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Posts from the ‘San Sebastián’ Category

Arzak

I briefly chatted with Elena Arzak as she said goodbyes to groups of lunchers slowly trickling out the door in time for what would be American dinner. When Mugaritz invariably came up (I imagine at least 80% of foreign Arzak customers likely dined at both in quick succession) she said something curious: “They’re French.” Obviously chef Andoni Luis Aduriz is not, so she must’ve meant the food. In turn, that would imply that Arzak is more Spanish. Or should I say Basque?

As a librarian by training, I enjoy categorizing things and what designation to give these topsy-turvy restaurants is problematic in the same way that food cooked by Indians in Singapore but not necessarily found in India, confounds me. Not to eat, but to designate in tidy checkboxes.

Initially I might’ve said Arzak and Mugartiz were both Spanish because they’re in Spain. But this is Basque country. But are their ingredients overtly Basque? Kokoxtas are used at Mugaritz to non-traditional effect. Green tea, yuca and huitalacoche are used at Arzak.

 
Arzak facade

Arzak, unassuming in the same residential part of San Sebastián since 1897, lacks lush grounds, livestock or herb gardens to ogle. The restaurant is being run simultaneously by the third and fourth generations and is firmly entrenched as a local restaurant. It’s unquestionably Basque—at least in spirit.

Arzak amuses
All of the amuses, plus the corn soup with figs and morcilla, arrived at once. (I tried not to go overboard with the individual glamour shots and just focus on tasting the food. If anything, note-taking is more useful than photo-snapping because a month later I only have fleeting memories of how things tasted.) You must be quick with that camera or you’ll miss the dramatic dry ice effect created when tea is poured around the sweet-salty ham and tomato balls. On the left is a puffed yellow rice filled with a wild mushroom mousse. Displayed on the spindles are nuggets of kaitaifi-wrapped kabrarroka (this translates to scorpion fish, but I think is similar to hake) paste. I noticed the crisped vermicelli being used on at least one pintxo, maybe at Zeruko. Strawberry halves topped with rolled sardines was the most unusual combination, though the oil and sweetness worked. Fruit and fish can be friends—or at least acquaintances.

I decided on a Bierzo wine because…frankly, I’m more knowledgable about food than wine and yes, Michelin starred restaurants in Spain are where you can totally dork out on Riojas, but I didn’t want to misstep with a pricey bottle. Bierzo is more of an up-and-comer in the US, fairly inexpensive and perhaps more versatile for a tasting menu since Mencia grapes are lighter than Tempranillo or Garnacha. Plus, I recognized Descendientes de J. Palacios Petalos del Bierzo as being a forgotten wine on my to-try list from a few years ago. Bizarrely, this exact bottle was called out in a Food & Wine article about Pinot Noir alternatives I just found at the gym. The only odd thing was that on the menu it was listed as 2007 and I was brought a 2008. The presenting and tasting of the wine is usually uneventful and I’ve always secretly wished I had something more to say during the ritual. And yet I didn’t make any mention of the bottle discrepancy; it just didn’t seem worth it with the language barrier and price point (this is like a $22 wine in NYC—I think it was marked up to 40 euros at Arzak). How different could the two years really be?

Unless you ask a million questions or are privy to behind-the-scenes looks at the involved food preparation, you will never know how complex a dish is based on menu description, and not likely through taste either unless you’re a total pro.

I’m not a sensual eater (and generally hate the word sensual). I like a dish more after I understand what has gone into it, but I don’t think anyone should have to know the 20 steps and ingredients incorporated to enjoy a meal. It should work both ways even if peeks into the process add meaning.

Arzak cromlech y cebolla con té y café
Last weekend I watched the new Cooking Channel show with the dopey title, From Spain With Love, and the host was shown by the Arzaks how this dish, cromlech y cebolla con te y café, was made. Me, I only knew that onion, tea and coffee were ingredients based on the description. Now I know that the shells are made from dough of yuca and huitalacoche that puffs when fried. The foie gras nugget that sits inside was detectable when eaten—you’re instructed to quickly flip them over as not to lose the filling from the open base and eat the creation out of hand—but I missed the green tea nuance that I now know is there.

So not Basque in flavors, but completely so in conception. A cromlech, as I neither learned from TV nor from description but from the internet, is an ancient circle of burial stones. Grave markers on a plate, essentially. More morbid than playful? I thought they resembled the freakish looking Dumbo octopus.

Arzak bogavante coralino

Bogavante coralino was significant for its use of kaolin, the clay I’d also seen used at Mugaritz. I want to say that the stiff, chalky smudges were green from chlorophyll, but I can’t find any evidence of that. The sesame crisps, soft lobster meat and onion crunch provided much contrasting textures.

Arzak side salad
Many of the courses, as well as the desserts, came with little sides. I didn’t keep track of all of them, but these greens that sat atop tapioca pearls, accompanied the lobster.
Arzak mejillón y huevo espolvoreado

Mejillon y huevo espolvoreado. I completely forgot about this course. The yolk was not a yolk but an orange jellied disk made from mussels. Sometimes I think you’d need to eat each dish at least twice on separate occasions to get a true feel for them.

Arzak rape marea baja
For the fish course, I chose rape marea baja because I’d loved photos I’d seen of the monkfish paired with tropical shades and crystalline blue stars flavored of curacao. I will always order the blue thing. The flavors were very light, though, some shells mildly fishy, others sweet. The coral was tempuraed seaweed (and I was given more shells and coral on the side). I wouldn’t have noticed how light if we hadn’t swapped plates half-way through and I noticed how much more distinctive the sole was.

Arzak lenguado con mamia
Lenguado con mamia
, paired with an orange sauce and sweet red wine soaked croutons had more punch. I’m assuming the head cheese was the thin, meaty strip hidden beneath the pool of sauce. Mamia is a curded dessert, which I’m guessing (always with the guessing—I take back any earlier hesitation; this food is super Basque, at least in a way that could only make total sense if you were familiar with the original) is the thick white topping on the sole. Maybe I just liked this dish because of the sweetness; their penchant for seafood and sweeter accompaniments was new to me.

Arzak cordero con romero y curcuma con salsa
The meats, while delicately portioned, had heft. I picked the cordero con romero y curcuma. Despite the flourishes—flower petals, of course—and rosemary infused oil with red pepper sheet, this was not a wildly untraditional lamb dish, but a very good one.

Arzak jamón y esparrago
Its side was white asparagus stubs wrapped in jamon and served as tempura.

Arzak pichón asado con maíz y flor de azaha
Pichón asado con maíz y flor de azaha. The pigeon with corn and orange blossom was nearly as good. Black olives and cucumbers rounded out the flavors.

Arzak side
A side salad with a little pigeon leg.

Arzak sopa y chocolate entre viñedos
We said yes when asked if we liked chocolate. I don’t know what happens if you say you don’t. I suppose you’re not served the sopa y chocolate entre viñedos, a wavy bowl containing a shallow pool of strawberry soup occupied by shiny grape-like blobs filled with chocolate. An even bigger sphere of basil ice cream lies half-submerged in the pink liquid. More ice cream, I want to say chocolate, was served in the square dish.

Arzak jugando a las canicas de chocolate
Jugando a las canicas de chocolate
. More chocolate orbs, these more wizened and meatball-like in appearance. Or I should say marbles since the dish translates to “playing with chocolate marbles.” The side ice cream for this was dessert was tart, pink and dubbed “tutti frutti.” I might have guessed strawberry bubblegum.

Arzak fractal fluido
And one more. Hidromiel y fractal fluido starts with a dish of clear honeyed water. As red dye (made from vodka, carminc acid, sugar and water I discovered.  If you have free time on your hands, here’s the recipe. It’s a doozy.) is dripped onto the plate it blooms and zigzags like blood rushing into capillaries.

Arzak hidromiel y fractal fluido
The thin, lightly sweetened sauce is then spooned over chilled upright wedges of white chocolate-covered lemon ice cream.

Arzak piedra de pistachio y remolacha
Piedra de pistachio y remolacha
. Beets, pistachios and a spongy cake.

Arzak chocolates artesanos
As I mentioned in my impressions of Mugartiz, I thought it was interesting that both restaurants end with an allusion to tinkering. Mugaritz with chocolate nails poked into a flowery ice cream one, and at Arzak a full range of nuts, bolts and Lego-like cubes.

Arzak dining room

After saying goodbye, I started heading across the street to get a photo of the restaurant’s exterior despite its understated presence. When we got to the crosswalk, I realized Juan Mari Arzak was already there waiting for the light to change. I’m a horrible small-talker, and can barely make what even counts as small talk in Spanish (I’d already gathered from when the chef made the rounds during lunch that he didn’t really speak English—that’s more Elena’s role) but it’s weirder to not acknowledge the person who just spent hours in the kitchen preparing the special meal you just ate.

I did muster in my so-so Spanish, “Do you live nearby?” He said “yes” and pointed up the street. I’ve always envied people who can walk to work. Maybe my eyes showed the pain of 13 years of subway torment. I was half-concerned that the elder Arzak was afraid we were going to follow him home.

“Uh, ok, bye! We’re going this way.” I may be a poor conversationalist, but I’m totally not a chef-stalker.

Arzak * Alcade Jose Elosegui 273, Sebastián Spain

 

Mugaritz

I’ve put off writing about the Michelin-starred portion of my now-ancient-seeming vacation (I already need another one!) because, honestly, if you follow restaurant blogs to any degree and even casually keep up on Spanish cuisine, you’ve probably seen countless versions of these photos before (I just chanced upon a stranger’s fresh Mugaritz batch this morning via vias on Twitter) and probably captured with more finesse. Maybe you’ve seen the potatoes that look like rocks or the haystack out front near the parking lot or maybe shots of a blogger in the pristine kitchen at Mugaritz (I didn’t ask—that’s just something nice they do). I was here, I ate this, I did this! Me too.

Mugaritz entrance

Who knows the motivations that drive the mortals paying out of their own pockets to travel to far-flung destinations, snap photos and post their uninfluential impressions online. Are they showing off, bragging? Sharing knowledge, being servicey? As the I Ate At El Bulli Pieces build to a crescendo (men named Adam are now helicoptering in? By the way, have you ever seen an IAAEBP  not written by a man? ) I can’t fault a single non-Heather Graham (is Spain considering her a VIP like Hasselhoff being big in Germany?) for wanting to document and capture a memorable dining experience, despite the lack of vintage Dom Pérignon (at least none of the last call at El Bulli missives referred to it as champers, ugh) and five dozen courses. Mugaritz may not be El Bulli–and it doesn't need to be–but common folk should also be able to indulge in blathering on about their trips to Spain. Me, I like to dork out on food.

Mugaritz dining room

And not all food bloggers and Chowhounders are starry-eyed. Mugaritz is the most polarizing of the San Sebastián upper tier. That many say the service and atmosphere trumps the food, had me a little nervous. Yes, the cooking is far more conceptual than Extebarri and even more so than at Arzak, where experimental techniques are also employed (a little more playfully), but anyone with the means to do so  should certainly experience Andoni Luis Aduriz’s food first-hand. At least once. Once might be enough for most. I would go back for a different season, if I lived closer by.

Mugaritz kitchen

I went in a little blind, not scrutinizing Flickr beforehand or knowing much about the philosophy. I’m paraphrasing a bit but when given the kitchen tour a third of the way through the meal by one of the chefs, Oswaldo, he explained that they were “focusing on texture,” a worthy sense to explore and one less prized in the West unless we’re talking about popcorn and potato chip crunch—Americans love crunch.  In parts of Asia, people enjoy the crackle of cartilage and fried bones, slipperiness of noodles and the mucilaginous quality of fermented soy. 

At Mugaritz texture wasn’t being completely favored over taste, but prioritized to some degree. In fact, I was a little surprised to hear that they don’t use local produce, but cross the French border and shop at markets in Saint-Jean-de-Luz where the vegetables are smaller, better textured and the flavor concentrated. Despite a penchant for morphing  ingredients, Mugaritz is very about nature. Once I realized this approach, my expectations shifted for the remainder of the meal and gave me a different perspective on what I had already eaten.

Mugaritz cards

You’re given the option to submit or rebel. I wonder how much the menus vary because everyone seems to rebel. “150 minutes to feel embarrassed, flustered, fed up. 150 minutes of suffering,” you’re warned. When all of the amuses started arriving at once, willy-nilly with hard to catch explanations, some in English, some in Spanish (I took the suggestion of not seeing the menu ahead of time so everything would be a surprise) we joked, “It’s working–they are trying to fluster us!” I’m high-strung, so it doesn’t take much.  But really, a tableful of treats to start has been the modus operandi at most modern Spanish restaurants I’ve dined at, not the one-by-one procession I've encountered in the US. This is when you can sit back and sip your aperitif; cava, non-vintage, if you’re me.

Mugaritz piedras comestibles

Piedras comestibles. The edible rocks with a kaolin (an edible clay, which I ate twice in this week, oddly–or maybe not for San Sebastián. I only knew what it was because a million years ago when I visited my sister after she first moved to the UK, I noticed an over-the-counter anti-diarrheal called kaolin and morphine. Did I just whet your appetite?) shell. These are served with an aioli for dipping and they’re sitting in a pepper mixture, probably the only pepper I encountered the whole spice-phobic week. Weirdly, these did not taste super-potato-like but kind of bland. Maybe it’s those French low-flavor vegetables at work.

Mugaritz cerveza de legumbres tostadas, tapa de olivas y albuias con tomillo

Cerveza de legumbres tostadas, tapa de olivas y alubias con tomillo. The warm “beer” made from toasted chickpeas and olives crafted from beans (for those who’ll never taste Adrià’s famous spherefied green olives) set the tone. The temperature and earthy, mealiness messed with the expected cold and yeasty, briny tastes.

Mugaritz cristal de almidón y azúcar manchado con praliné y coraels del buey de mar

Cristal de almidón y azúcar manchado con praliné y corales del buey de mar. I immediately started losing track of what was what—was this real sea urchin or “sea urchin?”—and stopped over-analyzing. Crackly and sweet like uni candy, I tried to enjoy the arrangements of the food as they were, not a puzzle.

Mugaritz focaccia de almidón de pueraria a la parilla

Focaccia de almidón de pueraria a la parilla. Brittle, crackle-bread skeleton, grilled and made of a powdered herb called pueraria. I don’t know what the tomato-y swipes were. Maybe a little challenging in its plainness.

Mugaritz el verdor de guisantes lágrima animado con acederas rojas y mascarpone

El verdor de guisantes lágrima animado con acederas rojas y mascarpone. Rice krispie peas without much distraction from the listed mascarpone.

Mugaritz soup progression

Sopa de mortero con especias, semillas, caldo de pescados y hierbas frescas. This broth epitomized Mugaritz for me. It was certainly some crunchy soup. Interactive dishes are tricky—how long should I pound this stuff before we move on to the next step? Sesames in your teeth, blasts of pink peppercorn, slightly bitter herbs so prominent, I barely even noticed the fish broth after it was poured. Flavor and texture.

Mugaritz shhh...muerdete la lengua

Shhh…muerdete la lengua. Ok, I do like puzzles even though I said above that I was trying to take everything at face value too. But in this case, we were told to guess the secret ingredient. Something beefy? Indeed, cow tongue had apparently been, cooked then pulled apart strand by strand (I would never have the patience to stage at a restaurant) and dried into floss. I’m crazy about meat floss, though I like mine fried, Thai-style full of chiles and shredded lime leaves. This was more purist, a little Brillo-y and it even had the dreaded flowers, while the predominant flavor was roasted garlic hidden inside the bramble. But when thinking back to Mugaritz over the course of a week, this is the dish that always came to mind first. Pretty, kind of grotesque, fanciful. I wouldn’t want to eat an entire meal of compositions like this, but I appreciated the diversion.

Mugaritz potaje meloso de pan cubierto de carne de buey de mar y geránio rosa

Potaje meloso de pan cubierto de carne de buey de mar y geránio rosa. I was not crazy about this one. Yes, yes, I’ve admitted my baby-ish aversion to flower petals in my food, but it’s purely a visual mental block. This soup, though, was completely perfumed with geranium, much worse than actually seeing petals. The shredded crab mixed with hunks of soggy torn bread created a white, floral sludge that was hard to finish. I can’t fawn over everything, right?

Mugaritz potaje de avellanas con nácar

Potaje de avellanas con nácar. Similar to boiled peanuts, but hazelnuts with crispy pearlescent candy. I would not call this a potage.

Mugaritz lomo de merluza servido en un jugo lechoso de brotes de coles estofadas

Llomo de merluza servido en un jugo lechoso de brotes de coles estofadas. From here the dishes started veering more into what I’d call food food, rich, little, elegant bowlfuls. I’m not sure what cabbage shoots are, but they were as mild as the hake

Mugaritz láminas de entrécula, emulsión de carne asada y cristales de sal

Láminas de entrécula, emulsión de carne asada y cristales de sal. A petite cut of beef from around the kidneys, the opposite of the region’s beloved txuleta, was served with an emulsified grilled meat butter that ranks right up there with Etxebarri’s smoked goat’s milk butter.

Mugaritz ossobuco royal trabado con aceite de bogavante tostado

Ossobuco royal trabado con aceite de bogavante tostado. That would be ossobuco in quotes. I originally thought this was bone marrow, but it might be tendons. Whatever the silky nuggets may be, they’ve been cooked down to a hyper-concentrated, gelatinous state and flavored with lobster oil. This is where bread comes in handy.

Mugaritz rabito de cerdo ibérico, hojas crocantes y aceite de semillas tostadas

Rabito de cerdo ibérico, hojas crocantes y aceite de semillas tostadas. The pig’s tail had been distilled to the point of two textures: opposites: gooey and crisp. Each bite pure pork. I have seen other photos of this dish with crackers on top. Maybe it’s better in its purest state?  Another surprising thing we were told when in the kitchen earlier on was that we should feel free to voice any dislikes ahead of time (I would never say flowers, though I might think it) to let them know if we wanted more of something or another course. That seemed kind of outrageous to me like when my stepsister once asked for more mushrooms on her schnitzel at The Rheinlander (she got them). I wouldn’t feel right about it, but this would be the dish for sure. I could just be an gelatinous-umami maniac because the preceding dish had the same appeal. Of course, at this point you’re not really hungry for double-portions of anything.

Mugaritz brioche helado de vainilla con agua de cebada

Brioche helado de vainilla con agua de cebada. Definitely more of a fluffy snowball than a brioche. I did not really notice the barley.

Mugaritz crema fria de limon con nabo encurtido en azucar no dulce

Crema fria de limon con nabo encurtido en azucar no dulce. White was the theme for desserts. This was lemony and served with what I thought was jicama but I’m now seeing was daikon. They both have that similar neutral crunch that could work in a dessert.

Mugaritz cucurucho de flores y clavos

Cucurucho de flores y clavos. Flowers, ice cream and chocolate nails stuck into a box of chocolate dirt. It was interesting that they contrast the delicate with the utilitarian at the meal’s end. Arzak also has a send-off array of bonbons that includes candy nuts and bolts.

Mugaritz patio

Afterward, lunchers retired to the still-sunny patio for coffee or a glass of cava—and a cigarette, the tell-tale sign that you may be surrounded by food-travelers, but not Americans.

Full set of Mugaritz photos.

Mugaritz * Otzazulueta Baserria. Aldura Aldea, 20, San Sebastián, Spain

 

La Cuchara de San Telmo

La Cuchara de San Telmo and Zeruko were the only pintxo bars I visited twice. The variety of food demanded it and both left me with the feeling that I didn’t get an adequate initial experience due to the bodies-to-open-space ratio. During the first La Cuchara excursion on a Sunday afternoon, we had to squeeze and hover until a ledge opened up and then instantly felt the pressure to free up our space (this is what it normally looks like inside). It’s a popular place.

La cuchara de san telmo facade

On a Tuesday night, though, the narrow room was practically empty. We weren’t even hungry, but had to seize the opportunity luxuriate in the relatively open space. It was just us and a motley crew of European men speaking to each other in heavily accented English about how horrible American food is because one of them was taken to a Southern restaurant where he was served fried alligator that was flavorless with batter thicker than the meat. But did it taste like chicken? More than once I overheard Europeans speaking in English about Americans customs. Of course our food isn’t all fried, but yeah, at most non-upscale restaurants the check will be brought before you ask for it.

La cuchara de san telmo foie con jalea de manzana

Foie con compota de manzana. Simple, seared foie gras with apple jelly and plenty of coarse sea salt. For 3,6 Euros? This dish sums up San Sebastián’s affordable luxury.

La cuchara de san telmo vieira toro envuelta en tocineta de bellota

Vieira “toro” envuelta en tocineta de bellota. I goofily pride myself on my Spanish food vocabulary (not my conversational skills, definitely not those). I know the words for mussels, clams, razor clams, langoustine, lobster, shrimp, soft-shell crab, crab, many fish, and spider crab and cod cheeks in Basque…ok, I’ll stop, but I had never heard the word for scallops. I just chose vieira because I liked the toro in quotes and figured it would be something playful. Um, and I could parse that there would some sort of ibérico bacon involved. Yes.

La cuchara de san telmo oreja de cerdo caramelizada

Oreja de cerdo ibérico salteada y crujiente. I will always order a pig’s ear anything if available. Spanish and Filipino preparations always get the gooey/crisp thing right, though I had never encountered an entire ear served whole like a steak. Usually, I see this cut sliced into chunks or ribbons. Maybe it’s just to disguise its original origin?

La cuchara de san telmo pulpo salteado con hojas de berza asada

Pulpo salteado con hojas de berza asada. Ok, I learned another word: berza. I hadn’t expected any cabbage on my pintxos. Charring the octopus and sautéing the greens turned both kind of sweet.

La cuchara de san telmo canelón casero de carnes de cocidos

Canelón casero de carnes de cocidos. Boiled meats doesn’t make this filled pasta tube sound so attractive, but you know it’s not going to taste like gray shoe leather. I chose it because I only wanted something small (this was on the already-full-of-foie-moriclla-and-suckling pig second spontaneous visit). One useful thing that I noted after being able to get an unobstructed view of the menu, was that you can order any pintxo as a ración, which would be entrée-sized in the US (we’re the only weirdos who call the main dish an entrée—it seems like everyone else in the world uses that for appetizers) or half that. Maybe you’d like a whole plate of canelónes?

La Cuchara de San Telmo * Calle 31 de Agosto, 28, San Sebastián, Spain


Munto

Munto isn’t a bar you read about on blogs or in travel articles. It’s “regular” (pronounced in the way I can’t do: reg quickly with a rolled R, then goo lar). I popped in because it wasn’t unbearably crowded, but not in a warning sign, stay away manner. (Never mind, that as soon as I scored a stool, a group stumbling, singing–Euro sports fans, always with the chanting–soccer celebrants took over.)

Munto interior

The selection of pintxos on the counter were workhorse, and more representative of what you might see in a corner bar in any neighborhood, which meant bocadillos, lots of things stacked on bread like at Casa Senra and plenty of room temperature mayonnaise. The amount of chopped seafood bound by the eggy emulsion sitting for hours at a time would likely violate NYC health codes, and maybe common decency.

Munto jamon, sun-dried tomato, brie & shrimp salad pintxos

We’re probably just prudes because my chopped pork  pintxo topped with sliver of jamón was good (and that wasn’t just txakoli clouding my judgment). The jamón, sun-dried tomato, brie and oregano wasn’t bad either.

Munto jamon, egg, pimiento pintxo

Tiny fried eggs (quail?) were also commonly found as garnish, this one covering pimiento and more jamón. I’ve considered throwing a pintxo party (everyone's invited!) especially since I have a slew of recipes from Pintxos de Vanguardia a la Donostia to work with. But honestly, I would probably end up putting together something like this, not the poached quail egg lollipop with baby eels from Zeruko.

Munto facade

Munto * Calle de Fermin Calbeton, 17, San Sebastián, Spain

La Cepa

La Cepa is the worn, wood-accented type of bar that just seems wrong free of cigarette smoke haze. You don't acheive that dusty patina overnight.

La cepa facade

People just smoke in the doorway, anyway.

La cepa bar

I did wonder what years of indoor smoking must have done to all of those hanging hams.

La cepa jamón de jabugo

I only tasted bursts of pure porkiness, more meaty than saline and smoothed by fat, in these slices—a media ración—of jamón Jabugo.

You won’t find dazzling culinary stunts at La Cepa. Sometimes you need a rest. We’d already spent Saturday afternoon standing and sampling pintxos and weren’t in a mood for any cerebral hours-long tasting menus, so we returned to La Cepa simply to sit down for bit and enjoy simple homestyle food. This is not a complaint, but it’s easy to fall victim to palate (and foot and stomach) fatigue on a trip like this. A similar thing happens in S.E. Asia; after a few nights and days of street food and hawker stalls in appetite-killing heat, you just want to absorb some air conditioning indoors for a meal or two. Comfort over exploration.

La cepa ensalada mixta

Ensaladas mixtas, I learned, are more than just tossed lettuce and tomato. Olives and  hunks of oil-cured tuna make it more of a meal salad. You are provided with oil, vinegar and salt to create your own dressing, but never pepper. I wonder what peppermill sales look like for Spain compared to the US.

La cepa callos

Callos aren’t Basque at all, but I was feeling like tripe instead of some of the larger beef and fish dishes that were on the menu. The blubbery, spongy ribbons were braised in a tomato-based sauce, thickened naturally by collagen, plain as that. Some recipes call for morcilla or chorizo, but this version had no more than a few bits of jamón—La Cepa is a hammy place, after all—to complement the organ meat.

La cepa magras

Neither of us knew what magras were, but James ordered it anyway. It turned out to be a cazuela of ham and eggs really; long slices of jamón and three (yes, three) poached eggs floating around in a tomato sauce that didn’t taste like the callos despite similar appearances. 

La cepa dining room

The back dining room (the bar was full of Spanish speakers glued to the big Real Madrid- Barça matches) was clearly for tourists, though not a trap. However, it was the only place I experienced big groups of stereotypical Midwesterners, two tables at opposite ends of the room filled with balding men in khakis and belt-clipped phones, who appeared to be in town for business, not gastronomy. I preferred the young Latino-looking (are there short, brown Spaniards?) couple who’d moved on from their bottle of Cava to shots. How do you say p.d.a. en español?

La Cepa * Calle 31 de Agosto, San Sebastián, Spain

La Mejillonera

Really, what’s the difference between pintxos and fast food in San Sebastián? Both serve alcohol, prepare things quickly and you can throw your trash on the floor (I did not because it feels weird).

Mejillonera duo

In the case of La Mejillonera, the distinction is more a matter of decor. The plastic, back-lit photo menu—mussels, fried calamari sandwiches and patatas bravas make up the bulk of it—just has that McDonald’s look (though not the orderliness—there are no such thing as lines; you have to force your way to the front of the counter and shout out your order loud enough to be heard).

Bar la mejionera tigres

Plates of mussels served on the half shell come with sauces like mahonesa, vinegreta and marinara. Tigre, a spicy (Spanish spicy, which is to say not at all. Like in Argentina, you won’t find pepper on the table) tomato sauce seemed to be most popular based on cries of “tigre!” being called out when ready. It’s a little messy, but it’s easier to just pick up and slurp rather than fuss with the fat wooden toothpicks.

La mejionera patatas bravas

They truly love their allioli suave. I’ve never seen this consistency or volume before and I’ve eaten a fair amount of patatas bravas in Spain and the US. The tigre sauce does double duty here.

La Mejillonera * Calle Puerto, 15 San Sebastián, Spain

 

Casa Senra

I thought I was becoming a seasoned pintxo-orderer by the time I ended up at Casa Senra, mid-way though vacation. Apparently, I still had fear in my eyes. “No tiene miedo!” said the young man behind the bar, nudging us to just pick up a plate and start plopping things on it. (Not all places are d.i.y., though, which is why I was waiting to see if another customer just jumped in or had things plated by staff.)

Casa senra bar

Casa senra anchoa pintxo

I ended up only picking one because my heart was set on a few cooked dishes. It’s amazing how much flavor can be crammed onto one slice of bread: anchovies, jamón, green pimientos, cheese and caramelized onions. I guess I should take back what I said earlier about not seeing meat and cheese together on pintxos.

Casa senra menu

Choosing with your eyes can be fun, but the more elaborate pintxos need to be ordered from the menu. Wow, I’m just noticing a wild mushroom dish with Coca-Cola sauce scrawled at the bottom.

Casa senra txampi con foie y suave ailioli

My txampi con foie y suave allioli got attention from strangers—and for good reason—the architectural wonder nearly appears to have been sealed in fondant. That is the work of the so-called smooth aioli, which is blanketing a fat mushroom, block of foie gras and a bread base in all of its emulsified glory. How can a person who can only stand mayonnaise in small doses down a creation like this? I ate first, internalized later. Basque country is no place for gastronomic mental blocks.

Casa senra montadito de txipiron pelayo y bakalao

I’m not 100% sure what’s going on with this montadito de txipiron pelayo y bakalao. In places like Barcelona, a montadito is essential a pintxo, something stacked on bread like the anchovy cavalcade above. Here, anything on anything seemed to be a montadito and I’m guessing that the bottom layer where the advertised squid (txipiron) was lurking. Its ink certainly played a role, as did the rectangle of salt cod crowned with frizzled leeks.

What I’m completely clueless about (any insight would be appreciated) is what Pelayo means. I can’t determine if it’s a region, style or breed of squid or something else, altogether. I get the sense that txipiron pelayo is a non-descriptive namesake like oysters Rockefeller or veal Oscar.

Casa senra facade

Casa Senra * San Francisco, 32, San Sebastián, Spain

 

Bergara

Bergara skewed more traditional than Hidalgo 56. To be honest, I was a little more interested in the décor than the food because even sharing two small pintxos per stop, the third restaurant is where you’re likely to start busting a gut. But the main reason my attention was divided was because the room was a charming grandma/old sea captain mishmash of nuts.

Bergara lightbox photo

Ceramic tea kettles in the shape of cats wearing dresses shared shelf space with steins painted with men’s faces. My spot on a picnic bench put me in direct view of the backlit elephant in the room. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the glowing tableau of pintxos interspersed with more bearded mugs and prancing cherubs. Luckily, I managed a quick photo before the staff turned off the light and started sweeping.

Bergara facade

Do you see a pattern forming? 10:30 pm really is the weeknight dining tail-end in San Sebastián.

Bergara txalupa & croquetas

There is that txalupa, a fritter of wild mushrooms, langoustine, cream and cava, next to two massive béchamel-and-ham filled croquetas. I told you, third meal is the dangerous meal. I didn’t know any better–croquetas in NYC are often tiny little things.

Bar Bergara * Calle General Artetxe 8, San Sebastián, Spain

 

Hidalgo 56

Bar-hopping isn’t all about la Parte Vieja, a.k.a. San Sebastian’s old town that quite possibly contains the densest concentration of pintxos bars on earth. Gros, the neighborhood across the Urumea River that’s accessible by numerous bridges (it’s not an undertaking like crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on foot) is a little lower key.

Kursaal

The Kursaal, a glowing auditorium, was on the Gros side, directly across the river from our apartment. I’d wanted to eat at the restaurant inside, Ni Neu, but it was closed the nights I had free eating time available (that sounds so creepy and regimented).

Hidalgo 56 volcán de morcilla

Nearly all newcomers (and likely, regulars too) order the volcán de morcilla. Yes, that would a blood sausage volcano. Instead of molten lava, the dark mountain of meat cut with rice, raisins and peppers is spouting a raw egg yolk sprinkled with salt. Add a swipe of apple puree and you have one complex, fun-to-eat pintxo.

Hidalgo 56 steak & torta de casar fondue

Here, four rare slices of steak covered in potato crisps are served with “fondue” of naturally ripe and runny Torta del Casar. Earlier, we had been discussing how you might eat a plate of charcuterie or cheese, but you rarely see meat and dairy combined in a dish. This was as close as we would get to our dream Spanish cheesesteak.

Hidalgo 56 facade

Hidalgo 56 * Paseo Colon, 15, San Sebastián, Spain

 

Borda Berri

1/2 Borda Berri, where I managed to squeak in just before the gate was pulled down for the evening, had a different vibe (dare I pull out the H-word?) than many other pintxos bars. For one, no one dining or behind the counter appeared to be over 30. They also had a penchant for American classic rock a la Sweet Home Alabama interspersed with Spanish-language metal.

Borda berri facade

On Saturday night, the crowds spilling onto the street–generally speaking, not just at Borda Berri–felt more off-puttingly Lower East Side, though. Screaming, glass-breaking (though San Sebastián was suspiciously free of zombie-texters, and smartphones, period). Is there such a concept as bridge-and-tunnel or fratty in Spain?

Borda berri taco de bacalao

No matter, I had time to enjoy the first “taco” of vacation. This particular taco was tempura’d bacalao with multiple sauces that I’ve already forgotten. Sauces and drizzles are to pintxos what flowers are to alta cocina.

Borda berri foie gras, plum & mustard

And a sorry photo of bread slices (if the pintxo isn’t served atop bread, you’re usually given bread on the side, which makes the three-to-four-bite concoctions feel like a real meal—plus, you don’t want to waste any of those aforementioned sauces) blocking the chunk of foie gras. The mustard was flavored with mysterious fruity ingredient that I didn’t recognize when reading the chalkboard.

 “Qué es una cireula?” I asked. “Inglés?” the gentleman behind the counter correctly assumed while pulling a menu from behind the bar. After a bit of scanning, I was told “plum” in an equally heavy accent as I imagine my “cireula” sounded to him. Ah, plum instead of apple with this foie gras.

How many of these pintxos bars have foreign language menus hidden away, I’m not sure, but the only two languages I ever saw advertised explicitly on doors—which I took as a signal to stay far away—were English and French. All other tourists are out of luck—and from what I could hear, seemed to speak pretty good English anyway.

Borda Berri * Fermín Calbetón, 12, San Sebastián, Spain