Figured its time to start a new Basque thread since the previous are getting a little stale (but useful). It may or may not have anything to do with my upcoming trip in October. Got lots of unfinished business after a family trip 7 years ago. The plan is 3 night stays in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Bidart (France).
Already secured ressies at Martin Berasategui, and Les Frères Ibarboure (where we are staying). Dont think I’ll do any more 3 star Michelin, but less than $200 pp one or two star is a possibility.
Plan is to visit Biarritz (Chéri Bibi?), Bayonne, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Took note of some of the reccos by @Maribel here.
Also planning one night in Rioja. Staying in Palacio de Samaniego. Plan to see Laguardia and Logroño and some wineries. Palacio de Samaniego has a seemingly nice restaurant but I can be easily persuaded to eat elsewhere.
Also considering a small group food tour in San Sebastian.
TIA
I’m not sure if todopinxtos is still around but if not @Maribel might have some insight or a guide about which pinxtos shops are best in San Sebastián.
I don’t think a guided tour would be worth it just find the dishes that a shop is known for and that’s about it.
I would try to make a reservation for la cuchara San telmo if possible or wait before opening. The food there was our favorite out of the old city pinxtos.
For Rioja, if you have a car or other transport, and time for a longish lunch, consider Venta de Moncavillo. It definitely falls in the under $200 pp 1-2 star category but it’s our favorite higher end place in the region. The dining room faces their extensive and beautiful garden where most dishes in the veg forward meal will be sourced from. That time of year there will be wild forages mushrooms and game from Rioja on the menu.
If you are driving to Basque country from Rioja, consider stopping at Arrea!, just across the border from Navarra near Pamplona. They focus on various preservation and slow cooking techniques of wild game, vegetables and spider crab. You select a few base ingredients and they present various parts of the animal or veg/crab cooked or prepared in a range of methods. The 110 euro tasting included three core products (we chose boar, roe deer and wood pigeon), each having 7 separate preaparations after a set of starter bites (around 15). You can also order the sets of seven preparations and other dishes a la carte.
Thanks for this. Last time we did exactly what you suggested in San Sebastian and that worked out well. While in Bilbao we took a private tour. We enjoy taking at least one tour on every trip for the experience, and ease. When the places are too busy it can be overwhelming and stressful. I’ll also consider taking a tour somewhere else, maybe even a half day driving tour if they exist.
This is great. The places look amazing. The plan is to drive from San Sebastian to Rioja in the morning, visit a winery, one of the towns, repeat the next day before driving to Bilbao. Arrea will require a change of plan, but its very tempting. Actually, thinking now, a detour on the way to Bilbao may work.
For your drive from Donostia to Rioja Alavesa (Samaniego), Arrea! would be the best change of plan, the best detour, especially for its game dishes in October, rather than Venta de Moncalvillo, which we loved and is one of the 2 very best in the Rioja region (along with Echaurren)…but V de M would be a detour south of Logroño. We’re headed to the former in July. I highly recommend both, but Arrea! actually makes more logistical sense to me to your itinerary.
As to private pintxos tours, my good friend Gabriella Ranelli of many years owns Tenedor Tours, which I would normally recommend, but her pintxos guide, Katherine is on maternity leave.
Gabriella was the local fixer for Bourdain’s Parts Unknown Basque Country, and she and her husband Aitor were featured in the program. Wall Street Journal names her one of Europe’s best culinary guides and she is Arzak’s PR person and like his second daughter. She is the most knowledgeable person you could possibly ever find regarding all things related to Basque cuisine, having been in the business for over 30 years.
Instead if Gabriella’s guides are booked, consider Culinary Backstreets, which just began food tours in both Donostia and Bilbao. They will avoid the most crowded places in the Old Quarter (which has become a madhouse) and take you to those you may not find on your own.
Or if you want another very local and very Basque food tour in Bilbao, contact Bilbao native Mikel Gómez de Urquijo at www.toursbybasques.com and tell him I sent you. He’s been our loyal guide to fine Vizcaya dining for over 20 years. And he does txakolí tours as well, as he has done for us, and he has accompanied us to many lovely countryside asadores and gourmet spots in Bilbao.
Or, if you go on your own in SS, stop at the following and brave the crowds (don’t use todopintoxos which is very outdated). Gabriella takes us to the following—we visit at least 3-4 times a year.
Old Quarter:
***Casa Urola, your first and most important stop for Pablo Loureiro’s seasonal creations
Ganbara, if you can get in when it opens
Tambo, if you can’t get into Ganbara, it is owned by the same family; same fab pintxos
Txepetxa, the anchovy temple
Antonio Bar, the new one on Boulevard with more space
Ssua Arde, in the former space of A Fuego Negro (whose chef/owner closed and created Arrea!)
La Cuchara de San Telmo will be packed so go very early or very late; ditto to Borda Berri
Ditto to Bar Néstor for snagging that uber famous slice of tortilla; it’s become nearly impossible
Have the tortilla instead at Antonio Bar
Gros:
Head straight to Bodega Donostiarra for their “Indurain” or their “Completo”. The annex across the street is their newest space.
Then continue to Bergara Bar, where the “miniature haute cuisine” pintxos phenomenon got started
Center:
Bar Vallés, where the Gilda was invented, and where Marti Buckley recently escorted Eva Longoria
Narru (1 Repsol sun) at the bar for their fabulous chistorra or dining on their exquisite txuleta or any wild fish. Iñigo Peña is one of the city’s top chefs.
La Espiga, a locals’ favorite and no tourists to speak of
You have chosen two wonderful hotels. My full approval!
The 2 best lodging choices in the Rioja D.O. (unquestionably) are Palacio de Samaniego and Santa Maria in Briones.
If you choose not to dine at the Palacio, I highly recommend an exclusive wine tour at Viñedos de Páganos (Sierra de Cantabria) in Páganos followed by lunch at El Puntido, choosing the menu with wine pairing. (tiger john, put this on your list–it’s where Emma of Mannix left to help them start their gourmet restaurant). It’s just a very short hop away from Samaniego and will be memorable. No large tour groups. https://www.sierracantabria.com/las-bodegas/vinedos-de-paganos/
For Laguardia the best lunch spot is still Amelibia.
If you need further info, my far, far too long Rioja guide (a victim of my Rioja travels since '91), has more info on wine touring, sightseeing, dining.
I’m happy as well that you chose MB for your 3-star Michelin experience. I’ve been fortunate (for business) to have dined at all of the Michelin starred SS-area temples except for Paulo Airaudo’s Amelia in the Villa Favorita, and MB was my first and the one I would most happily return to, as it has a lovely countryside setting in Lasarte. Fine choice!
Since you’ll be driving from SS to Samaniego, you won’t have the chance to dine at Bédua outside of Zumaia (featured in the movie “7 Apellidos Vascos” or in English “Spanish Affair”) but put it in CAPS for your list for next time—one of the Basque country’s finest asadores and not well known outside of Spain.
For Biarritz, do try to dine at Cheri Bibi.
If you have time for Bayonne/Baiona, please try to dine at La Table de Sébastian Gravé, our best meal in this lovely, highly atmospheric and very, very French Basque river town.
