Etxebarri

I remember we started the meal off with snacks, sardines on grilled toast, the lightest crispiest crackers and the best chorizo in the world. Kyle ate at Etxebarri last time he was in Spain and he said that the one thing that was a revelation, that almost brought him to tears was the chorizo. He was right, it was amazing. The entire expeirence was surreal in its beauty, but also very real from a chef perspective (we saw a cook in the parking lot trying to catch a 5 minute nap in his car with his legs hanging out the door). Working at a top rated restaurant is intense.

We had fresh cheese with fresh herbs, and a perfect tomato,a beautiful squid filled with caramelized onion, an oyster with seaweed and the most beautiful beef, it was rich and tender and charred with flavour. We also had sea urchin with white truffles and delicious prawns. We had wine pairings with all.

They had sheep and cows roaming the hills surrounding the restaurant and we could watch them out the window while we ate the fresh milk sorbet with red berry essence. The incredible depth of flavour from the fresh milk of their grass feed cows was inspirational. The detail of the miniardes, tea and espresso service was wonderful from the exceptional selection of loose leaf teas to the adorable doilies that were under the sugar bowls.

Anna and I went for a walk in the rolling fields with the sheep after lunch. They would not let me pet them.