This is a restaurant in “my” neighborhood in San Sebastian. It is on the steep narrow road that takes you to Monte Igueldo, where rests with the most spectacular view of the Concha Bay the Monte Igueldo Hotel (my house in San Sebastian).
It offers classical Basque cuisine and has a fantastic wine list, more than 100,000 labels are on offer at prices you think you are dreaming with your eyes open.
The clientele is at this time of the year (February) locals who want to enjoy good local food and excellent wine. In addition to the restaurant, there is a separate area for drinking wine.
Thi sis not a fancy restaurant, but the locals in San Sebastian are a demanding lot. So here we have a delicious amuse, fried vegetables and a cheese croquette.
The first dish is artichokes with fresh duck liver. The hollow area of the cylinder has been filled with a light bearnaise sauce. The liver is just divine, it melts in the mouth, full of discrete sweet flavors and juices. The texture is smooth and it surrenders to the slightest movement of the tongue. The artichokes full of gentle acidity, dressed in the light bitterness of its flesh. The sauce acts as a universal agent of redemption, smooths out the contrasting tastes and united we all go to heaven!
The following dish is an act in extreme discretion, as it is the cheeks (kokotxas in Basque) of hake (merluza in Spanish) lightly cooked in olive oil and parsley. The discretion is required when cooking the sensitive velvety flesh as it may disintegrate and break into pieces. thankfully this did not happen in my plate, the cheeks were perfect, the taste of the sea rushing into the mouth cavity, just as the rough waves down the cliff crush against the rocks. The gelatinous pieces had released their gelatin in the sauce, which was balanced and delicious.
The best way to end this meal was a plateau of cheese from the land. I will never learn the names, but I believe that the Basque country produces some of the best cheeses in the world.
My menu choice was the “Tuto Crudo”, meaning “Raw all the way”. This would highlight the qualities of the ingredients and the synthetic ability of the chef, as his contribution to the dish would be primarily the synthesis of the ingredients.
The first dish was oyster with potatoes and red onion ice cream with a leaf of chocolate.
I now come to one of the absolutely fabulous dishes of the evening and my entire life as a food lover. Frozen sea urchin eggs with cod tripe. What a pandemonium of tastes, aromas and all of them encased on the tender silky texture of the cod tripe!
What followed was another absolute masterpiece, cuttlefish tagliatelle with pesto of nori seaweed. The cuttlefish was tender and tasty, drassed in the incredibly rich in aromas pesto of the nori! Heavenly, heavenly, heavenly!
We stayed on the scampi family, the next dish was scampi in their shell, with tamarind. I confess I am crazy for scampi in their shell, with minimal add ons, as you can really taste the sea in all its glory!
The next dish combined surf and turf, with glorious mouth melting smoked lonzino (a type of cured ham) accompanied by raw leerfish (lecchia), and pears soaked in grapa!
As we approach the end, leerfish is again on the menu, this type with coconut milk and olive oil!
The last dish of the menu was “esquisada di baccala”. Raw cod chunks (salted cod from San Sebastian in the Basque Country, quite possibly the best in the world), with potatoes, pendolini tomatoes and basil.This is a hymn to primary ingredients of the best quality, as the cod’s texture is supplemented by the sweetness of the potatoes and the incredible acidity of the small tomatoes that have been blessed by the volcanic soil of Vesuvius.
The tirami-sou that followed was deconstructed and absolutely fantastic! The mascarpone was intense and ever present, the cream golden and thick, the chocolate dressed in coffee chunky and bitter! A caramelized wet biscuit on top provided the necessary absorbing agent.No cake needed!