolce.”
The foie:

The mushrooms:

The scene:

Don’t bother: La Posada Mayor de Migueloa
Maybe not quite a tourist trap, but not much better in my opinion. The simple white asparagus saved the day. Their house wines are not bad, but nothing to write home about.

Other places we would have loved to have hit but couldn’t make - Casa Toni, El Portal del Echaurren in Ezcaray.

Next up… San Sebastian.

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Continuing on from Rioja… as good as Asador Alameda in Fuenmayor was, we had a feeling, a strong feeling, that the meals would get better as we traveled to San Sebastian.

Our plan was for three “big” lunches - Akelare, Etxebarri (on the way to Bilbao) and L’auberge Basque (over the border in the hills in France) - followed by pintxos for dinner each night back in town. I’ll go into detail on each meal, but first a bit of background: choosing where to eat was very difficult - with Mugaritz, Arzak, and Berasetegui all getting serious consideration. In the end, I heard way too many negative comments about Mugaritz. Etxebarri was the most uniformly lauded, so that was an easy call. And Akelare sounded like the closest thing to a sure bet amongst the rest, with the view giving it an edge over Arzak for the experience. L’auberge Basque was a bit out of left field, but the idea of driving up into the hills in France for an up and coming 1 star chef was very appealing. As well as the thought that Arzak and Akelare might be a bit too similar to do on consecutive days. The three restaurants we ended up with all delivered fabulous meals, as did the San Sebastian (and, to a lesser extent, Bilbao) pintxos scene. The big lunch and pintxos dinner approach also worked well - no way could I do an Akelare for lunch then another major sit down meal for dinner (though in reality, I might have eaten almost as much grabbing various pintxos, and definitely consumed more foie in pintxos bars than at any one sit down meal!). So in the end, our planning seemed to be good.

First up, Akelare. The drive up to Akelare from San Sebastian offers some stupendous views, first back over San Sebastian from Monte Igeldo, then out the ocean, then, on the other side of the road, the green valleys and hills inland. The property is nestled atop a cliff overlooking the ocean - spectacular view - but the property is currently in a state of construction under and around the main restaurant, marring the view slightly. They were not working on the construction while we were there, and I imagine they make a point of not interrupting diners, which will make for a very slow project (building out a small luxury hotel around the restaurant). The main dining room is fairly sparse and modern, with the focus on the large glass windows and their view of the seas.

Two “degustation menus” were on offer, as well as a la carte, and our table of four decided to go with two of each of the two tasting menus. One was titled “Aranori” and one “Bekarki” though there was no clear reason for that.

To sum things up, spectacular, creative, delicious, stimulating, decidedly Spanish. A few of the dishes were revelations (wild mushrooms with “egg noodles” and the vegetable “ravioli” come to mind), a few were stronger in concept than in delivery though still very good (“peach in syrup” and the first few bites of the “milk and grape in parallel evolution”). Nothing really disappointed. Service managed the nice balancing act of professional and friendly. The wine selection was very good, and we focused on options from nearby Rioja - choosing the spectacular Remelluri blanco and a very nice, big, deep, smoky Izadi Seleccion 2001.

Here’s the rundown of courses with very brief commentary:

Amuses:
Gazpacho shots: perfect, exceptional, incredibly smooth and bright
Lolipop!: another simple visual treat, playing with the idea of a savory take on a candy form

Bonbons: Zurrukutuna (cod with garlic), Black Pudding Rollers, Oysters eaten with Shell, Artichoke and Almond “Polvoron”: What a visual treat. The oysters in edible half shell (white cocoa if I remember correctly) were spectacular bursts of the sea, the black pudding rollers were sinful little debbie bites of goodness.

Crab and its Coral: stunningly beautiful and delicious, a warm crab claw and cold crab surrounded by miniature “false” vegatables - a horseradish shaped from horseradish gel that served as a perfect foil for the cold crab, a mushroom made of mushroom meringue, and a real miniature cucumber so tart.

Little Pearls and Porous Foie Gras, Toasted Peanut Bread: melt in your mouth foie in two unusual forms, small pearls and what must have been a liquid nitrogen frozen foam that had a cold crunch at first before melting into familiar foie decadence.

Mollusks in the Net of the Fisherman: another visual stunner, another dish that popped with the essence of the sea, using dried tiny shrimp for texture, garlic powder based net, and a tremendous assortment of perfectly cooked mollusks - the razor clams being my favorite.

Prawns and French Beans cooked in Orujo Fire: prawns flambeed in Oruju tableside, simple and delicious with a nice tinge of burnt crispiness around the shells.

Wild Mushrooms and “Egg Pasta”: a seemingly simple dish that was among my favorites, the incredible mushrooms playing with the soy (and sesame?) puree, extruded egg whites and yolk “noodles” adding richness and balance, strong hints of Japanese cuisine here

Vegetables Ravioli: pure, intense, beautiful vegetables centered around an indulgent melt in your mouth lardo ravioli, wow.

Red Tuna with Onion Threads and Roasted Peppers: when the elements of this dish were combined in one bite, it really really worked nicely - the rare firm tuna, the rich smooth pepper puree, the crisp and sweet onion - perfect.

Integral Red Mullet with Sauce Fusili: maybe the least successful savory course in my mind - though I did love the fish stock reduction coating the mullet (thus, integral) - as the gelled fusili sauces were a bit more strange than good, and their texture did not add to the dish.

Roasted Baby Pig with Tomato Bolao and Iberian Emulsion: wow good, tender meat, crisp skin, sweet apple sauce that started as a thick jelly then melted into the emulsion - a lot going on and it all came together beautifully.

Loin of Lamb roasted in “Live Coal”: cool idea - black squid tempura coated vegetables that look like coal under the lamb - really really nice.

Milk and Grape, Cheese and Wine, In Parallel Evolution: I just love this conceptually, the notion of milk and grapes in a paired progression. The first two bites set up the concept but really don’t deliver a great bite - but the next three are all seriously excellent - the idiazabal with membrillo, the torta del casar with pedro ximenez soaked raisins (WOW WOW WOW), and the roquefort ice cream, all incredibly crave-worthy.

Xaxu and Coconut Iced Mousse: just delicious, the smooth coconut mousse was fabulously good.

“Peach in Syrup”: better concept than delivery in my opinion - what looks like a peach is spooned out of a jar of syrup onto the plate, but a tap of a spoon reveals it to be a (beautiful, perfect) edible shell containing a peach puree. Certainly a visual impression, but I just didn’t care too much for the end product.

Another Apple Tart: a delicious apple cream mille-fueille topped with extraneous white cocoa “paper” with printing on it - very good, but the “paper” was simply overkill.

Chocolates, Pear Leather cover: Again, like the apple tart, this dish suffered a bit from an extraneous gimmick - the pear “leather” sealing a bowl of delicious chocolates.

With dessert, we also enjoyed delightful glasses of Jorge Ordonez Malaga Old Vines #3, fabulous, pure orange blossom and honeysuckle. What a way to end a beautiful meal with a beautiful view.

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And now on to L’auberge Basque, http://www.aubergebasque.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, a Michelin one star with a young chef who trained under Alain Ducasse - Cédric Béchade, 32. My parents read about the restaurant in Travel and Leisure, where the chef offered this lovely summary of his philosophy in the kitchen - “Every menu is built around the idea: Take what’s best, right now, then take something traditional, something of this place, and then figure out how to make them modern together.” They have an open kitchen, which we were lucky enough to be seated by, and the chef was meticulously finishing the plating for every beautiful dish that went out of the equally beautiful kitchen.

The restaurant is located in tiny Helbarron St Pée sur Nivelle, 7 km from St Jean de Luz, a bucolic drive out into the French Pays Basque hills. The dining room is modern and visually clean, attached to an old rustic farmhouse converted to a modern inn, and the dining room has a large wall of windows opening out onto the green countryside, farms and hills. A lovely setting for a fine meal. There were several menus on offer when we arrived - a three course set menu for 25 euro, a four course for 38 euro, plus a la carte or a larger menu degustation. Well, the first two were too good a deal to pass up - we ordered two of the three course menus and two of the four course menus, no overlapping dishes, for the four of us.

This was a meal marked by creativity, bridging Basque, Spanish and French influences deftly and artfully. The chef’s meticulous nature is evident on every plate. And it is a true bargain at those special menu prices.

The room was full with what appeared to be locals to the area, but this place is definitely worth seeking out, even from San Sebastian about 40 minutes away. The service was a mixture of polish and youthful inexperience - after I got home, I read about their lauded sommelier and noticed his photo - for some reason, he was helping out with the service, but was not the one who came to our table to discuss wine (nor did he stop by to help refill our empty glasses on a few occasions). I’m willing to overlook those issues though for such a promising meal at such bargain prices, especially as the culinary highs were so very high. Two of the dishes on these affordable menus may have bested anything we had at Akelare - on par at least, if not better. Nothing we tasted was less than very good, and the Basque touches made for a meal that you simply won’t find in Paris or New York.

So here’s the rundown with brief commentary on each dish:

Pepper popcorn and blood sausage crisps: At least I think the crisps were blood sausage, a common Basque treat. The popcorn was crisp and enticingly peppery - from local Piment d’Espelette.

Amuse - tuna fish with pepper jelly: Very interesting, the clear gelatinous pepper jelly had an off-putting texture, but the flavor came together so nicely with the tuna fish when spread on a piece of good crusty bread.

Green apple and berry gazpacho with foie gras mousse and vegetable chips: This may have been the dish of the trip, rivaling anything at Akelare or Etxebarri. A fabulous marriage of flavors, textures, colors. The light mousse flavored with foie gras was buried under the gazpacho, adding a rich creaminess to the sharp acidity and sweetness of the fruits. Vegetable chips, basically like the packaged Terra chips (that’s good in my book!), added a welcome crunch.

Le Marmitako des pecheurs, refroidi aux Txakoli, patates douces au piment d’Espelette (tuna a la Marmitako (a Basque stew), cooled in Txakoli, with sweet potatoes and Espelette pepper): Simply wonderful and perfectly of the area.

Le Merlu de Ligne de Saint Jean , au the Lapsang Souchang, pomme fondant au persil, piment doux de Gernika (Line caught Hake St. John, with Lapsang Souchang tea, potato and fondant of parsley and Gernika sweet green pepper): another amazing, incredible dish of elegance and beauty. The fish medallions were perfectly cooked, tender with just the right firmness, a delicate tea sauce underneath, and a gorgeous and enticing green and white layered “fondant” of sweet green Gernika peppers and potato. Again, as good as anything at Akelare, which is saying a lot.

Lamb loin with polenta, red and spicy green peppers: The rich meat paired well with a creamy, grit-like polenta, and a mixture of flavorful peppers. Very good.

Cheese course, les fromages: a nice selection of cheese, both local and from further afoot. Always love a good cheese course - these cheeses were clearly well taken of.

La Reine Claude, poelee au mielle de Bruyere, gaztanbera et gaufre au thym (“Queen Claude,” plums cooked in heather honey, crepe with gaztanbera cheese and thyme): this one didn’t do too much for me, not bad, but nothing too impressive either beyond the visual delight of the formed crepe.

Peach with cheese ice cream and almonds: Now this one was good, the cheese ice cream (one form or another of which appeared on our meals at Akelare, here and Extebarri, all fabulous renditions) was a perfect foil for the sweet poached (I believe) peaches with crisp almond and firm whipped cream.

Coffee and a few more sweet treats: we had this outside on the beautiful patio with a view of the countryside, delightful.

For the wines, we asked for local or regional suggestions and enjoyed a very interesting Domaine Arretxea Irouleguy 2007, a local tannat blend that was earthy with nice dark fruit, also a very enjoyable viognier-like Riente Albarino 2006. The wine menu was a nice mix of (mostly pricey) French and (mostly affordable) Spanish wines!

Up next… Etxebarri!

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Continuing our journey…

The meal I was most excited about on this trip was not Akelare, it was Etxebarri, out in the countryside in the tiniest of tiny villages, Axpe. Maybe it was Anthony Bourdain’s visit on “No Reservations: Spain” that made the notion of a meal at Etxebarri seem so important, so anti-establishment, so … delicious. (at least three other tables, Americans and Canadians, were all there because of Anthony Bourdain - Etxebarri surely owes him a share of receipts) Or maybe it was the relentless accolades I kept reading, or my friend who went there a few months ago and said I should go there twice and forsake another meal somewhere else. I mean, this is a place in the middle of nowhere, the tiniest little village somewhere between Bilbao and San Sebastian. A place in the middle of nowhere that is literally a pilgrimage stop. A pilgrimage for foodies, especially those baptized by St. Anthony Bourdain, shown the gospel of a fanatical man who invented his own grills and instruments, meticulously experimented with different woods and coals to find the perfect match for each dish. In any case, I tried to dampen my own extreme expectations, because I know when expectations are too high, disappointment is sure to follow. So, dampen, dampen, dampen I did, to the point that I was expecting something simple, something good, yes, but something simply good. Well… that was blown away when course number two arrived. But that’s getting ahead of myself.

The road from San Sebastian to Etxebarri is not the most scenic in the world, at least compared to the road to Akelare or the road to L’auberge Basque. Yes, it starts with rolling hills, and ends under looming mountains, but in between is a whole host of industrial no man’s lands. On top of the warehouse row barrage, there was a barrage of rain pouring down on our car throughout the drive, deep heavy clouds shrouding the view of the mountains most of the time. The rain continued throughout the meal, though we were happily ensconced inside the old stone walls of the restaurant and didn’t really care about the outside world by that point. Axpe appears suddenly after many turns that lead you to believe you must be going the wrong way. First, a single farmhouse, then a quick collection of four or five stone buildings, a church, a courtyard, Etxebarri. That’s about it. We parked, made a dash through the rain, walked through the awkward dimly lit downstairs bar, up the stairs, and into what is many insist is one of the great temples of grilling in this world. And so it began…

Amongst the four of us, we chose to do three of the 12 course tasting menus and a smattering of other dishes to enable us to try a few more things. Foie gras, grilled grouper, a beef filet to compare against the bone in steak. Keeping my mind on simple was easy at first - the menu reads exactly this:

Handmade chorizo
Handmade smoked butter
Tomato
Grilled goose barnacles
Grilled Palamos prawn
Grilled mussels
Grilled frog’s legs
Grilled baby squid
Grilled salt cod
Grilled beef on the bone
Wild fruit infusion, fresh goats cheese ice cream
Figs, smoked milk ice cream

Simple, right? Grilled this, grilled that. A tomato. Butter. Chorizo. What could be more basic? And the chorizo kept up the illusion momentarily. It WAS simple. It was good, yeah, but simple. Chorizo on bread.

And what we were drinking? Local txakoli, Itsas Mendi. Simple again, good and simple. We ended up ordering a second bottle just to make sure it was still good. All of 18 euros.

Then course number two came. Handmade smoked butter. Now the whole simple notion started to unravel a bit. Butter, yes. Smoke, sure. And then we took a small tentative bite. A bit of butter, a bit of the flakes of breadcrumb, a bit of… grilling heaven. The smoke intensity was phenomenal, the butter flavor clear and rich, the salt and the slight crunch of the breadcrumbs providing the necessary texture. Stunning. Mind altering. Butter. Simplicity be damned.

So now my expectations were blown away. The courses that flowed over the next couple hours mostly (mostly) validated the accolades. This is a cuisine, an approach, a restaurant like no other I’ve ever encountered or am likely to encounter again. This chef is not after Michelin stars or celebrity, he is after perfection, a very specific form of perfection where fire meets pristine ingredients from the nearby countryside and shore. He’s on to something.

So I’ll now launch into the blow by blow account of each course.

Tomato: I’m not sure what this was exactly. Well, it WAS a tomato. A more sincere and elevated taste of tomato has never crossed my lips. Superb.

Foie gras: This was very good foie gras. Nothing crazy, nothing particularly distinctive, but very good, and a very large portion.

Grilled goose barnacles: Percebes. Scary looking little boogers. My wife wouldn’t touch the stuff, the more for me. These are among the most immaculate tastes of the sea one can find, firmer than an oyster, brinier than a scallop, cleaner than a clam. Taking them apart was delightfully easy, and the reward inside was simply lovely, despite the mean outward appearance.

Grilled Palamos prawn: Yes, this is among the most perfect prawns served in the world. Break off the head, suck in the deep rich juice, dig in to the tender, slightly smokey meat. Yes. Simple perfection.

Grilled mussels: After two dishes that literally were simplicity themselves, the mussels arrive with an incredible, sweet carrot sauce that again blows your expectations away. Knockout.

Grilled frog’s legs: OK, I’m not sure I “get” frogs legs. I know these were really good frog’s legs, but to me, they are basically skinned chicken wings. The crunchy garlic on these was really nice, and, yes, I finished my own portion and my wife’s. They were good, but not something I would order on their own.

Grilled baby squid: Now squid, I like. It’s a dish that can go horribly wrong when not cooked just right. Too rough, too rubbery, too chewy, too bland. This was the perfect baby squid. Seriously. Likely the very best squid I have ever had, and, yeah, pretty simple.

Grilled grouper (ordered a la carte): Perfectly cooked, nice crispy skin, some lovely vegetables alongside. Delicious though a bit uninspired to tell you the truth.

Grilled salt cod: By this point, frankly, we were getting full. None of us even finished this dish. It just didn’t deliver anything compelling. Based on our meal, fish is not the kitchen’s strength, though shellfish and mollusks clearly are. I even noticed that they used a much more interesting plate for this dish than for any other, compensating?

Grilled beef filet: Good. After Asador Alameda (and before the next course) this was a bit of a letdown, and that surely is due to the choice of ordering a filet vs. another cut. What did make this dish really nice though was the amazing grilled red pepper served alongside the beef. Wow. Now that was good. And when you have a bite of the beef, with the red pepper, followed by a glass of Roda I Reserva 2004… well, now, THAT is VERY good.

Grilled beef on the bone: So, our expectations dampened once again on the prior couple courses, the monstrous plate of meat for the table arrived. After the smoked butter, this was the standout dish of the meal, the most elemental meat eating experience I have ever had. A caveman moment. A carnivorous carnival. The very epitome of meat plus fire. Yeah, it was that good. Nearly blue rare in the middle, crisply and densely charred on the outside, a smokey infusion coating the meat in every bite. I doubt I will ever have a steak like this anywhere else in the world.

Wild fruit infusion, fresh goats cheese ice cream: Wow. The third amazing cheese-based ice cream of the trip and every bit as good as the others. A simple, stunning dessert.

Figs, smoked milk ice cream: Again, the man has a way with ice cream and fruit. Fabulous flavors and texture. Delightful.

Heavily sated, practically sedated, we moved on to coffee (maybe our best of the trip actually, quite good, though I don’t think he grilled it). Some almond-y, macaroon-y type cookies a perfect foil.

Etxebarri is an anomaly. There is no meal quite like this anywhere else. It is resolutely of its place, out in the countryside, sheep and cows in the field nearby. You have to be wanting what it is they do to make the trek out there, and I imagine that the vast majority of pilgrims walk away happy. Our meal was fabulous overall, a revelation at times, though a few dishes simply didn’t deliver, and I have to say that the service was spotty. We had to ask for water three times before it was brought to the table. Our meager Spanish and their meager English made communication slightly difficult, and the two women who were managing the room were fairly robotic in their actions. They seemed to be programmed to deliver each course and not divert their eyes for any other purpose. I’ve read about an Australian sous-chef who has provided great service to a number of people, but he was evidently not there the day of our meal. Also, we had hoped to see the kitchen, but there was one large table that came in an hour after us and the kitchen wanted to stay focused on their cooking rather than show off the place, even for just a minute. Understandable, yes. Despite those bumps along the way, we did indeed walk away very happy. Cherishing a unique meal. And dreaming of smoked butter.

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So, now that I’ve covered the “big” meals of the trip, I need to mention the pintxos. Pintxos is basically the Basque version of tapas. Our first pintxos experience was in Logrono, mentioned above, a decent sized town in Rioja, where the area around Calle Laurel is the main pintxos strip. The area was packed with locals, young and old, families, singles, everything. Great vibe. Basically good, inexpensive, fun, alcohol-fueled eating.

One small pedestrian street dotted with bars offering either one specialty (like Bar Angel and their mushrooms)…

These mushrooms were fabulous, heady with garlic and olive oil, dotted with a bite size shrimp on top, served on a slice of bread as most pintxos are, which was perfect for soaking up the olive oil and juice from the mushrooms.

Most of the other bars offered a more diverse menu of local delicacies and traditional bites. Here is what I thought was called “granjito,” though I can’t find a translation of that – it was basically a whole fried bird, head and beak and bones included, doused in a spicy pepper sauce. Very crispy. I had to try it, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

Pata Negra specializes in jamon iberico bocadillos (sandwiches). We tried one with queso and one with tomato and anchovy, both delicious. Also had a nice glass of Tobia Rioja Crianza here. Most of the bars offered house tintos and blancos, plus a small selection of slightly pricier wines. Pata Negra had a nice variety of Riojas and other Spanish wines.

A more modern bar called Plan B, closer to what is typical in San Sebastian, was pushing their “foie al Pedro Ximenez” and the locals inside were all digging in to delicious little plates of this – not as refined a product as you’ll get in San Sebastian, but very good.

We asked what they recommended to drink with it, and they provided a delightful glass of Marques de Caceres “Satinela Semi-dulce” - a late harvest Rioja white, not quite syrupy, very nice with the foie gras indeed.

San Sebastian is the pinnacle of pintxos, especially the Parte Vieja down by the water, old streets packed with bars and people, both local and tourists.

Many of the bars have very serious chefs, who compete to produce the most amazing little bites in town. Like Logrono, it is alcohol-fueled, fun, and an insanely good food and wine value (especially considering that it’s very easy to drop $400 per person on lunch at a place like Akelare or Mugaritz). San Sebastian departs from Logrono in the aspirations of its pintxos chefs and in the dedicated foodies who flock to reap the benefit. Over the course of three nights, we had probably 10 bars in the Parte Vieja and 4 more in the Gros across the river, an area that is more residential, where the bars are isolated islands for the most part rather than a full on pintxos district.

My favorite without a doubt was Fuego Negro, the most fun, inventive, and delicious pintxos bar we hit.

I had been advised to try their “crab, avocado, anise” which was simply fabulous – shredded crab meat mixed with “coral,” a creamy avocado mash, and a licorice ice cream with bite. LOVE it.

Of course, we had to try the foie, spectacular and another ridiculous bargain – I think it was 3 euros.

Sardine with pineapple sweet and sour, delicious.:

Simple – very good assortment of olives:

More simplicity, tomato+anchovy+garlic, made by the quality of the ingredients:

You can see that they maintain a nice balance of ingredient focus with artful and delicious combinations.

La Cuchara de San Telmo is another one of the acclaimed spots, that focuses completely on pintxos to order rather than laying out the plates that you pick and choose from.

We had a great foie, some lovely mushroom risotto, and this specatcularly good duck breast:

Taking the cake for most inventive spot was Zeruko, which had a large menu of pintxos to order and a large spread out and ready. Apparently they are one of the most awarded spots for their creative fare.

Yet another foie, this was our third stop of the night and all three offered great foie dishes:

“The Rose” - this was the most crazy, petals of fruit leather, filling of a mixed seafood salad, I think there was a lightly fried basil leaf and something tempura in there too. And drinkable rose water in the vase. Very interesting, but more a novelty than a great dish.

“The bonfire” - this was both a novelty and a very successful dish – bacalao that you lightly smoke/cook over coal at your table, a thick tartar-like sauce on toast, and a vial (not vile) of intense sea “water.”

La Cepa, famed for their jamon, which surrounds you inside… great stuff. Priciest item we had in any pintxos bar! I think it was 10 euros for the plate pictured below, still not a bad deal for jamon de jabugo. Their version of the “gilda” - olive, tart green pepper, anchovy – was perfect.

Even the beer tap is a leg of jamon…

Gandarias, hopping crowd, had a great veal solomillo here. Wish we had tried more.

Txepetxa, famed for their large selection of anchovy pintxos which is what they stick to, here are two:

Borda Berri, pork “ribs” with mushroom sauce – awesome. I think these are the same folks at Cuchara de San Telmo – similarly good menu of pintxos made to order, hard to choose from.

Over in the Gros quarter, our favorite stop was Bar Bergara. Where one of their signature dishes is their “Txalupa” (not to be confused with Taco Bell’s chalupa), which actually means boat, but in this case is a concoction of sauteed chopped mushrooms and prawns in a cava and cream sauce over a pastry “boat” with melted emmenthaler on top. We ordered a second one after the first, which was a rare occurrence given all the things we wanted to try.

More nice pintxos from Bergara, I think all three of these featured anchovies in some form, the one on the left being a tortilla with anchovies:

We also hit Hidalgo 56 in the Gros for some lightly fried prawns, and stopped in to what was once the most heralded pintxos bar, Alona Berri, but which seems to be in a bit of a decline.

Again, I can not emphasize enough that San Sebastian pintxos hopping is one of the most amazing food experiences to be had in this world. Unique, inspired, affordable, fun, and totally of the local culture. Another reason to do the Akelares and Etxebarris of the world for lunch instead of dinner!

Bilbao also has a well regarded pintxos scene, unfortunately we only had time to hit one bar, El Globo, where we had some fabulous bites, including a spectacular fried artichoke with crispy jamon and a delicious roquefort and nut pintxo – I wish we had been able to explore Bilbao’s pintxos bars to a greater extent:

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Finally, some sightseeing reports from San Sebastian and Bilbao…

San Sebastian is a wonderful, buzzing, beach and culture town, with an amazing food culture, plenty of interesting architecture, and some stunning views. Plus, it can serve as the base for exploring lots of interesting areas nearby. Some photos to give you a feel for San Sebastian:

Then the areas outside San Sebastian, the Chillida Leku scultpure garden, the mountain views, the tiny fishing village of Pasai Donibane, the very charming town of Hondaribbia… all are nearby and all make for great stops.

The town of Espelette in France, also not far away, a bit touristy, but very interesting - all about their famous peppers - and a great cheese shop, a great chocolate shop…

And driving through the Pays Basque hills…

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And now Bilbao, which we enjoyed very much, centered around the amazing Guggenheim museum, meandering along the river, surrounded by hills. Kind of like a small Madrid with its boulevards, shopping, museums. They have a very nice Mercado with all sorts of delicacies, and this is a true working market, packed with people the morning we were there.

Then back on the road…

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Wow. [welldone.gif]

Amazing meals, awesome sights. Looks like a fantastic trip - thanks for posting.

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Brad,

I want to commend you on a superlative post, actually the finest I’ve seen/read on any of the 5 BB/Forums that I post on.

Remarkable photography (you have to tell me what kind of camera you use, please!?!?!) and splendid explanations of the food and visits you had.

This is very timely as I am taking my wife to Bilboa, Barcelona and Madrid for a few weeks next June for our 10th anniversary. You have inspired me to dig even deeper. I even sent a link to your thread to my wife to read and she never ventures anywhere near a wine BB.

Thanks so much! [worship.gif]

Roy

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Piling on more praise. Outstanding report Brad. Thank you for sharing with us here. [worship.gif] [welldone.gif]

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Brad, Awesome job reporting the trip and the photos. [worship.gif] Really makes me want to make a return trip to Spain, sooner rather than later.

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Terrific report and pictures, Brad. Many thanks! [welldone.gif]

Like Roy, I’d love to know what kind of camera you’re using.

Cheers,

Brad

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Thanks all, sorry I hadn’t seen the replies since I haven’t logged on in a few days… it was a great trip all around. I used primarily a Nikon D40 with their standard kit lens, a solid entry level DSLR. I also have a Rebel XTi, but didn’t take that. Very similar camera, though I like the no-flash functionality of the Nikon better (and try to avoid using flash as much as possible). Also used a pocket point and shoot Canon Powershot SD960 when I didn’t feel like lugging around the DSLR, when you see a shot that’s not as good light quality and focus, chances are it was the Powershot and not the D40.

If you view the photos on flickr, they all show what type of camera was used (a nice feature of flickr). The set is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaplanbr/sets/72157622304177231/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Roy - happy to answer any questions you have as you plan your trip!