San Sebastián: The Food City of My Dreams

This should actually be titled, "San Sebastián: How am I so Lucky?" My always generous parents took my sister and I with them on a road trip through northern Spain and southern France in mid June. We started in San Sebastián, wining and dining to our hearts content. We then drove to Bordeaux with a day trip to Saint Emilion (wine country). On the way to Biarritz we stopped in at Dune du Pilat, which turned out to be a fantastic and spontaneous decision by my Dad. From Biarritz we drove to Santander for a night and then finished the trip in Bilbao to see the Guggenheim.

I will detail the rest of the trip and the food from all the cities in due time. But first we must focus on San Sebsastián, because Basque country in Northern Spain treated us extremely well. The food in San Sebastián is truly unparalleled. On the one hand you have casual pintxos (bite sized tapas common in the Basque region) eaten with local wine or beer that you enjoy while hopping from bar to bar. On the fine dining side, Basque country is a gastronomical epicenter with some of the most famous restaurants in the world and Michelin stars in abundance. The city and culture are enchanting. It is easy to see why this little city is held in such high esteem.

Pintxos

Our first night in San Sebastián ("Donostia" in Basque) we headed to Parte Vieja (the old city) which is a small area of pedestrian streets and tons of bars and restaurants. It is a charming area where people eat and drink in the streets, socialize and bring their families.

Feeling like locals, we engaged in some bar hopping for pintxos and wine. These pintxos may be bite sized but they pack a flavorful punch. Basque food has a lot of seafood such as octopus, sardines, and bacalao (cod). They also have jamon, chorizo, and manchengo cheese much like the rest of Spain. Below is a sampling of the many delicious pintxos we ate.

Above is grilled octopus (pulpo) and anchovies (anchoas) with sea urchin from Bar Txepetxa. Below you have a bocadillo (small snack sized sandwich) with jamon and manchengo. Other pintxos bars we visited in Parte Vieja included Goiz Argi and A Fuego Negro.

Gastronomy and Basque Cuisine

Akelare

We had two incredible fine dining experiences, starting with Akelare. Akelare was a beautiful restaurant located on a bluff overlooking the Biscay Bay. It is a three Michelin star restaurant by chef Pedro Subijana. In the pictures you can see the precision, technique, and artistry that goes into each dish.

We were given the option of three different tasting menus, among the four of us we tried all of them. I will give you just a sampling of some of the dishes we tried. First, we started with a few amuse-bouches (one of my favorite food terms), which simply means bite sized hors-d'oeuvres of the chef's choice. Then we each moved on to our eight course tasting menus with wine-parings. Here is a sampling:

Cubed Tear Green Peas- Sauteed tear peas, raw tear peas, tear peas soup. Obutato: wafter made of potatoes starch, lecithin, and sunflower oil. It disappears with the humidity

You can see the soup being poured on the potato starch "bag" holding the peas, which then dissolved and added a saltiness to the dish. Incredible.

Very thin and light Beef Tartar, New Potato Souffle and Aromatic Herb Bread

This was beautiful and also so incredibly delicious. Light and seasoned perfectly.

Hake in Seaweed Steam. Plankton and Oyster Leaf

Hake is a very common fish in the basque region. This dish was unique and delicious. The flavors of the plankton and seaweed were surprisingly mellow and instead added a nice texture and saltiness to the fish.

Squid as a Risotto, Butter Flower- Squid cut in Brunnoise. The flower melts and mixes with the Parmesan cheese, as we finish a risotto

This was not risotto at all, but in fact squid, and it was amazing.

"Xaxu" and Coconut Iced Mousse- Tolsa traditional cake. Recreated egg and almond with a side of foaming coconut ice cream

This dish looks bizarre, but oh boy it was good. My favorite dessert of the evening without a question.

Gin & Tonic on a plate- made out of a jelly (the authentic gin and tonic) a juniper sauce (the gin perfume). We were instructed to try each ingredient separately and then mix it.

It is served with a gin and tonic. I have no words.

Martín Bersategui

Unsurprisingly the name of this restaurant is also the name of the famous head chef. The restaurant was set in the hills of the Basque region. The wall of the dining room was entirely made of glass making it open and airy.

As amazing as the first restaurant was, Martin Bersategui was my favorite. The technique was impeccable and the dishes while less playful were even more flavorful and cohesive. We all had "The Great Tasting Menu" of 13 courses, yes I wrote that correctly. It was an incredible feat of fine dining that took us approximately 4 hours. And I loved every second of it. Even the bread and butter served was some of the best I have ever tasted.

A feature I really liked about the menu was that they listed the year it went on the menu next to each dish. The most recent being from this year and the oldest from 1995. Some dishes from the menu:

Lightly marinated warm oyster with iced cucumber slush and K5, and spicy apple.

The "sea mist" was quite a fun trick, I must say.

Beetroot juice and diced raw horseradish in salad, taramasalata steeped in citrus juices.

Amazingly beautiful plate and even better flavors. I also love beets and horseradish, so this was a dream come true.

Vegetable hearts salad with seafood, cream of lettuce and iodized juice

The picture doesn't do it justice. The dish was light, refreshing, and tasty. On the menu since 2001.

"The Truffle" with fermented wild mushrooms and collard greens with 'Alma de Jerez' oil.

Creamy, salty, and full of texture. This satisfied all of my taste buds.

Young pigeon, charcoal roasted at a low temperature with potato and truffle bites and forgotten vegetables.

Normally I wouldn't think I would like pigeon. But I was very wrong. The meat was gamey and flavorful. The vegetables and truffle bites accompanied perfectly.

Chocolate rock on salted quinoa, rum slush and hazelnut ice cream.

I love desserts and this one blew me out of the water. Plus there is gold on my plate.

To say that the food in San Sebastián wowed me would be an understatement. From bar food to fine dining, I was constantly in a state of satiated contentment. My only complaint is that we had to leave.