For the second year in roll, I'm trying to make a big splash on Chinese New Year day. As we were planning to spend the festive holidays in Basque Country this year, I had my sight set on having our New Year lunch at three-Michelin-starred Asador Etxebarri, ranked third by World's Best 50 Restaurants. But there was one problem standing between us - Asador Etxebarri would be closed for winter holidays during our stay. After going back to the drawing boards, I finally found ourselves another place worthy of our new year celebration, Restaurante Azurmendi in Larrabetzu.
Azurmendi is situated on the hillside of Basque Country surrounded by vineyards, which was only a comfortable one-hour drive from San Sebastien (from where we stayed). Born and bred in Basque Country, Chef patron Eneko Atxa made a name for himself with his innovative new-Basque cuisine and respect for local produce. He achieved what many failed to accomplish, by capturing his third Michelin star when Restaurante Azurmendi was just in its fifth year of existence.
After checking ourselves in at the reception counter, we were ushered into the atrium of the restaurant where we patiently waited for our turn for a tour into the chef's famous greenhouse.
Little nugget decided to take matters into his own hands and start recording our New Year Day adventure.
And what a fine job our little photographer did, capturing every single detail from our time at the atrium.
We were offered some local champagne while we waited next to the greenery.
I found myself a little drunk already (or was I?), yet we haven't even started our culinary journey into the new Basque cuisine.
Lunch officially started as we progressed through different stations in the restaurant for a taste of Basque amuse bouches. First off, they started rolling out a welcome picnic set right here at the atrium.
"Is that all we have for lunch today, daddy?", my little one said while looking astonished.
The picnic basket came with small nibbles including bell pepper on a meringue, spicy Iberico pork roll, smoked eel brioche and a small bottle of hibiscus juice.
We enjoyed those while we looked thru the glass window into the kitchen (our next destination) and there he was, Chef Eneko Atxa busy making sure that all the dishes coming out meets his lofty standard.
Next we had a quick tour of the kitchen where the young chefs put the finishing touches on a number of small bites for us.
"Corn tarlo” with chorizo...couldn't remember the taste of it.
The chef's iconic Huevo Trufado, or Truffle Egg, served in a silver spoon. Warm black truffle sauce was injected into the egg yolk in front of us allowing the egg to be “cooked inside out”. It was bursting with strong and aromatic truffle flavors.
Finally, Azurmendi's secret greenhouse.
Our tour began with a lesson about local salmon and their salmon roes.
Of course, that won't be complete without a taste of local salmon roes. These fresh salmon roes were served with a jelly made with citrus water and salmon skin (if I heard it right).
Very delicious with a nice kick of acidity from the citrusy jelly.
Fermented apple juice, infused with herbs and spices was another famous local product. This came with some alcoholic flavor, almost like drinking a refreshing apple cider.
At the same time, another young chef was already firing up the heat for our hot mussel infusion.
The mussel "soup" was made using a local recipe. It's really thick and concentrated.
The flavors, texture and color were not unlikely our Chinese oyster sauce (蠔油).
Some more beautiful snacks, this one made with seaweed.
The last small bite we had at the greenhouse was Kaipiritxa served like a fresh cherry tomato on the vine topped with tiny edible flowers.
The slightly sweet bonbon came filled with txakoli which was flavored with passion fruit and lime. Now that our palates were all set and ready, it's time to follow our server into the grand dining room.
This was easily the best seat in the house overlooking the beautiful valleys and nearby vineyards.
This was easily the best seat in the house overlooking the beautiful valleys and nearby vineyards.
I was expecting a very busy day for the restaurant since it's Chinese New Year day but obviously, that wasn't the case as we were the only Asians here.
Some finger food to start the meal off with, some spring leaves.
Milk buns served with extra virgin olive oil. My little one loved this!
It didn't take long for the "real" amuse bouche to arrive. Little one was offered a "burger" but he was all tied up with his video game.
Umami-rich mushroom praline was the first to arrive.
Beautifully decorated (won't be the last time I used this phrase) Limón Grass....
Limón Grass filled with creamy foie gras on the bottom, topped with lemongrass and vermouth jelly.
The foie gras mousse was complemented nicely by the lovely acidity of the lemon and vermouth jelly.
A traditional bean stew with a very intense finish.
Sea Txakoli infused with seaweed that came with a bit of floral notes.
Immediately following our amuse bouche was what our server called a bonus dish. This featured fresh oysters cooked two ways.
The first serving of the dish was an oyster tempura topped with an oyster leaf and seaweed. The crispy batter was paper-thin working well with the wonderful texture of the oyster. Very tasty.
Then, there was the oyster tartare with variations of olive and olive oil. A refreshing dish with fresh, clean flavors and tons of sweetness. Not surprisingly, a little briny but not over the top.
Just when we thought we were done with our amuse bouche, a final set of small nibbles arrived before our very eyes.
From left to right, a sea urchin fritter topped with caviar, sea urchin custard served with sea urchin tongues and sea urchin foam. And there was the Bloody Mary, a virgin version without vodka which was replaced by sea urchin water to complete the uni themed amuse.
After all the lovely small bites, finally it's time for Chef Atxa's signature dish to kick off our journey in style. Sea shrimp, vegetable juice and frozen “old” tomato.
Sea shrimps marinated with vegetable jelly, was matched up brilliantly with tomato granita and edible flowers. We were told it's currently the best season for tomatoes so not surprisingly, our various textures of tomatoes were all refreshingly sweet, adding clean flavors and lovely fragrance to the shrimps.
Next, the young chefs were ready to serve up cauliflower from hot coals.
There were different textures of cauliflower on the dish; five to be exact. A roasted one as a floret, pureed (mixed with olive oil), a small piece which was raw to provide a bit of crunchy texture, some were transformed into little caviar pearls; and last but not least, a cauliflower panna cotta which was cooked with milk. I thought the roasted piece was particularly interesting thanks to its smoky flavors and caramelized surface.
This was the cauliflower panna cotta that I was talking about. Silky smooth like tofu.
While we were having the variations of cauliflower, little nugget was served with something like a patatas bravas, or potato balls of some sort.
Following the cauliflower dish was Chef Atxa's famous lobster. Again like the oyster dish, it came with two servings. The first was a bite-sized lobster tartare with coffee butter foam.
I have seen different interpretations of the chef's signature charcoal grilled lobster from the social media. This one was paired with variations of purple onion from Zalla. I really enjoyed the incredible smokiness from the beautifully charred exterior of the lobster, working well with the sweet and sour purple onion sauce (probably more sour than sweet).
The parade of the chef's classic dishes continued and this time, it was his signature mushroom noodles taking centerstage. Enoki mushrooms was sautéed and rolled up like pasta before being served with an intense truffled mushroom sauce. Unfortunately, there was too much of a spicy kick in the gluey sauce for my liking. What I did like more from this dish were the croquettes on each side with this crispy, Parmesan flavored crust and they just exploded in the mouth bursting rich flavors reminiscing of an egg yolk.
Our fish course was red mullet in two services. The first serving was flame roasted red mullet fillet with this thick gravy-like sauce. Very lovely burnt texture and smoky flavors.
Grilled red mullet fillet was served with aromatic red peppers juice, parsley purée and pickled grapes. This was very nicely cooked but I thought I actually enjoyed the flame-roasted one a little bit more.
From this point on, I took a break in action to bring my little one out for a short walk. He's been in the thick of things for the last 3 hours and despite being the very patient kid, I knew deep down he's definitely tired out (I was tired myself!).
Little guy finally found someone or something to play with him!
I took advantage of my new-found spare time to get a few selfies of myself with Basque Country in the background.
And what did we miss while we were mingling with the four-legged creatures? Obviously not much. Just the preparation of the poultry infusion with flower and herbs.
This was very intense and it tasted very much like our own chicken essence (雞精).
My final dish was boneless roasted pigeon with carrots and foie gras toast. It was a bit more raw than I have requested but not bad.
I was busy jotting down my notes of this dining experience like I did all afternoon when Chef Atxa. We were so honored to finally meet him in person. And when he asked what was my favorite dish, I was without words cuz there were so many of them.
After the chef's quick visit, our desserts started coming in rapid fire. I started off my dessert time with some refreshing flavors of avocado, mango and lime.
Others had one with heavier flavors including white, milk and dark chocolate.
Yogurt, honey and five-spices bread.
Our last of the three desserts were various textures of cocoa and sheep milk served on a bed of black olive powder.
By the time we stepped out of the restaurant, it was already early evening in the Basque Country and we still have another few hours drive before reaching our next destination, Burgos. So, we quickly gathered ourselves up to our car and disappeared into the night.
It was an incredible 4.5 hour journey of culinary discovery deep in Basque Country exploring the roots of new Basque Cuisine. True to its reputation, the restaurant's greenhouse was an unique experience on its own and same goes for Chef Atxa's remarkable dishes featuring some of the region's best produce.
I am honestly not sure if I would ever come back to this region in Spain again but if I do, there would be quite a number of restaurants I'd like to cover on that trip.
Food Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Barrio Leguina, s/n, 48195 Larrabetzu, Biscay, Spain
Tel: +34 94 455-8359
Website: https://azurmendi.restaurant/en/
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 14th (2019)
Opening Hours: 1:00pm - 3:15pm (Wed - Sun), 8:30pm - 9:15pm (Fri - Sat)
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