Discover Excellent Value Wines And Great Restaurants In San Sebastian

San Sebastian continues to be a magnet for food and wine lovers. Michelin stars are generously sprinkled throughout this beachside city and even those who don’tcare for modern Spanish gastronomy can’t resist the lure of pintxos (tapas) that are unmatched anywhere else in Spain. Walk through the lively Parte Vieja, the old town of San Sebastian, and all around you are small, packed restaurants with the bar counters stacked and brimming with beautiful, fresh pintxos.

Foodies interest in all things Spanish began with the rise of Spanish culinary geniuses like Ferran Adria of El Bulli Foundation, the Roca brothers and JuanMari and Elena Arzak. It is these talented Spanish chefs’ abilities to modernize and some say revolutionize the way we approach food and dining, by taking the science of food as seriously as its flavors, that have attracted the attention of both food lovers and professionals worldwide. Some call this new food movement ‘molecular gastronomy’, others refer to it as modernist cuisine, both are just labels to capture a new culinary approach inspired by top Spanish chefs. The term that is used to define and categorize this movement is less important than what is at its core: dedication to innovation, food science and creativity.

In San Sebastian, there are plenty of restaurants that are at the vanguard of this progressive, modernist approach to food. Seven years ago, on my first trip to SanSebastian, I remember being mesmerized by the dishes at Martin Berasategui and awed by the presentation of the dishes at Arzak. A few visits later, I found the continual tile and stone plates used by the Michelin-starred establishments to be repetitive and the numerous finger foods a bit tiresome. My recent meals at Mugaritz and Martin Berasategui in June 2017 made me want to reject yet another alginate sphere and say, “Been there, done that. Can we move on now?”

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