Look at this retro hair-dryer! It is unbelievable how many hotels still have such a dryer looking like a vacuum cleaner in their bath. The  Best Western L’Oree is one of these hotels. This is surprising because the hotel was completely renovated two years ago. But perhaps they left them on purpose consistent with the modern but retro interior in red, orange, pink and purple.

We used the hotel for a stop-over on our route from Düsseldorf to San Sebastian and it was a good choice. Rooms are clean, a little bit spartan but roomy and most of them have a small balcony with a nice view on the beautiful parc, surrouning the hotel. It seems to be a perfect place for families because the children have a lot of space to romp and there is a new spa for the adults. In addition airport Orly and Paris are not far away if you don’t want to arrive with your car.

So the hotel is definitively a recommendation if you are bound southward or if you want to sleepout of town during your next Paris trip.

Breakfast was served in a winter garden. The variety is not very big, as the people in the South of Europe traditionally have a very quick and small breakfast, if at all. The buffet consists of fresh vegetables and fruits and some jam. Eggs, ham, cheese, cereals etc. need to be ordered as well as a choice of small toasted baguette slices. Breakfast staff was very friendly but hardly spoke English.

The hotel’s location is ideal as it is within walking distance of the old town and the beach where you can watch the surfers at every time independent of the weather. If you have planned to enjoy a dinner at Arzak like we did you should really think about booking this nice hotel. It’s a nice walk about 15 minutes what we enjoyed especially on our way home after such a big menu.

A short note on internet and parking: WLAN is available in all rooms and is free of charge as is the parking. We really liked that and it would be great if more hotels would follow this example, especially as regards the internet. It’s unbelievable that some city hotels charge you 20,- Euro or more for one day using internet.

I propose that you allow me to seduce you in small mouthfuls … seductive, light and succulent, they will whet your appetite and be the introduction to a magnificent meal.

No sooner had we read these words on the menu than the first Amuse-Bouche was served: Salmon Keia lightly smoked with seaweed powder of hazelnut, coffee and vanilla. But we liked the second Amuse-Bouche much more, which was a Mille-Feuille of smoked eel, Foie Gras, spring onions and green apple. A wonderful combination with fine balanced taste. No wonder it’s a signature dish of the chef since 1995.

Next course was fake Iberian bacon cannelloni with squid and white wine. The meal was served although my hubby was not at the table at this moment. I really dislike this in such top-class restaurants. The kitchen is working hard in preparing the food and it is important that you eat it in perfect temperature. So it is really a pity when the meal becomes cold until the guest arrives back. They have a lot of service staff and you have a good overview from the kitchens door so it should be no big deal to wait with the serving until all guests are sitting at the table.
However the course itself was absolutely great, especially the first part. A wafer-thin ravioli filled with squid ink was lying on a squid Carpaccio, garnished with some squid rice crackers. Over that a clear squid soup was poured. We have been instructed to put the whole ravioli in the mouth as it will “explode” once you bite through it. Surprisingly this ink filling was very good, just outranged by the excellent soup.

Little pearls of fennel in raw, risotto and emulsion were served after it. Good but nothing special.

However the next course was fantastic: Cheese and carabana oil bubble with endives, red onions jus and Iberian bacon. Once more the cheese balls were liquid inside and exploded in the mouth, a very hearty taste. As an old Soupy-Kaspar I really enjoyed the Red Onions Jus a lot.

I believe every top restaurant in Spain needs to put an egg course on their menu. :) But why not. It’s a real challenge to make an egg-dish which sends someone into transports of delight. Farmer’s egg with beet root and liquid herb’s salad, Carpaccio of Basque stew and cheese. The Carpaccio was something like a thin sliced aromatic lardo, beneath it a poached egg yolk (without the white! How is this possible?), melting away once you touch it. It was a  wonderful great mix of the warm, liquid egg yolk and all the other ingredients.

From a visual point of view the next course was one of the prettiest, a warm vegetable hearts salad with seafood, cream of lettuce head and idionized juice. The precision on this plate was impressive. Sadly the taste was not able to keep up with the expectations.

In return the fish course was not only interesting but also convincing. The red mullet was perfectly roasted, garnished with its scales, looking like small crystals. A juice of white chocolate and seaweeds supplemented the meal. A great combination I’ve never seen before.

The main course was delicious too but a little bit to heavy for my taste, especially when you consider this big menu. The Araiz’s Pigeon looked very raw but in fact it was perfect. What I really liked was the fresh pasta with an absolutely amazing filling of mushrooms and spring onions. Not to forget the small spots of truffle cream and the Foie Gras slice.

Cold essence of basil and green beans, a lime sherbet and juniper granite was a very refreshing dessert. I would really like to try making this essence at home. It reminds me of the sorrel granite Rene Redzepi at Noma served us about three years ago and which I already prepared several times.

Not my cup of tea was the chocolate dessert but my hubby was very happy with it and it looked really nice. Instead the acacia honey ice cream with Irish Coffee was my favourite.

Altogether it was a very nice evening and we enjoyed the food, the wine and the atmosphere. Service was a little bit stiff at the beginning and the courses were served too fast. We had to ask two times before they slowed down the speed. But by and by the staff was loosening up and we had some fun together. At the end they recommended us an Armagnac that was so good my hubby had to order it right the next day.

Unlike Elena Arzak, who even speaks Germany quite fluent, Martin Berasategui seems not to be able to speak English, just Spanish/Basque and France. He was accompanied by a translator when visiting all the tables but due to the barrier of language we had just the typical small talk. What a pity! Usually I don’t like this superficial handshake while telling the chef how good he is. But on some tables they had a really intensive discussion and it was obvious that cooking and this restaurant is his passion.

“Black fire” is the translated name and in comparison to most of the other Pintxos-bars here in San Sebastian, which are furnished very traditional with wood and tiles, this bar is very modern and offers also a very modern Spanish Pintxos cuisine. Black and red are the main colours, R&B, Hip-Hop und Lounge music is coming from the loudspeakers and on a big black board all available Pintxos are listed. The last evenings we tried one Pintxos-bar after another, so we were in the mood for sitting at a table again and opted to be seated in the small restaurant area. In contrast to the bar the restaurant was quite empty, only three tables were taken but after some busy nights we enjoyed that.

À la carte is not available here, only two tasting menus: one with 8 and the other one with 11 courses, both of them are served as a surprise. I think you can guess which menu we chose. :) The first courses were served very fast but they slowed down after we asked them to do so. Each meal was described in detail and we received recommendations how to eat it to get the perfect flavour experience. At this point I have to compliment the service girl on being very attentive. She managed the restaurant by herself and spoke a good English which is anything else than a matter of course in this region.
The Amuse-Bouche combined an Andalusian white wine, Iberian garlic and Jamôn. After that a tomato soup was served:

As you can see what was served was not looking like we would expect a tomato soup to look like. A glaring orange ball on roasted bread crumbs was on the plate and we were instructed to put the ball in full into the mouth because it was hard on the outside but liquid inside.

The order was that we should eat the avocado- and hazelnut ice together with the crabmeat ball. What we did but for sure we also tasted each one separately. It was really a big difference in the taste!
A glass filled with mussels in tomato puree at the bottom, followed by bechamel sauce and topped with crispy pork rind was our next course. Strange combination but it was really good.

“Dirty salad” was the name of the fourth course and the salad was presented in a clean glass bowl. But we have been instructed to mix everything together to get a “dirty salad”. :) Green salad, herbs and grilled vegetables, mixed with a smoky tomato dressing and some cereals was a really sensation of taste.

The toast slice for the next course was a little bit wishy-washy and not our cup of tea. Roast beef and mustard was ok but all in all nothing special.

The 7th course was my favourite one: garlic risotto with spices and herbs. I LOVE garlic, I LOVE risotto, I LOVE herbs, I LOVE spices so it was a perfect combination for me. Luckily it tasted not less good than it looked.

People in Spain love their “Bacalao” it is something Spanish cuisine is also quite famous for. Our cod was vacuum cooked accompanied by cauliflower puree and garnished with sprouts. Ok, no more and no less.

I really didn’t liked the pig’s chin in the main course. Usually my hubby is very picky with fatty food but strangely he had no problems with this chin which was far too fat for my liking. The fat was tough and it was hardly possible to remove it from the tiny meat part. So I was concentrating on the potatoes with vanilla-lemon-foam, one more interesting combination on this menu.

Second highlight for this evening, in addition to the risotto, was the candied sweet tomato on goat cream cheese lying in oregano jelly. It was a doozie, really wonderful!

For dessert they brought us a chocolate-CD. Nice idea but in the end it was simple chocolate.

Don’t forget to go to the restroom, it’s funny there.

The Pintxos served here are much more modern than the ones we ate the day before at Bergara.

I don’t know why but somehow I managed to take a picture only from the Pintxos with brown sauce. So you might think it was every time the same, but it wasn’t. :) Under this pastry for example there was a mushroom filling which was absolutely not my taste.

But the brown sauces accompanying the following two Pintxos were very delicious. We almost fought for the last remains to dip the bread in. ;-)

Goose liver with passion fruit squish was a very good combination. The former is often used for Pintxos creations.
Passion fruit was also used for the dessert, a cold coconut milk soup with passion fruit spheres that explode in the mouth.

Service was really friendly. A little bit cautious at the beginning because like most of the people there he was barely able to speak English. But by and by he warmed up and at the end it was a quite sincere good-bye. Such a  transformation was noticed by us several times during our vacation.
Furthermore don’t expect everything to be done as fast and intent as you might be used to. But hey, we were on holiday, so everything should be easy-going in this time.  :)

To be honest we first passed this bar because it looked to modern for us for having really good Pintxos. A tourist trap we thought prejudiced. But on the other side tips from Guide Michelin have been always reliable and so we decided to give it a try.

We entered a culinary heaven: ham was hanging from the ceiling and behind the bar service was preparing finest Ibérico Jamôn, Chorizo and other good stuff. So we decided to take a seat on the bar – as near as possible to the good food.

Ibérico products from Sánchez Romero Carvajal are sold here. They are coming from Jabugo, situated in Spanish province Huleva. The ham is rubbed with salt by hand and after the salt period he can age in the Atlantic-breeze for up to three years.

The Jamôn was so unbelievable good, sweet and a little bit salty at the same time and tender. There are really big quality differences as you also have for Chorizo. Therefore finally a picture of our last Pintxo. It was a kind of toasted pita stuffed with small Chorizo cubes. The bread was soaked inside with the spicy Chorizo-oil and crispy on the outside. Very delicious!

Before we were lead to our table we were offered to have a look at the kitchen where we had small talk with Elena who surprisingly speaks German quite well. What a highlight! I mean, how often do you get the opportunity to look behind the scenes in such a restaurant? Full of vim like little children we went to our table and couldn’t help but find everything else perfect. :)

Service is really great, very attentive and friendly. Aperitif and the first appetizers (Arzak’s amusements) were served within minutes. A little shortcoming is the fact  that hardly anybody speaks English there. But this seems to be a general problem in Spain.

We went for the “Tasting Menu” which consists of fix parts and courses where you can choose of two or more alternatives. Elena herself explained the courses in short words and it was no problem to choose different meals for the four courses with options.

So we opted for different meals for the meat, fish and dessert. Only the order for the second course was the same: We were both not able to resist the lobster.

One of the highlights was “Egg of the moment”. During our vacation in Spain we got the feeling that eggs are one of the favourites in Spanish gastronomy. The egg was served perfectly arranged but we were instructed to mash up the ingredients before taking a bite. For sure the look changed from wonderful to something pap-like but the taste was heavenly. As I am not taking notes (my “not-more-than-30-seconds” rule is used by taking pictures) and the visit is quite a while ago I can’t remember all the components but we were really flashed by something simple like an egg.

My hubby chose the sole and this was the right decision. I really don’t know why I picked the monkfish, usually I forgo this fish. At least the presentation of the monkfish was pretty good and lovelier than my hubby’s course. :)

Beef, lamb, pigeon or goose liver – these were the options for the main course. While my hubby opted for the pigeon I selected the goose liver. Good for me because pigeon seems to be the second favourite beside eggs on Spanish menus and we were served more pigeons during our Spain vacation than in my whole life before. :)

My goose liver was served with a white-chocolate-corn sauce. This combination was amazing! Until now my “best-liked” creation with goose liver was “Gänseleber mit Kaiserschmarrn” from Volker Drkosch we ate at the restaurant Victorian. Sorry, but I think I have a new favourite.

Slowly but surely a feeling of satiety came over me and so I didn’t trust my ears when I heard my hubby ordering an extra beef course. I think there is no feeling of satiety on cloud number nine … Once more service and kitchen showed how flexible and obliging they are because within minutes the meal was served and we haven’t been charged for it at the end of the evening. Meanwhile I admired the interior which was quite modern in comparison to the outside.

The desserts were so many, almost an own little menu. Just take a look and enjoy the pictures.

Last but not least some comments on the sommelier and the wine. Using English (we), Spanish or Basque (the sommelier) and our hands and facial expressions we let him know what are our key requests and let him choose the wines. Bingo, right decision!

White wine was coming from Bodegas Pazo de Señoráns “Sol de Señoráns”, 2006. An Albariño from the wine region Rias-Baixas (Galicia), six months aged in barrique, with scents of apricots, peaches and citrus fruits and a fine touch of wood.
Second recommendation was “200 Monges”, Reserva 2004 from Bodegas Vinicola Real. It is a quite new and small vineyard, producing a modern, unfiltrated Rioja with the “200 Monges” which has nothing to do with the classic Rioja style. My hubby was so impressed by this vine that we had to visit this winery some days later. Stay tuned for a short report!

And now proceed with the story! :)

To be honest we were really appalled when driving through the villages of the famous wine region Bordeaux. Ghost towns, one village more deserted than the one before. Sad … Jean-Michel Cazes who is among others owner of Château Lynch-Bages, has the same feelings. So as some years ago architects suggested to knock down the old and empty houses of nearby lost village Bages to make space for new grapes he decided to make something completely different. Let’s renovate the old houses and revive this place. He succeeded in doing so and called it Village de Bages.

The village is clean, dapper and not dead like the surrounding villages. There is a little square place where you can find an artisan bakery, Bages Bazaar to shop for everything related with food and wine and on the other side Café Lavinal to enjoy smaller and bigger delicacies. Sine end of last year Monsieur Y. Bruneau is running a  wonderful butcher shop there too.

Our first impression was that this place is made for tourists only. But we were completely wrong! Sure you have visitors here but while we were waiting for our course instructor in front of École du Bordeaux we had time to follow the action. Most of the people visiting the bakery and the butcher’s shop came from the village or the surrounding. Also most of the seats at Café Lavinal at lunch time were taken by local people.

From the very first moment we entered Monsieur Bruneau’s butcher shop we have been fascinating with the huge and wonderful marbled pieces of meat, perhaps the biggest meat pieces we have ever seen. He told us the meat is coming from the Bazadaise, a cattle growing up in Bazes, not far away from here. What a pity we stayed at a hotel with no cooking facilities so that we had to left the shop with some mini salamis only.

But my hubby is the best! On the morning of our departure he came up with the suggestion to take a “little” steak home. Why not? So we went to Monsieur Bruneau who was happy to see us again (at least in our imagination :) ) and helped us choosing the right piece of meat. He even sent his wife (I assume …) by car to Pauillac which is about 5 km away from Bages for vacuuming so that it was perfectly wrapped for the 10-hour-trip.

Just a little bit oil, fine salt flakes, fresh pepper and thyme, whole garlic cloves …

… and the  T-Bone Bazadaise steak with a weight of 1,8 kg is ready for the barbecue.

Finally!

Give the meat some minutes to rest and in the meantime we can grill some baguette slices with self-made herb butter.

We had enough meat for lunch and dinner and every day since then I shed a little tear because I would like to have a Monsieur Bruneau with his fabulous Bazadaise meat nearby …

Some days ago Petra from Chili und Ciabatta posted a recipe for “baked green asparagus with fresh goat cheese and bacon” and I was sure that my hubby and I will love this dish.

It’s really simple and fast prepared, very delicious, light and fresh. I only replaced the bacon with Jamón. We came back from Spain just a few days ago and I needed something to bring back the wonderful memories from this trip.

In addition to the vinaigrette from above mentioned recipe I also prepared a lemon-parmesan-dressing, I found at Robert from lamiacucina (who in turn got it from Rosa’s Yummy Yams …). The preparation is as well  very uncomplicated and we really loved the combination of parmesan and sour lemon note. It was definitely not the last time I prepared this dip. For the upcoming barbecue season I can imagine this dip will perfectly accompany grilled vegetables.