A serial food researcher’s job is to pick the restaurants, and figure out what the restaurant is good at. Pretty simple stuff. But sometimes, you come across places where more research is needed. Like, where to sit, what to drink, whether I can throw napkins on the floor (like in a Basque pintxo bar), and in this case, how to pose with the chef for selfies.
At Martín Berasategui’s flagship near San Sebastian, when Mr Berasategui comes out of the kitchen to chat and take pictures, you dont just smile and say cheese. You raise your fist like you mean it, and scream GARROTE!!! Otherwise, you will confirm kitchen rumors of the clueless American at table 4, and no dessert for you! The meaning of Garrote, you can find out later.
Before Berasategui adapted the term and made it his trademark, Garrote was just a word used by torture chamber enthusiasts. His father tragically died when Martin was 11, leaving the family restaurant to the mom and kids to manage. And not too long after, Berasategui started rallying the family troops with “GARROTE” to express grit and fighting spirit. Like, “lets kill this thing”. The word became his signature, and the new meaning added to the Spanish Royal Academy Historical Dictionary as a result.
You get the sense that you are not in Kansas anymore as you soon as you walk inside this legendary establishment. It’s like checking into a 5 star hotel, or a fancy spa. This is far from your typical Michelin experience, even for three Michelin star standards. For someone like me who is used to Michelin dining but not so much three star, its a YOLO moment.
Included in the €395 price is the kind of flexibility you can only find in a three star. You have your fixed menu, and an a la carte menu, and you essentially can manufacture your own tasting from the two sides. The super friendly waiters, straight out of Pluribus (if you havent watched yet, what are you waiting for) are there to help you with any changes you wish.
I’m not going to describe each of the 15 or so courses, not counting three different bread courses (fenugreek bread!). You are not paying me enough! But just about each course was a religious experience. The combination of flavors, textures, aromas, various temperatures, not to mention the artistic element was unlike anything we ever had. All kinds of food magic like a Gilda in a liquid form on a spoon, the Olive that was anything but, the smoked tuna belly on a celery, mint, and Bergamot “cloud”. Sensational complex flavors to boot.
The Hake and lobster dishes were particular standouts from the larger dishes. By that point each plate had so many ingredients, I was happy there was no test at the end. Trying the main ingredients like the grilled Galician Sirloin by themselves was one thing, but combining everything else together was like Mardi Gras in your mouth. And no matter how much you add to the spoon, nothing overwhelms the main ingredient.
The only complaint I can imagine and even witnessed with this menu is that its a bit too much of a good thing. I noticed some patrons asking the staff how many more courses, followed by “ok, we are getting quite full”. If you are able to pick all the chocolates from the chocolate tree on the last course, you should get a prize. Maybe thats what he means by “Garrote”… kill, kill kill. But not sure what they can do to fix this other than a two hour nap break in the middle. In this facility it felt like they can pull it off.
One of the highlights was getting a tour of the kitchen at the end. I was expecting a very large, maybe 20 or so person kitchen, and what we saw was essentially around 50 chef factory. 50 chefs for 40 seats. By the end that €395 felt like a decent deal. An unforgettable experience and probably the best meal we ever had.
You can build your appetite, or kill some of the calories at Chillida-Leku, 5 minutes away. An open air museum featuring the work of Basque Country sculptor Eduardo Chillida. He did the Comb of the Wind in San Sebastian, and the stunning Elogio del horizonte in Gijon (Asturias)
Eating With Ziggy 