Today we took a quick walk through the Time/Warner Center to see the restaurant area. I didn't realize they have a Bouchon Bakery there, and I cannot resist. We got the macaron assortment, nutter butter, chocolate bouchons (like brownies) and I think one other thing. I can't seem to find the photo of it.

Colleen always hosted a great Oscars party each year, and we would see lots of movies throughout the year, then try to see as many of the nominees as we could in the weeks leading up the Oscars. So it felt like old times when we went to see Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I think we both really enjoyed it.

For lunch, we reheated the duck ssam from Momofuku. It's just as delicious the second day. One of those meals where leftovers are welcome.

New York City is an absolutely unique place.

More pictures after the jump...>>>

The amuses bouches were themed around celery. Incredible amount of detail in the presentation. Gorgeous. However, for me, celery is not an ingredient that gets a guest excited to eat. I know, Ferran says that all ingredients are equal. But no one, and I mean, no one, would ever say that celery is their favorite food. Sure, it can be crunchy and refreshing and tasty in it's own way, but no one loves celery. For instance, if they revealed celery on Iron Chef as the secret ingredient, both chefs would say, "Awww, crap." It might be an interesting intellectual exercise, and definitely a challenge to create dishes featuring celery. But ultimately, while everything was prepared well, in my humble opinion, I don't think it performed the usual role of the amuse, which is to set the tone of the meal, excite the appetite, etc.

They have a three course price fixe that seemed easy and appropriate. The photos aren't great because of the candlelight and lack of flash, but here is my sturgeon appetizer.

Colleen wisely chose seared foie gras, with caramelized pineapple.

For my entree, I got the tasting of rabbit dish which was a tiny rack of rabbit with hedgehog mushrooms, stuffed saddle of with asparagus, and braised shoulder torteloni with rabbit jus. Really tasty. Photo not so good.

Colleen again wisely chose seared tuna, with fennel and tomato chutney?

Tonight's dinner took on the air of a contest, with Colleen in the lead so far (Foie gras! No fair! Ha ha). She zeroed in on the mango dessert to cement her victory. I asked the captain, "Is there a dessert that is better than the one she is getting?" We all had a chuckle, and he brought me two desserts to try and close the gap. Very nice of him to do that.

The one in the foreground is a chocolate cake with a molten center, and the other is chocolate and hazelnut, but my recollection is foggy. Both delicious, but Colleen still pulls away and takes the prize for the better meal. Damn!

For brunch on the last day of my trip before heading back to LA, we met Colleen's mom at Whym, just a block away from where we were staying. There was some half marathon or something that was messing up the traffic in the area. It's a nice local restaurant. Grandma Valerie got Huevos Rancheros with Chicken Tinga. Colleen took the recommendation of breakfast strata special, and I could not resist the biscuits and gravy.

To cap off my overindulgence, Apple Pie Egg Roll for dessert. GV got the more reasonable Berries and Cream.

The Campbells have always been so gracious to me, and as further proof, Amy had already made arrangements with the restaurant to take care of the bill - but she was out of town!! Not even in attendance, and picking up the check. I'm a lucky guy.

It was great to catch up with Grandma Valerie and Colleen, They are generous hosts and great people. Thank you so much!!

Now, back to LA!

Since we were getting the whole meal, it comes with two sides - for the first we chose the housemade pickle plate. Included clockwise from the right are beets, kim chee style radish, sunchokes, cucumbers, fennel, baby carrots, kim chee nappa cabbage, and shiitake mushrooms. Hidden in the back are small white radishes, fuji apples, green peppers, and cauliflower. A window makes for much easier picture taking! It was a bit overcast today, so it was diffused white light from the right making everything look pretty.

Our second side was stir fried greens in XO sauce. XO sauce usually has dried shrimp and/or dried scallops, chilli paste, soy, garlic, sesame, and shallots. Salty and delicious.

The garnishes for the duck arrived next - butter lettuce, then from the top right, crispy shallots, duck fat with ginger and scallions, sea salt, hoisin sauce, and Korean style chili paste/sauce. Also, to the left a damn good ginger beer, non-alcoholic.

The main event after the jump...>>>

Regardless of whether it is from whole ducks or cooked on a rotisserie, this was fun and delicious. Sort of multi-Asian crossover in the sense that they serve Mandarin pancakes with duck (Chinese), as well as lettuce and herbs (Vietnamese and Korean) for wraps, plus a more French technique of adding a sausage under the skin of the duck breast. The duck itself and the sauces are all well seasoned, featuring big flavors. My only quibbles are that the pancakes were a bit greasy, the duck skin could be a little crispier, and the rice came pre-sauced with a significant amount of the duck fat/ginger/scallions mixture, which was tasty, but just very heavy. Usually rice is lean and can moderate big flavors and fatty mains, but being so heavy, it wasn't a good foil to the other components. Just my humble opinion. We loved it, and we took every bit of it home for our lunch the next day.

Stupid I had neglected to charge up the camera battery, so I don't have photos for the afternoon. We stopped in to Milk Bar across the street, and to walk off our lunch we hoofed it over to Eataly. It's fantastic! A showcase of any and all aspects of Italian cuisine. There's a bakery. There's a fresh mozzarella bar. There's a produce stand where they will chop your vegetables up as you choose, almost like a fish counter where they clean the fish for you, or a butcher shop where they will prepare the meat as you wish. Genius!! There's a counter featuring cooked veggies, an espresso stand, a gelateria, a pizzeria, a fish monger, a place to eat cooked fish and seafood, a butcher counter, an aisle of dry pasta, an aisle of tomato and other pasta sauces, an aisle of olive oil, and it goes on and on. Salumi, cheese, pannetone, candy, beer garden, sandwich bar. So brilliant. And so purely Italian and Italian-American. Has a glammed up food court feeling, but with only Italian specialties. Wish I could have spent more time and money there.

Across the street is the second location of Doughnut Plant. Again, a place I hear a lot about and hey...I love doughnuts. From the top, carrot cake doughnut, creme brulee doughnut "seed" (a little bigger than a doughnut hole, and certainly more love put in it), peanut butter and blackberry jam seed, tres leches doughnut, and finally on the left is a cinnamon roll. Maybe I chose poorly or I was there on an off day or something, but I was left a bit wanting. Maybe it's a style thing that I wasn't expecting. I think I'm used to doughnuts having egg in them, and neither of their cake doughnut batter nor their raised doughnut dough contain eggs, meaning they're a leaner, a little firmer in texture, more bread-like rather than a soft, tender glazed doughnut. The seasonal flavors didn't seem particularly seasonal, even though there's citrus and pomegranate and some berries at the market. Of the ones we had here, the creme brulee was the clear favorite. I would definitely go back to try it again.

We took a break, went for a nice walk in Central Park, then met Rich and Amy at Prune for a somewhat later dinner. Prune has a reputation as a chef's hangout and for amazing brunch. It's a cozy, tiny spot that reminded me of a little Parisian cafe (not that I've been to Paris yet). Dark and Stormy cocktail is the way to go here.

Colleen and Rich both got the radicchio and endive salad with Valdeon blue cheese and hard cooked egg. Amy ordered some roasted cauliflower that looked good, but my photo was blurry.

One of the things Prune is known for is their marrow bones appetizer. People say it's something a chef might order because it's delicious, but it's also almost 100% fat. Some people refer to marrow as "God's Butter" because it's just beefy flavored fat, scooped out of the bone, eaten on toast with sea salt and some parsley salad with capers. Salt, fat, salt, bread, something green, and fat. I love the presentation, but this particular one would have been better with two or three minutes longer in the oven. Ideally it's well warmed through, but served before it is actually liquid and melts away.

Rich and I both got the braised short ribs on Yorkshire pudding. Excellent.

Colleen got a simple but perfect Parmesan omelet, and Amy got a grilled loup de mer (branzino) with fennel oil.

For dessert, in the foreground mascarpone ice cream with sea salt caramel croutons, and in the background, Rich's chocolate-espresso mousse with walnut cookie crumbles, I believe. I hear that brunch is hands down their best meal. Based on what we had, I don't know that I would make it a destination restaurant, but our meal and our cocktails were well made, the dishes simple and tasty, served in a setting that evokes Frawnce. I think they deliver on that quite successfully.

Somewhere over Greenland: drift ice patterns on the ocean

Having left Barcelona early in the morning, I landed at JFK in the early afternoon, took the AirTrain to Jamaica Station, got onto the subway and had a pleasant walk to meet Colleen. This traveling stuff is a lot easier in your own language and when things have signs. And of course, Manhattan is quite conveniently laid out and numbered in a grid for the most part. Although I will say, at least in Spain, on public transportation, many things are at least announced in multiple languages, but here...only English. It must be much harder for a non-English speaking visitor in the US.

Replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Washington Square Park.

It's been far too long since I visited New York. More pictures after the jump...>>>

These grissini are on the bar as a snack. Generous in both cheese and paprika, they sparked our appetites, and went well with prosecco.

The table in the middle of the room which is also used as a server station.

Unfortunately, since I don't use flash, and even though I'm using Matt and Tara's camera, the candlelight wasn't quite enough for great pictures. But I'll post some of the heavily tweaked ones just to give an impression. This is a taste from the kitchen, a crostini with ceci (chickpeas) in olive oil, tomato and paprika.

After conferring a bit, the ladies were kind enough to allow me to order dinner within certain parameters. For starters, we got grilled octopus with borlotti beans and limoncello vinaigrette, testa (head cheese in the form of sausage) with pickles and mustard, and roasted beet (not beef) tartare with chianti vinaigrette, ricotta salata and garnishes.

Of the starters, I think we all thought the grilled octopus was the winner. Pleasantly chewy, tons of flavor, and well matched with the beans and brightness of the vinaigrette. The "hat" on top is shaved watermelon radish.

Roasted Beet Tartare - presented as if it might be beef tartare, with the garnishes that might be served with beef - a bit of mustard, chopped pickles, sea salt, anchovy, and capers. Ricotta salata is ricotta that is salted, pressed and aged. I't's mostly just a milk component, with salt - not funky or cheesy - a mild cotija cheese would be most similar, I think.

For the pasta course, we ordered Pumpkin Lune (round ravioli shape) with Sage and Amaretti, Gnocchi with Braised Oxtail, and Ravioli stuffed with Beef Cheeks, which they sent later with the entrees. Since we were sharing everything anyway, they proactively split the lune onto three individual plates and the gnocchi on one. Very nice service touch. In the photo, they are grating amaretti cookie onto Alex's portion of the lune. Amaretti is a cookie made from egg whites and almond flour (or occasionally flavored with apricot kernels, like amaretto liqueur), similar to a French macaron. It adds just a touch of texture and a sweet nuttiness to go with the pumpkin. Often the butter in this sauce is browned, but here it was still blond, and the sage just warmed, not crisp. Regardless, they are truly delicious.

In the foreground, the braised oxtail and gnocchi. The oxtail and ragu were spot on, I personally felt the texture of the gnocchi was not quite right. It was enjoyable and delicious, but the gnocchi just suffered by comparison to the lune.

I apologize for the picture, but this is the best of the lot - from the foreground moving back, triangular ravioli stuffed with braised beef cheeks, a side of Brussels sprouts with pancetta, Guinea Hen with pumpkin fregola & black truffle vinaigrette, and Grilled Rack of Lamb Scottadita with broccoli rabe pesto, lemon yogurt and grilled onions.

Some may know that I love lamb, and I order it often, and I'm lucky to taste it often at work. We get great lamb, and we prepare it carefully and people love it. Well, this was fantastic lamb. Memorable. A touch of something sweet in the marinade, maybe balsamic. Nice grill crust, but still rare inside. The fat was well warmed through and it was glorious. A standout dish. And a generous portion of three nice double chops, at a very reasonable menu price. I would go back and get this again and again. Capische?

As I'm writing this I just looked it up, and according to the Food Network recipe from Mario, it's just lemon zest, mint, sugar, salt, lemon balm and olive oil. Oh, yeah, the other stuff we ate was good, too.

To cap it all off, a Chocolate-Hazelnut torte with hazelnut gelato and orange sauce. Candied orange zest. I love gianduja and Nutella, so for me this was perfect.

I've seen and heard some of the naysayers out there talk smack about Babbo, like it's overrated and such, but I really don't see it. It's one of the best overall meals I've had recently. Maybe not 3 star Michelin since it feels so homey and casual, but damn good. And the service was very professional and comfortable. For what it's worth, I highly recommend it. I'd love to go back for one of the tasting menus ...and the lamb.

One popular item in Spain is ensaladilla rusa, or Russian potato salad. Normally, it would contain potato, mayonnaise, English peas, tuna or anchovy, and hard cooked eggs. I didn't get any tuna out of this version, but it was pretty good. They brought it as an appetizer, a hefty scoop, almost a pint, but they were waiting for me to finish the entire thing before bringing the steak. No, I'm ready, bring on the steak!!

The matchsticks and fried artichokes were a nice surprise. Scallopini type cut of veal, medium.

I did some final souvenir shopping at El Corte Ingles, which is the largest department store chain in Europe. It's named for it's origin as a tailor shop, referring to an English Cut suit. But it now it's everywhere in Spain, they carry everything including groceries, housewares, dry goods, clothing - I guess like Harrod's, but many locations. I stopped for a gelato - mandarin orange and dulce de leche. Deeelicious! Clean, specific mandarin flavor.

More pictures after the jump...>>>

I walked by a bar on a side street that seemed promising, so I went back for my last meal in Spain. Pulpo a la Gallega, or Octopus Galician-style. This is available everywhere, it's transcended it's regionality. Under the octopus is sliced potato, cooked in the same water as the octopus.

Pan con tomate on crunchy flutes, and morcilla de Burgos - blood sausage with rice, in the style of Burgos, with piquillo pepper. I love crunchy things, so the flutes are my second favorite to coca for pan con tomate. This particular sausage was a bit too ricey for my taste, but I love morcilla anyway, and seemed a fitting finale to an amazing trip.

Travelers pay a fee each time money is changed from one currency to another, so it's best not to change too much money so as not to end up with a lot extra at the end. And if I have just a few bills when leaving a country, I just spend it, because paying to change it back once again is just a loss. So here are some snacks I got at the airport. One last ensaimada and some sweet snacks, some salty. My airline doesn't accept cash during the flight anymore, so anything I would have purchased on the plane would have been paid by credit card anyway.

I really didn't see enough of Spain, and even the places where I spent a few days, I only got a taste. I hope to go back to see other parts of Spain and get deeper into Catalunya and Pais Vasco on my return. It's a profoundly fascinating place, for all reasons - people, history, culture, art, scenic beauty, and of course, food. Until I return...Adios!!

Thanks for reading!

Next, New York City!!

They were still getting ready for the day, so I was the first customer to sit down. Some things were still being prepared, so I asked for callos. It's stewed tripe, very simple, just a bit of tomato and pimenton. I could easily have sampled more things, but I wanted to save my appetite for lunch.

My new room is the tiniest, interior room in a large, luxurious flat. It's been remodelled fairly recently, so the bathrooms and other large rooms are quite stylish. My room is cheap, and bare bones. But I have access to the whole flat, including a large patio facing the interior courtyard of this city block.

One of Anna's recommendations is Forn Mistral, specializing in breads and pastries from Mallorca, including my new obsession, the ensaimada. They also make a savory ensaimada with sobrasada inside, but they only make it on request, with one day's notice. So I got a croissant with sobrasada inside. They also have an ensaimada with pastry cream. These were all fantastic. Delicate and the sweet ones were not too sweet.

A good story, a lot of pictures and great meal after the jump...>>>

From the train station, I took a cab to the restaurant, and ended up being there a bit early, so I took a break in a local park next to the restaurant.

The entryway and facade of the restaurant.

I had made reservations before I arrived in Spain, but I had requested dinner on the 14th after I arrived. When they emailed to confirm a few days before, I decided it would not be enough time to dine there on the 14th for dinner, as my flight was the very next morning at 8am. Would it be possible to change it to lunch on the 14th, or even the 13th? The 13th was completely full, but they agreed to lunch on the 14th.

I walk in and give my name, and they ask me to take a seat in the salon area. Then they come back and ask for the spelling of my name. I'm a bit concerned at this, since it's as if they are not expecting me. Did my reservation get lost somewhere? Then I check my phone, and to my horror, I am here on the wrong day, the 13th, not the 14th! What a dumbass! I immediately walk up to the host and apologize, I'm here on the wrong day, I'm so sorry, etc. They are so gracious, they say, Don't worry, we are trying to make an accomodation, please wait a moment.

I'm thoroughly embarrassed, especially after the mistake of the time of my flight on the first day. I sit outside on a couch in the courtyard area, just shaking my head. Okay, whatever, I made an ass of myself, I'll just go back to Barcelona and return tomorrow. No big deal.

The maitre 'd comes up with a big smile on his face and says, "We are calling to check with the chef, but I think we will have a table for you. Please hold on just another minute." Meanwhile, I just want to crawl under the couch.

He comes to collect me and says, "We have a table ready for you, please come with me."

So he takes my jacket and we walk directly into the kitchen, through the Star Trek door. They have cleared a space on the chef's actual desk, and have set out a place setting! This is not the "chef's table" - it is his actual desk, with his effin' computer and his notebooks and cookbook library and everything. I am in total shock. The whole kitchen looks up to see who the hell is sitting at chef's desk. Then they just go back to work. I find out later that when they have journalists or visiting chefs and so on, this is where they are served. But it is a rarity.

I can see about 15 cooks and chefs from where I am sitting but altogether there are 27. It's one of the calmest, most quiet kitchens I've ever seen. When he fires an order he says in Catalan, "Fire 2 Classic tasting menus.", about 5 people call back in a normal speaking voices. And that's it. Chef Joan prefers it this way. Even when one guy got busted for overcooking the lamb, it was just, "Hey." and a gesture to listen for the sizzling noise. That's it.

I ask for a glass of cava, and I'm just laughing at myself, and their generosity, and my good luck. The title of this entry means, "My mistake, and my good luck." They have two tasting menus at lunch, one that is updated Catalan classics, and the other is the full tasting menu, which is the obvious choice in this situation. I mean, they're being so generous, it would be a bit of an insult to go with the more conservative menu, no?

Just to set the context, El Celler de Can Roca currently holds 3 Michelin stars, and is often in the top 10 or sometimes top 5 restaurants in the world on many lists. Not that ratings and lists are the most important, but to be consistently highly regarded does mean something. Also, it's worth noting that for several years, their cookbook Sous Vide (or Vacio in Spanish) was the only book available on the subject of using that technique in a fine dining restaurant. They literally wrote the textbook.

Incredible bread - red wine and Kalamata olive bread, and olive oil bread. Actual flavor of red wine. Actual flavor of olive oil.

This is the first amuse that they call The World. It comes to the table with a paper lantern globe enclosing the food items, then it is opened to reveal these five bites, representing flavors of Korea, Peru, Lebanon, Mexico and Morocco.

Next is a caramelized olive, presented on an olive bonsai tree. I unhooked these, but on reflection, I think I was supposed to "pick" the olive from the tree. It has anchovy and a little isomalt candy coating. It's a callback to that classic olive, anchovy, green chile pintxo like the other day. They have several trees, and they hang an appropriate number of olives for each table. The hooks themselves are custom made for the restaurant, complete with their logo stamped on each hook.

Of course, I have photos of every item, but I'll be a bit selective here to show the exceptional courses. Of which there are still many. Other amuse were "Ring Calamari Adapted" and Zucchini Omelet. This one is a bonbon with Campari cocktail inside.

This is listed as Truffled Brioche - it appears to be a custom made service piece with a bowl for soup, a bite-sized brioche roll, and nice slice of truffle. The brioche and truffle are covered by a lid and the whole thing is placed on the bowl of hot broth so that it is warmed by the steam of the soup as it is walked to the table, and the brioche becomes warm and extra tender, and the perfum of the truffle is released. Genius!

Green salad - Avocado, lime, melon, cucumber, Chartreuse, sorrel, greeen shiso, tarragon, rocket, oxalis. There is some salad burnet in this, too. Salad burnet tastes remarkably like cucumber.

Autumn-Winter Salad - Sea urchin, pumpkin, sweet potato, quince, persimmon, tangerine, porcini, pumpkin seeds, walnuts. Right in the middle is crispy Jerusalem artichoke. It was amazing to watch the plating, since they know exactly how many covers they're doing (plus one, ha ha), the majority of this dish is pre-plated and it just gets final touches and is sent when the table is ready for this course.

There was an oyster dish here with black garlic sauce and white garlic sauce in a yin yang pattern, then a gamba roja dish which had been just warmed on the grill. Really delicious. Like raw ama ebi at a sushi bar, but fresher.

This dish really impressed me - it's their homage to Sole Meuniere, a classic French dish. But here they've just rearranged it and cooked it perfectly in a wood fired oven. The piece of sole is blanketed in a semi-translucent milk skin, then it's sauced with a modern style of lemon, caper and brown butter sauce. Crispy sole skin chip. Amazing! The chef de cuisine presented some of the dishes to me, and he and I struck up a bit of a rapport, especially after this dish. I asked a few technical questions and although my Spanish is far from fluent, I was able to convey my admiration for their cuisine.

There was a salt -cod dish in this spot that was really well made. This was perhaps the third time that I've been served cod tripe - it must be a mini fad item.

Iberian suckling pig blanquette with Riesling
The Can Roca version of cochinillo has been cooked sous vide (of course) for 30 hours, then the skin is crisped directly on the plancha. Then warmed under the salamander for pickup. The sauce is poured carefully at the table so that the skin does not get soggy. The other components here are gels and flowers representing the flavor notes of a Riesling, and chef had the staff pour me a tiny glass of Riesling to experience the pairing. Superb.

This one is a rouget, or red mullet, cooked at very low temperature, to retain an almost raw look to the flesh, with individual gnocchi of anise & chervil, orange, and saffron, and a broth. I think this is meant to be reminiscent of bouillabaise. Very nice.

Around this point, I got a glass of Terra Remota Camino Emporda 2009. Awesome.

There was a tasty beef tartare dish here with mustard ice cream and all sorts of garnish to be eaten in stages. Then some beautifully cooked lamb with spheres of tomato, red bell pepper and lamb jus. Then the final savory course - Wood pigeon tenderloin with onion, carmelized hazelnuts with curry, juniper berries, orange zest and herbs. A marvel. So many layers.

The pre-dessert is called Orange Colorology (shades of orange?) - gels of orange, tangerine, egg yolk (custard), passion fruit and carrot.

During the whole meal, they kept trading off who presented the food to me - all the runners, the maitre 'd, the chef de cuisine, chef Joan himself. Team service to the nth degree. For this course, it was one of the youngest runners, and he was so excited to explain it, in English. "Cuajada, the curd from milk of sheep, pastel de guyaba (like a membrillo or jam of guava), dulce de leche, and candy floss. Best of the house!!" If anyone has had the Cuban pastry from Porto's with cheese and guava, it's inspired by those same combinations. Deeeeelicious!

They also gave me an extra dessert of various kinds of milk products - dulce de leche, sheep's milk ice cream, cuajada foam, and milk meringue. There was also a chocolate dessert called the Forest, with a variety of chocolate items in a chocolate landscape sort of thing, with a splash of Taylor's 20 Year Tawny Port on the side. Then migardise.

Truly, I cannot convey how thoroughly enjoyable this meal was. Not only was I observing the kitchen, but they were so gracious and hospitable. As chef Joan said at one point - "Estupendo!!"

After checking in at the new pension in the Eixample neighborhood of town, I got a little snack - a pressed sandwich with sobrasada and manchego, with a blueberry muffin. It's a polished looking operation called Forn Pacific, which is funny to me because they're doing straight up European style sandwiches, coffee, everything.

My goal for the rest of the afternoon was to spend a little time at Parc Guell, which was originally intended to be a housing development designed by Gaudi, but eventually was turned into a city park. I took the subway to the station closest to the park which turns out is still quite a ways from the park. Additionally, the park is in a hilly area, and I guess the tour buses and the metro bus line sort of circle the whole park before letting people off at the entrance. So I followed the signs, but I ended up walking almost the entire perimeter of the park before cutting through a jogging path to get to the more developed area of the park. I certainly need the exercise.

From the upper area of Parc Guell, there are incredible views of the city and Mediterranean. This is as close as I got to the Sagrada Familia church, also designed by Gaudi.

Because I entered from the east, I saw things in reverse order than most visitors. This is the plaza area of the park - the outside ring of it is all mosaic tile bench, in undulating curved shapes, and a gravel/dirt area in the middle. By the way, the benches themselves are not very comfortable. Fascinating, though.

More Parc Guell and Barcelona after the jump... >>>

Near the main entrance, there are two guard shacks, this one also serves as the gift shop for the park. It's stunning in person - has almost a fantastical, Dr Seuss kind of vibe to it.

I'm not sure if I'm correct in calling this a parapet, but it's like a outdoor corridor with stone columns on the left side, some of which have decorative statues and the inside is this wavy form instead of a standard arch and wall.

These are the substantial columns supporting the plaza area above. Although it seems very regular here, just off to the right out of frame is an area where a few columns are "missing". Also, the ceiling is domed and inlaid with mosaic tiles, as well as the occasional sculptural piece.

The famous salamander near the entrance stairs.

I was in the area, so I stopped in to visit Anna and Mariana at Les Tres a la Cuina. Anna had given me some great tips for Barcelona, and we hadn't yet met in person. They have a charming little gourmet store in the Gracia neighborhood, a hip and artsy area that reminds me of San Francisco. They have carefully chosen food products and wines from Spain and elsewhere. They also serve their own hand crafted food for eating on the spot, or to take away, and they also cater parties. We had a great conversation and share many of the same opinions about food. If anyone is ever nearby, I recommend a stop to say hello to these talented ladies.

I ended up having just a small steak for dinner from a cafe near the pension. Nothing special.

Tomorrow, my last big name restaurant reservation... Can Roca.

Noel and Charlie got us into a Spanish professional league basketball game. The Donostia/San Sebastian Frogs are doing very well this year, and they won handily against their Basque rivals from Vitoria. Two players are from the US, but even many of the others are very good. A few look like they'd be more comfortable kicking it like a futbol, but it's a really fun environment, the fans are really involved, and the facility is amazing. It was originally built as a plaza de toros - a bullfighting ring. Here's an indoor blimp they have at the game, controlled via remote. The company provides insurance, I think.

More food pix after the jump....>>>

Hondarribia is a quaint and gorgeous seaside town, and is also known as a place for great seafood. We strolled along the main paseo until we found a cafe that looked good. Sitting outside, we got a bottle of sidra, the local hard apple cider, an order of fried sardines with garlic and peppers, txipirones en su tinta (small squid braised in their ink), and gambas rojas a la plancha (red prawns on the griddle). This is the good life!!

Can't forget the jamon Iberico:

In recent years, throughout Spain, a select number of old structures (like forts and castles and such) have been repurposed and renovated for use as luxury hotels, while retaining much of their appearance as historic buildings. They are refered to as paradors. This is the entry to the Parador de Hondarribia.

Looking across the river to France. This area of France is historically Basque, and some would claim that it should be part of Euskal Herria (the inclusive idea of Basque Country, transcending current geopolitical borders). In bars for locals, we saw quite a few posters of political prisoners still in captivity, and other posters for the Basque nationalism movement that show a map that includes current Basque territory, as well as Navarre and parts of SW France.

Back in Donostia, I decided to stay one extra night, so we went out in search of more pintxos. Since it was Sunday, it was less crowded, but also a few places were closed. However, A Fuego Negro was open, and with a lot more room to relax than normal. It's helmed by a younger chef, and while they have some classic things, they're also trying to extend and advance the concept of pintxos, both in terms of technique and global influences. This is a ceviche with fish (snapper maybe?), avocado, pomegranate arils and citrus espuma. Not as good as the one Migz makes, but bright and tasty.

Salad of black and white quinoa, mixed lettuces, cucumber and apple. Nice to have something fresh and crunchy. There usually aren't many vegetables offered at most tapas/pintxo bars.

These are interesting - rabas - they make sort of a custard flavored with squid ink, firm enough to hold together, then it's battered and quickly fried. Almost like the dessert leche frita, but savory. In the process, the custard gets warm and melty. Striking black color inside, and the characteristic inky-oceany flavor.

This is a nice chunk of tempura style hake - merluza - the same fish as most of the kokotxas, but featuring the flesh. With parsley sauce. Very nice. Off to the left is Brussels sprouts, chicken hearts, and fingerling potatoes. Tasty!

A classic pintxo - guindilla are the small pickled green chilies, not so hot, with olives and anchovy. Salt on salt on briny, in a good way.

This is how they present their jamon plate, but it isn't the usual jamon Iberico, it's a ham made in the Basque country. The ham is underneath the box in the paper liner. I believe it's called txoritxero for the chili pepper that it's seasoned with. Really excellent. A little more moisture to it than most Iberico, it is silky and melts when eaten. Faint background of spice. Highly recommended!

We also got a similar platter of free range chicken that is made into a sort of terrine. Not as successful, although pork wins over chicken pretty much by default.

Jamon txoritxero on toast with salmorejo sauce - somewhat like rouille, usually XVOO, garlic, bread, tomato, vinegar, emusified.

Frozen aerated cheese, sardine powder, herb powder. This has a refreshing quality to it since it is frozen, but has some deeper layers from the cheese and sardine. Much more complex than it appears. A little awkward to eat, though. The wooden serving piece has a pin sticking out on top, they pierce the napkin, then the cheese is spiked on the pin to secure it.

Arroz cremoso, tomato paper ring, egg white and "yolk" of pumpkin soup. The base is a creamy rice, well flavored like a risotto, contained by a band of edible tomato paper/leather, with what appears to be a poached egg on top. But it's actually just egg white encasing a liquid center of pumpkin soup, which replaces the egg yolk. The soup becomes a sauce for the risotto. Clever and delicious.

The name of this dessert is Regalize It: Chocolate/licorice sorbet, Chocolate dirt, pot leaf shaped cookie (no pot). Generally, I'm not a fan of "dirt" in desserts, to me it's just not appealing, usually they don't taste good, and sometimes the texture is either too sandy or gritty. This was pretty good. I'm not sure of the pot connection, except that Legalize It is a slogan for marijuana. Overall, I like A Fuego Negro a lot - great interior design, cool aesthetic, comfortable, and tasty food.

Donostia is an extraordinarily beautiful place, with incredible culture and superb cuisine. I look forward to returning in the not too distant future. Thanks again to Noel, Ainhoa, and Iker for being the tour guides today!

These are some breads I picked up from a more Basque oriented bakery across the street from my pension. The baguette is called txapa (chapa), but it's essentially baguette without the pointy ends. The brown ring I need some help identifying. It's been baked a long time, it's very fragile and light in weight. Honestly, to me it tastes a bit scorched, but I've seen it like this at other bakeries, so I don't think it's a fluke of being overbaked. If you know the name of this bread, please let me know and I'll insert it here. The others are just pastries, the yellowish one has egg in it, very rich, and the other is simpler, just a sweet bread.

These are from a different day, but I'll drop them in here - on the left is a small nut torte with almond meal, a light syrup and some icing. Very tasty. The other is similar, but more like a muffin, with that almond crust on top. Also very good. The quality of baked goods has been really high throughout my trip, and these were no exception.

More pictures after the clicktures >>>

Our first stop of the night is called Astelehena, just on the outer edge of the plaza in the Parte Vieja. As with most pintxo bars, they display most of their offerings across the bar. The ones in the foreground are to pick up and eat, on the honor system. The ones further away there are little croquettes or fritters or skewers that you choose, but then are taken to the kitchen to be cooked.Then they also have hot tapas that come out from the kitchen. Most places have the majority of the same items, which are the local favorites, and a few house specialties.

My local colleague says that technically, having all this food out, especially the raw seafood, is prohibited, much like it is in Los Angeles. But for tradition and ease of service, they bend the rules as far as possible. It's so prevalent, it seems like they just don't enforce it.

This one is a simple fritter of meat filling, battered and fried. Sorta like a samosa.

Quail legs, potato puree, veggies, balsamic redux. Pretty tight plating, huh? The slates are so cool, I think. I really enjoyed these, but they would probably be too chewy for some people.

Next at a bar called Gandarias, Noel has his order of braised beef cheeks, and in the background, a few of their other offerings. The cheeks were cooked so that the meat was tender and flavorful, and the sauce seemed like they took all the mirepoix and pureed it, so the sauce had a bit of substance to it, as well as really good flavor. It's hard to make out, but in the middle are montaditos with artificial angulas- similar to the artificial krab, but in the shape of the difficult to obtain and very expensive baby eels.

Noel and I got started a bit early, then as his friends got off work and so on, they caught up with us. At one point, we went to a locals only place for them to get some hefty bocados (sandwiches) of tortilla Espanola, just to have something in their bellies. If's a good foundation for a night of drinking, especially with the double starch (tortilla Espanola has potato in it, being inside a sandwich qualifies as double starch). Nothing fancy, but the bocados looked super fresh and satisfying. The place was jammed with people of all ages, some whole families.

For something completely different, we went to the new Bar at the Museo San Telmo right near the Parte Vieja. It's run by a very high end catering company that is the preferred caterer at some of the most beautiful and prestigious sites in the region, and they also act as a concession at some premier spots in town (like this one) and they also have a kitchen and cafe in Madrid. They are also associated with restaurante Arzak. Here is their take on the classic patatas bravas - peewee potatoes, crisped, then the white sauce is allioli (aioli), the reddish sauce is the bravas sauce (usually mayo, tomato, and paprika - similar to rouille) and a wasabi pea on top. Simple and delicious. Up top is a lovely mackerel salad, with fresh corn (unusual to see around here), and some curly endive.

I'm not sure of the proper name for this dish, but it's a very concentrated shrimp stock flavoring and enriching the rice. It's a special shrimp, not a gamba roja, not a cigala. Really tasty. Feeling much stronger now. Bring on more food!

Their refined version of tortilla Espanola. Traditionally, it's a fritatta made in a saute pan, with onions and potatoes (or other fillings like spinach), it hangs out at room temperature, and they serve a wedge at a time. Here it's made to order, more like a French omelet, soft creamy center, small dice of potatoes and onions, with jamon Iberico added. Excellent.

Similar to pan con xocolate, this is a small toast square, chocolate ganache, and a mild cheese crumbled on top, fleur de sel. Excellent.

Drawing on Italian influence, strawberries, Balsamico, and ice cream. Fantastic!

I wish I could have powered thru more pintxos tonight, but there's more to come tomorrow. Special thanks to Noel and his crew - Natale, Ander F., Ainhoa, Charlie (Carlos), and Ander D.C. (mi hermano de una otra madre, Chino!) who showed me the ropes on this pintxo crawl. They're a great bunch of peeps!

Akelare occupies an incredible location on a large piece of property on a hill called Igueldo outside of Donostia/San Sebastian. Unmatched view of the Concha, Santa Clara island, Bay of Biscay. I arrived at night, so no pix. But plenty available online. Oddly, the url is Akelarre.net, but the signage is all spelled Akelare. Some of the text below is directly from the menu.

There are two separate menus offered, Aranori (the sloe berry, from which Basque digestif pacharan is made) or Bekarki, (the Euskera word for arugula). They are just the names for option A or B, with no particular significance, i.e. not a tasting featuring arugula or sloe. I chose Bekarki.

The amuses bouche - Left to right, oyster leaf, mussel encased in some sort of chocolate to imitate it's shell, an edible packet of shallot and corn "Beach Pebbles", aerated bread imitating a sea sponge flavored with sea urchin, (sorry, the green item I do not recall and not listed on menu), and codium seaweed tempura flavored with percebes (gooseneck barnacles) to imitate coral. In the background, a small shot of cava with pomegranate arils. The base was breadcrumb sand flavored with shrimp. Before I had a chance to explain that I do not eat mussels, they brought this out. I would have been perfectly content to simply not eat the mussel, but they graciously brought out the same thing made of oyster.

Oyster leaf is a bit of an oddity because it naturally tastes a bit like the ocean. The mussel/oyster had an odd texture, as if it was chocolate with the same breadcrumbs as the bottom of the dish mixed into it. The packet of pebbles was a bit short on flavor. The tempura as well did not taste of much. Cava and pomegranate work nicely together - almost like a Shirley Temple - since pomegranate is the main ingredient of grenadine.

Xangurro claw (spider crab), a blini made of the crab roe and tomalley, with salad of "gurullos" (rice shaped pasta), more crab, and sea beans.

More pix if you clix >>

Foie gras with "Sea Salt Flakes and Black Peppercorns". The server says, "I'm going to put for you now, some salt and pepper." And pours about a teaspoon of what appears to be salt flakes, and about a tablespoon of what appears to be black peppercorns on the foie. It seems like it would ruin the dish, too much salt and too much pepper. But the "salt" is made of sugar, and the "peppercorns" are like Japanese rice crackers, but made of (forbidden?) black rice.

Unfortunately, the sugar flakes absorb moisture from the surface of the foie, and it becomes chewy and sticky. Although the foie was cooked nicely, to me the dish was off the mark.

Turbot and it's "kokotxas." Turbot, or rodoballo in Spanish, being a flat fish, does not have a chin the way a hake does. The gag here is that they make a gelatin out of the skin and bones of the turbot, then mimic the shape of the hake's kokotxas, which is that upside down V shape on top of the sauce. The piece of turbot was cooked very nicely. The white sauce is called pil-pil, which is emusified using the gelatin of the fish. The crispy bit there is a chip made from the skin of the turbot, and the powder is made from parsley.

"Desalted" Bacalao. Presented on straw made from phyllo, there's a coating of breadcrumbs that is supposed to seem like salt, as if hadn't been soaked and rinsed of the salt that preserves it. There's also cod tripe in the bowl, and the liquid is tomato water.

Their version of cochinillo, roasted suckling pig. The cochinillo is cooked with Iberico ham stock, then the skin is crisped up. I'm not exactly sure what the semi-clear gel is under the tomato, but it didn't have much flavor. Aerated bread with sweet pimenton.

I'm pretty sure they skipped the hare course for me here, but I didn't notice until just now as I'm writing this. Should have been Roasted Hare loin with it's Royal.

Milk and Grape, Cheese and Wine in Parallel Evolution. High concept dish here. The idea is, starting on the left, is a very young and fresh curd, matched with a fresh grape, then evolving to the right with an aged cheese with aged brandy. From the menu:

-Grapevine, curded sheep's milk and walnut
-Powdered fresh cream with chive and grapes
-Quark cheese with nutmeg and pink pepper aroma, must of tapioca and tomato
-Medium aged Idiazabal with quince jelly and wine dust
-Torta of casar grape with Pedro Ximenez brandy soaked raisins, gorgonzola cheese ice cream

Layered Strawberry and Cream, Colored basil seeds

Mojito (lime, mint, rum) in foam/meringue form. Delicious.

I was excited to go to Akelare, after seeing so many other people's meals on other websites, and seeing rave reviews. Again, take my comments with a grain of salt, but for me it was not as successful of a meal. Perhaps I was there on an off night, but the service seemed a bit uncoordinated. Additionally, I felt like the dishes all had a little gimmick, and several components were lacking in flavor. In my humble opinion, making components appear to be something else is a less sophisticated usage of technique. It's as if there's a wink and a nudge there, "No, see, it looks like a strawberry, but inside it's strawberry sauce and ice cream, get it??" or "It looks like salt cod straight out of the box, but it's already been soaked and cooked, get it?? And the straw is actually phyllo, get it?" Certainly there were no disasters, nothing improperly cooked, no real errors. But several missed opportunities and less than successful choices. Not to my taste.

If you do go, I recommend going for lunch to appreciate the view.

I picked up a few snacks. People are the same all over the world, and karma is a bitch. I asked the lady at the bakeshop if she had any suggestions. She said, "Everything is good." I said, I know, everything looks good, but do you have any favorites? She said, "They're all my favorites." I said, but are these the best ones? She said, "Different people like different ones." I was trying to be funny but she was not amused. I can relate, I've probably done that exchange almost word for word from the other side. Oh well! This is what I ended up with: On the left, figure eights, which are pastry dough, formed into an 8 shape. These were a touch dry, but ok. In the middle, little Basque custard pies with crisp on top, and anise flavored ring cookies. The custard pies were the best of the three, but a little too yolky for my taste, plus baked a little too hard, so they were a little overcooked and full of bubbles. The anise things tasted like somebody spilled the fake anise flavoring in the dough.

Noel was able to break away today, so he led the way. We took a local train to a town to the west called Zarautz (thah-rahw-ooth), wandered around the town a bit, had a beer, then took a nice 40 minute stroll to the town of Getaria. Um, yeah, it's gorgeous. And I brought the sun with me. That last rock formation out to the right is called the Rat, because it looks like a rat in profile. Head toward the right.

Eh, brah! Da break over by da Rat stay pumpin' today! We go!

More pix after the clicky>>

At a restaurant called Mayflower, just overlooking the harbor, we started with txakoli (cha-koh-LEE). Txakoli is a wine made in this area, it's got good acid and it's also a bit sparkling, frizzante. Tasty stuff.

Fried calamari is usually refered to as a la Romana (Roman style) - this one had turmeric in the batter, making it this striking color.

Getaria is known in the region for having the best seafood restaurants, and the premier fish to get is called besugo. It's a sea bream, really clean fish flavor, minimal treatment, just garlic, olive oil, sea salt, cooked on the plancha. It ain't cheap, but it is deeelicious!!

Housemade cheesecake with strawberry sauce. Homey and delicious.

Noel's only been living here for about two and a half years, but he fits in well, despite coming from a very different place and background. As they say, it ain't where you're from, it's where you're at. And this area is pretty amazing. Thanks again for a great afternoon, Noel!

Back in town, I picked up a few things to try from the local supermarket. I thought it was pretty cool that the seltzer came in a plastic seltzer bottle that has it's own lever and everything. The blue bottle a non-sparkling water called Solan de Cabras, and I have to say it reminds me of the water at home in Hawai`i, with a natural sweetness. Actually delicious. Of the beers, my favorites were the Pagoa Red Ale and the Judas. In front is cuajada, it's basically sheep's milk yogurt (it has a touch of the complexity I associate with sheep's milk), and the natillas is panna cotta with caramel. Flan or creme Catalan would be similar, except with egg - a custard. This is just set cream.

Next up, Akelare!

The restaurant is just a short cab ride from Donostia center where I was staying. It's its own building, in what seems to be mostly residential. My reservation was at 8:45pm, which is considered early here. As I enter the foyer, Chef Elena is talking to the hostess about the reservations for the night. I give my name and say, "Hola, Chef." She says, "Ah, you are the chef from Los Angeles. Welcome! Please come with me."

I'm still uncomfortable with the title chef in refering to myself, even though I suppose it does apply to me. But hey, when chef Elena is willing to use it, I'll take it! She leads me directly into the kitchen, where there is an army of people in whites, all buzzing around, getting ready for dinner service. Thirty chefs and cooks in the kitchen. Later I would find out that they are serving 27 guests that night. Granted, probably at least half of the cooks are probably unpaid stagaires (kitchen interns/apprentices), but that's still more than one cook per guest, and certainly the front of house makes it at least 1.5 employees per guest. People tradeoff getting paid for learning and being able to put a prestigious name like Arzak on their resume. Having that many people in the kitchen makes teamwork, timing, and communication that much more important. This is normal for them, they are 3 star Michelin, and so everything must always be of the highest standards.

She explained that chef Juan Marie was away that night, at a conference or something. As if she needed to explain to me why he wasn't there to cook for me. She is an elegant woman, and seems very genuine. She pointed out a few things about how the kitchen runs, and her husband was having dinner at the chef's table in the kitchen.

Then, I was led to the dining room - a modern space, with textures of concrete, wood, steel, linen, and panels of light. There's a column in the middle of the room which functions as their server station and jackstand. Probably the most they could seat in this room is about 36, but tonight it's set for exactly the number they have on the book. There's also a private dining room upstairs where they can accomodate about 25.

The lighting was well designed to light the tables without glare, which made for easy picture taking without flash (the camera I'm borrowing from Matt and Tara does a great job without flash anyway). The customers are surprisingly casually dressed. A few suits, a few sport coats, including myself, but the rest dressy casual. One actually in stylish athletic gear with a turtleneck. This is the bread, salts, and flower on the table.

The captain was very friendly and helped me with my selections. Although I was getting the tasting menu, at Arzak you must choose between two dishes for the later courses, for instance, wild duck versus venison. Should anyone visit, I suggest you plan to go with at least one other person who can get the other items, and you switch plates midway, to try more items. I also wanted to add a foie gras course, which he seemed surprised by, but it's not unheard of when there's not one already on a tasting menu.

I started with a glass of cava(Spanish sparkling wine), and all the amuse bouches arrive at the same time, which makes for a nice pace in the whole meal I think. If five little one biters arrive one at a time, there might be an extra lag between one or the other and it makes the meal take substantially longer.. From left to right, on the stand, a pintxo with cod wrapped by extra fine kataifi, a little corn soup with truffle, toward the background a rectangle of potato covered in puffed amaranth on an edible red bell pepper cracker "plate", a gooseberry with potato chips to mimic the gooseberry covering, and a cutout of a goat cheese and turmeric "pate". I don't have the menu with me (it's in a box that I mailed home) so I'll add more detail later. If you can't see the goat cheese on the black slate, right click and open the picture in it's own tab. The gooseberry is on that little rack because there was dry ice under there, and they poured hot water on it at the table to get the "smoke" effect.

More pictures and comments after the jump>>

Jamon Iberico is omnipresent in Spain, but for the most part it is not paired with many things. Either a plain plate of jamon, or in a simple sandwich, or maybe crisped up. But I've always thought that some Spanish hams have a funky marine/oceany/umami quality to them. Another aspect that reinforces umami is the use of sweet and savory, and there are sweet elements from the citrus, konbu and ginger water, and savory from the Iberico and oysters. This dish had many layered flavors, with contrasts of acidity and freshness. Just fantastic.

I had a glass of white wine, but the name is in my notes. In the middle are three chunks of a small lobster, the two clothespin shapes are like cake or bread made with the cooking liquids and tomalley, to either side are crisp breads coated in hemp seeds and toasted, and across the top are some greens with a whole grain mustard vinaigrette. The upper left is a "sidecar" of extra microgreens salad, tapioca pearls, and the whole grain mustard vinaigrette. I think this is so they don't have to find a spot on an already busy plate for a pile of herb salad. The lobster had a very concentrated, specifically lobster flavor. Maybe poached or cooked sous vide with lobster stock. Hemp seeds have a nice texture and nuttiness to them. Excellent.

This is a slow poached egg, finished on the plancha (griddle), with a film of tomato (I think they make a sauce of tomato, and mix it with a gelling agent - then when they apply it to the egg it sticks rather than slides off), a wafer of kataifi flavored with herbs. I don't recall what that dark item is. Oh, there should have been a mussel here on the right, but I can't eat mussels these days, so they just omitted it. The red is breadcrumbs with Spanish paprika, and some edible flowers. I like that the white was firm - a lot of times when they do these slow cooked eggs, the white is like a mottled jelly, which is not so appealing, in my humble opinion. The wafer was a little hard to eat with knife and fork, but it was a tasty dish.

There's a fish course that I'll have to insert later.

I asked for a glass of tinto, which ended up being the Arzak house rioja. Excellent. Nice pairing with the venison tenderloin, hot chilies, red wine sauce, beans, and tiny lettuce salad. Very nicely cooked venison. It's hard to tell here, but the dark green leaves in the salad (spinach?) were individually punched out in circles, to match the tiny lettuce leaves. The chilies weren't so hot, but even for as much paprika as the Spainards use, their heat tolerance is very low. Their motto is usually "Sabroso, pero no picante" - Flavorful, but not spicy hot. I was well on the way to being full here.

Foie gras. I don't recall the components at this moment. In the sidecar is shaved walnuts, almonds, and crushed chicharron (crispy pork rinds) as garnish for the foie gras. I thought it would be a tasting portion, but it's like a full course. My fault. Just too much. I left some behind. Tragedy.

During the meal, chef Elena visits every table to make small talk and check that everything is going well. She's very poised. At one point, however, she came out a tiny bit flustered and said, "I have just been told your venison may not have been warm enough..." and was about to launch into apologies. But my dish was well made, and I told her so. She thanked me and went off to another table to talk about it. Damage control, I guess.

On the left, spheres of warm chocolate, strawberry sauce, and basil sorbet. Sidecar of chocolate sorbet. Excellent. So full and feeling the wine at this point.

Lemon Tart. The curd has some sort of candy shell to help it stand up like that, with crumbled cookie crust, The red sauce may have been from pacharan, their sloe berry liqueur, a touch bitter. Vanilla bean ice cream. Beyond full at this point. Uncomfortable. And kinda buzzed. My own fault.

Chef Elena came out again to apologize that she was saying goodnight, she had to leave early in the morning for a trip, but she hoped I enjoyed my meal. So gracious. Yes, I did enjoy my meal.

I asked for the migardise (usually cookies and bonbons or something) to be wrapped up to go, and I made a somewhat unleisurely exit. Back at the pension, here they are. I don't really understand the nuts and bolts joke, but they're made of chocolate. The anise ones aren't particularly anise flavored.

I've eaten in some very nice restaurants, but this is my first official 3 star dining experience, and it did not disappoint. They manage to be mostly serious while still being very hospitable. To me, it's clear that they deserve all their accolades and prestige. Maybe they are not on the bleeding edge anymore, maybe certain things feel a bit past the curve - but that's a young person's game. As one of the trailblazers, they have pretty much moved past gimmickry and are just using technique to make elegant, tasty food. This would be a great meal anywhere, and in a setting like Donostia/San Sebastian, it just makes it even more special. Very enjoyable and highly recommended. I'm grateful to have experienced it.

The next day, on the way to return the rental car, picked up this ensaimada. Deeelicious. Not really native to this area, but this was a good one. Little bit of apple filling inside the rolled part. I admit, I'm obsessed with these things.

Have I mentioned not to rent a car in Spain? Yeah, don't do it. I found the rental place okay, but then I realized that although I had filled the tank just outside of town, just some incidental driving and being lost and whatever, it was like 1/8th of a tank less than full. Were I to return it less than full, I would get charged 20 euro (about $23 bucks, plus like 3 euro per liter, even though it's only about 1,45 euro per liter. So it would have been about US$50 surcharge just because it was one tickmark less than full. So I set about finding a gas station, of which there aren't many in this resort town of Donostia/San Sebastian. So basically, a few miles over to the freeway onramp, then kinda get on the freeway, but they have a chicken out roundabout to head back in town. Then I missed a turn and had to go around the hill again. Good thing I topped off! By the way, gas stations don't have the little fume blocker accordion thing on their gas pumps, so the fumes are rushing out as the gas gets pumped in, and it seems like a static electricity spark or a cell phone call would light the car up in an instant. I'm not complaining - just saying, don't rent a car, don't smoke while pumping gas.

This is the main cathedral close to the center of town. I should mention, the nomenclature around here is a little confusing. The Vieja, or Parte Vieja or Old Part of town, is along the northeast part of the Concha (circular beach) and goes on a bit toward the east. This is where most of the pintxo bars and the Bretxa market are. The center, where I stayed, is not too far, kind of the middle part of the Concha but stretches south, away from the water, but is more modern, and is the cool shopping area. Antiguo (sounds like it would be the old part, but it's own old/modern area), is furthest west, toward Ondaretta beach.

Donostia is the Euskera (eh-oos-keh-ra, the name of the Basque language) name for the town, San Sebastian is the Spanish name. Euskera and Euskadi culture were actively suppressed during the Franco era, so from being a dying language, it is now used openly and taught with regular Spanish to most children. Has some parallels to the Hawaiian language resurgence in Hawai`i.

Noel is a college buddy of mine who I had lost contact with, but we recently reconnected on the facebook. He currently lives in Donostia/San Sebastian, and he graciously rearranged his schedule to show me around, do a bunch of research, introduce me to his friends, and gave me a look at real life here, which I never would have gotten. I'm so fortunate! I would have just eaten from one side of the city to the other without seeing a damn thing or meeting anybody.

I was ready for a change of pace in terms of cuisine, so we went to a Chinese/Japanese place for their menu del dia. This is all over Spain, at all types of restaurants, more commonly for lunch, but occasionally for breakfast and dinner as well - a reasonably priced price fixe menu with a few choices for appetizer, a few for main, a small dessert, and often a drink, like a small glass of beer or wine - all included. Pork cutlet with sweet-sour sauce.

More Spanish Asian food after the jump! -->>

Noel's chicken stir-fry with simple fried rice.

My BBQ duck stir-fry with a few veggies in there. Whaaat!? Overall, pretty decent. Like in LA what might be your second choice of your local Korean owned Chinese/Sushi delivery place. I don't mean that as a backhanded compliment - just that sometimes, you want something convenient and not so expensive and tasty, and this is in that vein. Plus, these guys are a long way from home, as are we, and it scratches the itch, so to speak. The duck was good, I imagine they either import it or make it themselves, since there probably isn't a Chinese BBQ shop around here. Could have used a lighter hand with the oil, but the sauce was pretty much in the ballpark. Rice was really well made, though, and not greasy. Either way, we had a great time catching up on the old days and what we've done in the interim.

Noel's green tea flan. Mine turned out to be a glass of cava with sorbet in in.

Donostia is a very special place. It has the most Michelin starred restaurants per capita in the world, apparently. It has incredible architecture, breathtaking views, and fascinating culture. Really one of the most intriguing areas I have visited. I guess I brought the sun - Noel says it's not always like this, but the whole time I was there it was gorgeous. Someone doing a little surf fishing.

Fear not, plenty of food to come. I'm going to give this next one it's own entry. Restaurante Arzak.

Around Spain, you may see this roadside icon: the Osbourne Bull. It's an interesting story - it was originally advertising for a particular brand of brandy de Jerez, but it became adopted by many as a sign of Spanish pride. Not everyone, however. It's 14' high, and some of the placements are so eyecatching, you can see the bull from miles away, silhouetted against the horizon.

I guess this would be the Christmas tunnel. Har har. Sorry.

Ironically enough, even though I had trouble getting to this point and beyond, at least the roads and road signs are more consistently marked up here in the mountains of Pais Vasco. The road from this vista was on the map as G632, but in fact it is labeled G636 on the road. One of the frustrations while driving in Spain was having to stop so often to ask for directions, am I going the right way, etc. I imagine even Spaniards would have to do the same if they weren't in their home area. I started to look at it like a slowly tightening spiral - just get close to this area, then ask for directions. Then get closer, and ask for directions. Go past it, ask for directions, come back. Very time consuming.

Our destination today (you're with me, right?) is Asador Etxebarri, in Axpe, near Atxondo. Those are pronounced et-che-barrr-ee, in AHZH-peh or some people say ATCH-peh, near Ah-tchon-do. Yeah. Euskera, the Basque language, is a little tricky. Fascinating, though. It's not a romance language, it's roots go back further and with less outside influences than either Spanish or French.

Here's more scenery from the back of the restaurant. From what I gather, the climate in this valley is often like this - clouds over the valley soften the light, and little shards of sunlight cut through from time to time. It's like living in a lightbox. From my table during the meal, I watched a small herd of sheep move from one corner of their pasture to the other, all under this surreal glow.

More pix and notes to come.... Clicky >>

This is a ball of fresh mozzarella, pickled rhubarb and a few microgreens. Squeaky texture, well salted, not my favorite. Rhubarb was great.

I added a foie gras course. Housemade foie terrine, caramelized pear, pear puree, toast. Excellent.

A crouton with a lightly cured sardine on top. Salted, but balanced by the natural sweetness of the fish. Or there may have been some added sweetness in the curing process.

These are berberechos, berberetxos, or cockles. Most like a clam, but meatier, and the shell is ridged, rather than smooth like a clamshell. The sauce is very minimal, citrus, parsley, olive oil, but there was something yellow or orange in there as well. Maybe tomato pulp or a less sweet orange?

Beautifully fresh and beautifully cooked lobster, tomalley intact. Nice flavor from the grill. For shellfish on the grill, the fire should be very hot, and a little char on the shell gives a very particular aroma and flavor. As I ate the lobster, the olive oil had taken on the color and flavor of the shell. Succulent!

Here is an egg yolk warmed via natural hardwood smoke, covered in truffle, in some sort of puree. Maybe a thin potato puree. The yolk of an egg is already a natural emulsion, so it's the original, natural sauce. Eggs and truffles are a classic combination. The subtle smoke adds a wonderful layer of complexity. In my opinion, it's also unusual to have any smoke element with truffles, except bacon, because normally chefs want the truffles to be the star of the dish. But it is delicious.

This is one of the Basque specialties - kokotxas, or ko-ko-chahss. It's the tongue and chin from the fish called hake. It is cooked very slowly so that it all turns to gelatin. There are a few threads of meat running thru the chin, but it's all about the gelatinous texture. The sauce I believe is a gelatinous fish stock, parsley, and olive oil, emulsified.

Here is a piece of mackerel, carefully cooked, with parsley sauce and braised celery. I'm not a fan of saying, "That was the best mackerel I've had in my life." It might be true for that person, but it depends on the life that they've had. I bet this would be the best mackerel that almost anyone would have ever had. If mackerel is overcooked it gets dry, despite it being an oily fish. Here there is no aspect of dryness, and so the oil of the fish is just flavorful and luxurious in the mouth. Celery was subtle in flavor but tender and pleasant to eat.

Iberico pork tartare, seasoned as chorizo. Yes, raw pork. Just barely warmed. The aroma from the fire reinforcing the smoke in paprika. Being warm, the pork releases some of its fat, resulting in a very rich mouthfeel.

This is the chuleta, or bone-in New York steak, almost tataki style (just seared). I've seen on TV that during service, they have several fires going at once, perhaps different woods (he was a forestry service ranger at one time) to be able to achieve different effects, depending on how they want to cook the item.

Note that no juice is running on the plate. It's been carefully cooked, and carefully rested. Note also that the fat that normally surrounds the steak on the bottom has been removed after cooking - probably very charred, but intentionally so. I like a good rare steak, but this was blue. I gather that this is common at many restaurants here. But the meat was warm as well, so I think they must sear it well on one side and rest it on something just warm, like 120 degrees F. Like a dry sous vide. Or maybe sous vide, then sear, but that seems unlikely. The chew is different, and definitely the juice from the steak keeps coming. As throughout the meal, the amount of salt was superb.

Part of the story of Etxebarri is that the chef grew up in a time where people in this area still cooked all their meals on wood burning stoves. So everything has either the taste or aroma or impression of fire and/or smoke. Mealtime means fire and smoke. Even desserts have influence from the fire. This one is usually called smoked milk ice cream, but it's actually more like ice milk - much less fat than ice cream. Still smooth and silky, but it doesn't coat the palate. It's there and then it's gone. Very sophisticated, I think. And the smokiness doesn't overwhelm it - if you didn't know what it was, you might think it was flavored with nuts or something. The red was strawberry sauce.

Finally, a mini Savarin (cake) in syrup with vanilla bean ice cream. Simple and delicious.

Please take my comments on all of these meals with a grain of salt, since I will have only visited there one time and eaten one series of dishes on one particular day. The manipulation of the ingredients is very minimal here, someone might think, what's the big deal, he's just grilling a steak with salt and pepper? True, most people have experienced great food from a wood fire - maybe your father cooked a great steak on your 12th birthday, or you went to the beach and grilled lobsters when you were 8 years old and you ate a whole lobster by yourself, etc. In a sense, many items here are within reach of a home cook. I think the difference is everything here is cooked with precision and intent. They consider, what is the best quality of this ingredient that we can present, and how do we cook it to exemplify that.

I don't want to overstate it, but the result is like eating in one meal, the best grilled food you've ever had, maybe from different parts of your life, plus more and better grilled food than you've ever had in your life. One course recalls eating grilled chorizos while camping, the next is something new, the next course recalls going on a road trip to find barbecued oysters, then dad's prize steak. To me, to be able to evoke memory and emotion (especially without gimmickery or pretense) through a meal is a great accomplishment. It is no small task to travel to Etxebarri, (take the train or bus) but I'm glad I did it.