At Mugaritz diners are treated to a multiple-course tasting menu of intricate yet small dishes developed through a creative process and an attention to detail that borders on the obsessive. Chef-patron Andoni Luis Aduriz aims to play with guests and reflect on the different ways a restaurant can have an impact, rather than just filling people up and sending them on their way. From that point of view there is no other place like Mugaritz in the world. After trying to replicate Aduriz signature dish, Edible Stones a couple of years ago I have always looked forward to experiencing the real thing. After taking a cab from San Sebastian, leaving the city and heading up the rolling hills where Mugaritz is located - I felt excitement in the air. But also almost nervous. Sometimes when you have very high expectations you get disappointed. Hopefully this would not be one of those moments. After arriving I stood outside the restaurant for a few moments,just soaking in the atmosphere. Embracing the moment, enjoying life and being blessed with the opportunity to experiencing great food with people you love. Looking through the windows into the kitchen, I could tell that the staff was already running at 100% - and then we walked through the doors. The dining room is dark and warm with dark oak covering the walls. White tablecloths and sculptures made out of plates, all looking different, gives the room a classic look. Screens separates the tables from each other, giving you a sense of privacy. And then the experience started. I call it an experience because nothing else can describe eating at Mugaritz. You get 20 different courses - some of them only bite sized. You will not like everything, but you will find it interesting, and some of the courses will blow your mind. They are that good!! My favorite of the first section of the meal had to be the "fishbones" - which is exactly what it sounds like - edible fishbones but so good - hint of garlic, some lemon and a little spice from cayenne pepper. Really awesome. After these wonderful little flavor combinations the kitchen moved us into the second act. New courses - one more imaginative than the other were delivered by the professional staff. After all these courses it was time for an intermission. The staff brought us a little game to play for the next course. The winner would get a price. After playing my wife won the price: Oestra caviar to go with the curd. We were all of course very envious. Halfway into the dinner we were invited for a tour of their kitchen where one of the senior chefs introduced himself and talked us through the philosophy at Mugaritz. What they want to do is challenge the diners, and have them try things that normally wouldn't. More high-tech laboratory than everyday kitchen, there must have been 30 chefs at work, going about their business quietly and efficiently. We were then served one of the best courses that afternoon – a pig’s blood and liver (foie gras) macaroon. With a texture akin to nougat, it was mind-bogglingly rich, savory and sweet all at the same time. And probably the best macaroon I have ever had. Who would have thought that a blood and liver cookie could be that tasty. The third act was amazing. I am a certified BBQ judge and I have a BBQ team called Big Swede BBQ. I can smoke some amazing brisket. But I have to say - Chef Aduriz can cook a mean brisket as well. So rich and cooked to perfection. The only negative feedback that I would have is that there was a period during the third act where we waited a very long time between the courses. Clearly not a bad thing when you eat 20 different plates but it was a long wait. I would expect that was due to some kind of mishap in the kitchen, not a big deal but worth mentioning since it was almost a 4 1/2 hour meal. The last act was dessert. And they were wonderful. I especially liked the apricot perfumed with house-made cider. Apricot is such an under-appreciated ingredient and i wish more chefs would use it for desserts. As an encore the staff brought in a wooden tower representing the 7 deadly sins. They were all represented by chocolate symbolizing each deadly sin. Except greed, that box was empty - which made us all laugh out loud. After the encore we walked out into the warm Spanish night, the moon shining down on us and we smiled. Because Mugaritz makes you smile. And Mugaritz makes you think. You will not like everything, you will not understand everything, but you will leave with a lingering feeling of having been through something special. Something that challenges how you perceive food, how you think about food, and that doesn't happen very often. Mugaritz is not for everyone but if you love food, it is a must. Chef Aduriz - I will be back in a couple of years and I expect you to surprise me again.
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The Restaurant is an old Caserio in a cute country side village near San Sebastian in Spain. When driving up to the building your first thought is, how calm and soothing the neighborhood is. And you almost intuitively sense that this will be a great experience. An old school Maitre d' greats us at the door and we are seated almost instantly. Our lunch at Martin Berasategui's is ready to commence. Chef Berasategui is one of Spain's most renowned chefs. As of 2013, he holds more Michelin stars than any other Spanish chef. In addition to his three at Restaurante Martín Berasategui, he holds two at Restaraunte Lasarte in Barcelona and one in Tenerife. In addition to his three Michelin starred restaurants, he owns a further six around the world including two in the Dominican Republic, one in Mexico and is opening a further restaurant in Costa Rica in 2014. After looking at the menu, I quickly come to the realization that the "Great Tasting Menu" is definitely the way to go. In this menu Chef Berasategui has collected some of his most iconic dishes and everything sounds very appetizing. Before we start eating we have an opportunity to talk with Chef Berasategui and he explains his philosophy with great passion "It is all about precision." Confused over his answer, I looked at his website where he elaborates on this more in detail "For 35 years, I have devoted body and soul to what I like doing best in the world: cooking. We have always tried to be precise with our gestures, prudent with the oven, accurate with the blade, refined with our sense of smell, sharp at the marketplace, and strict at the stove." So, did Chef Berasategui live up to his focus on precision?? The Great Tasting Menu was an impressive display of flavors, technique, and composition. Every dish seemed perfect. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Let us look into the first round of appetizers. We started with his signature course from 1995, a Mille-Feuille of smoked eel with foie gras, spring onions and green apple. And it was kick-in-your-gut good!! I think that any restaurant should wow the diners from the start, and this was exactly that. The smokiness of the eel, the smoothness of the foie gras and then finally the crispiness of the green apple. What a great combination. And Chef Berasategui was only warming up. After a great opening, course after course followed - all of them amazing composition, all with one thing in common. They were all clean, classy, crisp with no unnecessary extra ingredient added. It was an mind-blowing display of exactly what Chef Berasategui is striving for - Precision. Precision with Flavor. Precision with Style, Almost a perfectionist Precision. But never boring or pretentious. Just really, really good!! And Precise!! After all these amazing courses came two of the absolute highlights of the lunch, a warm vegetable heart salad with seafood and a red mullet with edible scale crystals. The scale crystals gave a wonderful crunch to an fantastic dish. Great composition and again, flavors blended with perfection. The main round finishes off with a Wild Rabbit Royale - also a great course. The Great Tasting Menu ended with two desserts, both wonderful on their own. A perfect ending to a lunch that spelled perfection. And of course, before we headed out into the warm Spanish afternoon, some final sweets and a double espresso. What more can you ask for? Perfect!!! And the espresso cups were the coolest ever!!
Deep in the heart of Northeastern Spain’s Basque country in the town of San Sebastian lies a small two story restaurant - Arzak. The restaurant has been rewarded with three Michelin stars and is ranked eighth on the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2013. Elena Arzak runs the kitchen and is the fourth generation member of her family to work in the kitchen at Arzak restaurant. Food is in her genes and it shows because this is one of my favorite restaurants in the world. Three Michelin star restaurants can be pretentious, arrogant, more focused on retaining their stars instead of giving the diners a good meal. Arzak is NOT one of these restaurants. We went their on opening night, where after a short brake, the restaurant were back in business again. It was packed. Old people, regulars, families with children, tourists - everybody was enjoying themselves and nobody felt left out. The food is creative, modern, inventive and very fun. The restaurant really lives up to its reputation as the most important innovative forerunner of the New Basque cuisine. Elena describes the food philosophy of Arzak the best: "Tastes have changed, and we listen closely to what people want. People like lighter plates than they did when my grandmother was cooking, and they eat more vegetables. At the same time, our cooking is multisensory, which means that the food is very important, but so is the presentation. We want the food to be both serious and fun, and we want the guests’ own tastes to be reflected in the experience." So how was the menu? I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Here are the appetizers. My favorite was without a doubt the Sardine with strawberry - never thought that flavor combination could work, but when you infuse the strawberries and pack them with so much flavor, the sardines blend very easily together with the sweetness. Jaw-droppingly good!!! Moving on to the main courses - we were treated to one culinary explosion after another. Fantastic presentations gave away even more breath-taking flavors. Rich, powerful, but also very eloquent. Best of all was the main fish course: white tuna cooked to medium rare perfection. The fish was fresh, intense and buttery. "This is the fatty part of the tuna," our waiter explained, "it is in season now so this is the right time to eat it." The intense richness of the fish was blended with garlic petals which created a balanced composition of savory and sweet, buttery and crisp and spicy. The desserts were also amazing. So rich and flavorful and yet, you just wanted to eat more of them. I guess that is the best grade you can give a restaurant. The final dessert was one of the most beautifully crafted dishes that i have ever seen. Colorful, vibrant and very fitting for the season. It was called Golden footprint and Ladybird - it is easy to understand why. The dining experience finished with some edible tools - all in the fun spirit of Arzak. As an additional bonus we had the opportunity to talk to Juan Mari for a couple of minutes. He is still very active in the restaurant even though Elena runs the kitchen. He is nice, friendly and you can that his passion for food still burns brightly. Arzak is an amazing experience and I can't wait until I have the opportunity to come back - hopefully sooner than later.
Akelaŕe is a Basque restaurant that opened in 1974 in San Sebastian, Spain - my favorite food Mecca in the world. The restaurant has achieved three Michelin stars and it is well known for its local seafood. The chef and owner Pedro Subijana initially planned to study medicine, but switched to a course in hospitality in Madrid and after working at several different restaurants in both Madrid and the Basque, he became chef de cuisine at Akelarre in 1975. Akelarre has a spectacular view over the sea, so is perhaps best enjoyed at lunch in order to appreciate the lovely setting. When we went there a thick fog rolled in over San Sebastian ruining any hope of a great view. Still, hearing the waves roll in hundreds of feet below still makes a great ambiance. The appetizer were very delightful especially the first course, oyster leaf, mussel with a chocolate shell, sponge with sea urchin cream, pebbles of shallot and corn, goose barnacle tempura and prawn "sand", involving some tiny prawns. Fun to nibble on and a great conversation piece to start the menu Go for a tasting menu ( I ordered the Bekarki) and you will bask in plate after plate of food that can be described as visually stunning, familiar meets molecular, clever, playful, and loads of other superlatives, the most important of which is: delicious. One of the highlights of the menu was the Turbot with its "kokotxa". Kokotxas are a meaty cut found in the underside of the head of some fish. No worries though, this course is just a very playful version of Kokotxa. Throughout the meal the service was impeccable - friendly and attentive but without the irritation of the constant questioning about whether we had enjoyed a dish. The team were confident enough in their product to know we would volunteer that information. The tasting menu really ended on a high note. My 17 year old son still holds the dessert to be the best dessert he ever ate, and I am not completely opposite that opinion. The dessert was wonderful fruit sheet of great orange flavors and a beautifully sculpted rose flower. Rich, flavorful and visually appealing, which I personally think is so important for a dessert. It is the last thing you eat at a restaurant and as a chef you really want to leave a lasting impression. Chef Pedro Subijana - we still remember you fondly!! Four times selected the Swedish Chef of the Year and the winner of Bocuse d'Or in 1997, Mathias Dahlgren ran the Stockholm restaurant Bon Lloc, which had one Michelin Star, from 1996 to 2005. In 2007 he opened the restaurant Mathias Dahlgren in the Stockholm Grand Hotel, which received a Michelin star in 2008. In 2009, it was upgraded to two Michelin stars, only the second Swedish restaurant ever to receive this recognition. In 2013 Matsalen was ranked as the 55th best restaurant in the world . The cuisine is based on using the best fresh produce available in Sweden and other parts of the world. The restaurant is located in the Beautiful Grand Hotel of Stockholm, which is a beautiful building overlooking the water. You are greeted by a very friendly hostess just outside the restaurant who accommodates you and takes care of your coats. The menu is presented on an iPad, giving a short description of each course. We went with the Natural Cuisine Menu. Great flavors and colors. You can tell that Mathias Dahlgren really chooses his produce with care. Fresh aromas, and beautiful plates made up a wonderful menu with several highlights. The menu starts off with a couple of small Amuse Bouches. Great for getting the taste buds warmed up. After these three courses we had some wonderful bread, immensely tasty and rich. Knowing that we had many courses ahead of us I had to limit myself to two slices but that required a lot of self-discipline. One of the highlights of the menu was called Swedish Coolness, and was a delicious blend of raw Nordic seafood, soy, ginger and horseradish. Then in succession, course after course was served with a short introduction from the professional staff. In terms of drinks, there are a number of local beers available or you can try Mathias' own brew. We also had a bottle of German Riesling which was well priced.
Not a cheap evening but well worth the money and highly recommended! |
Eating out
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