ETXEBARRI - A WONDERFUL PLACE

the most photographed restaurant entrance in the world?

the view from where we sat, great weather for just sitting and eating

smoked butter - fantastic!

turtledove, beetroots, girolles + silverbeet

the chuleta - tasty and extremely tender

apple tart + smoked milk ice cream - another please?

another day, another meal or perhaps not?

this was another place we'd heard so much about, had booked before we left australia, this meal has us brimming with excitement and anticipation. the mystique surrounding etxebarri is one of foraging, self sufficiency and nature. a restaurant that cooks solely from heat derived from wood and charcoal, gathers vegetables and fruits and serves only what is best that day or season is something all lovers of food wish they could experience at some point in their pursuit of all things gustatory. in some ways the story sounds too good to be true,but in reality etxebarri delivers in the one way that so many other places of repute fail, you eat food that tastes so clean, so pure that you don't need any tricks, wizzbang machinery or "inverted commas" to complement whats on the plate. the ingredients really do speak for themselves, an aid to our ability to appreciate this was the culmination of a year of eating from other peoples gardens, picking and gathering food to be consumed at it's peak in flavour and texture. which sadly was never a feature of our life in sydney.
etxebarri does this with brilliant execution, it's easy to see why people may feel that it's a case of emperors new clothes, some plates arrive with nothing more than a grilled prawn or a ball of smoked butter, but it takes restraint and confidence in your produce and it's ability to captivate the diner. equally the textures derived are amazing, many restaurants we've eaten in aim for the texture and mouthfeel of the many dishes we ate and they employ modern techniques including sous vide, LTLT (long time, low temp) to do so, but the kitchen at etxebarri is producing these sublime results from charcoal grills and wood fired ovens, which is a testament to great cooking skill.

what we had:

1. housemade chorizo
2.smoked butter
3.seared tuna belly + heirloom tomato
4.grilled gamba (prawn) extremely flavoursome!
5.cigala (langoustine)
6.grilled oysters + seaweed
7.mussels in carrot juice
8.smoked beans with jamon
9.baby squid with caramalized onion
10.turtledove, silverbeet, beetroot + girolles
11. chuleta + salad
12.apple tart + smoked milk ice cream


to sum it up we had a brilliant meal, contrasts in flavours, textures and local ingredients cooked simply but with care and passion. it lasted quite a few hours and when you look out the window, you wonder if you want to leave? the only negative point and it was the case with every table, the service leaves alot to be desired.
you don't need to be pampered nor do you want to be,but you'd hope that the floor staff would share the enthusiasm that the diner conveys with a 12 course meal, it's a long time to be seated eating and long time to look at drab faces projecting the impression that they'd rather be some where else.

to finish we had a lovely drive through the basque countryside, winding roads and a continuously recalculating GPS!