FOOD STUFF
Small plates have long played a huge role in the food culture of northern Spain’s Basque region. A tour of some of San Sebastián’s best pintxos bars helps explain why.
Bar-hopping for drinks and pintxos in the Old Town of San Sebastián.
It’s close to midnight on a weekday, and San Sebastián’s Parte Vieja—or Old Town—is heaving. Crowds spill out onto the streets, some gathered around communal benches and tables, others sitting on the steps of the baroque Santa María church. It could well be a post-football gathering, except that everyone here tonight is eating, drinking, and being entirely sociable. Snappy waiters deliver small plates and pour wine; there’s friendly jostling to get to the bar; and live music and loud banter in Basque—the preferred language in this northern Spanish city— fill the air. Eli Susperregui is our host for this evening’s
txikiteo, a tradition of bar-hopping with a drink and a bite to eat at each venue. At Atari Gastroteka ( fb.com/atarigastroteka), our penultimate stop on this tastebud-awakening tour of San Sebastián’s best pintxos places, Susperregui advises us to order gin and tonics to go with the foie gras in front of us. “Spread it on the raisin bread like butter,” she commands, motioning to the rich plate of duck liver.
“Most people automatically think San Sebastián is just about Michelin stars,” Susperregui says as I move on to deliciously briny fillets of white anchovy. A guide with locally based Mimo Food, the thirtysomething culinary student makes a fair point. Before visiting this city on the Bay of Biscay, I imagined the culinary scene to be dominated by high-end establishments such as Arzak, Akelarre, Martín Berasategui, and Mugaritz—places that consistently top “world’s best” lists and that require diligent planning and deep pockets to get into. But at the other end of the spectrum are these humble holes-in-thewall where dining is informal, service is brisk, and flavors are off the charts.
“San Sebastián is the birthplace of pintxos,” explains Susperregui, describing the bite-size treats she’s been ordering all night as being similar to tapas, featuring whatever is fresh and in season. “Traditionally, pintxos were served on a piece of bread and skewered with a toothpick—that’s how they were different from tapas. But things have evolved, and many pintxos bars are now quite experimental.”
We’ve visited close to a dozen places over the course of the evening, and many have presented us with the innovative plates that Susperregui talks about. Pushing the boundaries is (