The pintxo or streed cuisine of San Sebastian. The best of the tourist gastronomy of the moment

San Sebastian and its province are reinforcing their leadership in the author’s cuisine, whith 19 stars in the smallest province in the country, and in the popular cuisine of the steakhouse, txokos and cider houses, and in the itinerant cuisine without protocols in the pintxo bars.

The Lonely Planet travel guide and The Times newspaper have named San Sebastian as a top destination for gastronomic tourism  

The phenomenon of “going out for pintxos” in the streets of San Sebastian has gone from being a habit of urban conviviality to becoming “the best gastronomic tourism experience in the world” by 2022. So says Lonely Planet, the most cosmopolitan and youngest international tourist guide, while the Times has just published that San Sebastian is the “best international culinary destination” according to a gastronomic ranking in which cities of gastronomic interest such as Chicago, Paris, Marrakech, Bangkok or Berlin appear behind San Sebastian.

San Sebastian’s pintxos bars, as expressive as ever in their repertoire of pintxos or miniature dishes, are responding to an expectation that they have earned and are opening their most enthusiastic season this spring.

Lonely Planet published that “it is impossible to find a better way to discover the cuisine of a culture than San Sebastian’s pintxos”, an opinion that excites the collective of hundreds of bars where, in addition to their traditional pintxo specialties, they will launch this year a new Pintxo as a tourist attraction and a first for tourists.

This is how the Bare Bare in Puerto 7, with chef Aitor Oyarzábal at the helm – who has taken over the historic Bernardo Etxea to continue with a new impetus the trajectory of a bar and restaurant committed to the old city, He maintains the double aspect of the Pintxos that motivate by their innovation or by their appetite, hot or cold, with classics like the Tuna Tartar or the Mushroom and Shrimp, to which he adds the creation of the Eguzkilore, artichoke and apple blossom, Micuit and Perigord sauce.  

Eguzkilore, artichoke and apple blossom, Micuit and Perigord sauce

At Bodega Donostiarra, on Calle Peña y Goñi 13 in the Gros district, an establishment founded in 1924 and now run by Miguel Montorio, the pintxo Induráin, which pays homage to the great sportsman, and the classic Pastel de merluza, which has been revamped and rejuvenated, include the new pintxo Txistorra de Txangurro, which is stuffed with lamb intestines and served on crisp brioche bread.

Txistorra de Txangurro, which is stuffed with lamb intestines and served on crisp brioche bread

In the famous Ganbara, in San Jerónimo 21, created in 1984 by José Martínez and Amaia Artizar, the second generation continues the family legacy with Nagore, Amaia and Julene who, “shape – as they say – with their colleagues, the heritage of all of us: the culture of the pintxo of San Sebastian, which is one of our favorite customs and one of our greatest signs of identity. In their wide repertoire of pintxos, the txangurro tartlet or the txistorra puff pastry are always on the menu, and as a novelty for spring there will also be toasts of Iberian shoulder with spring xixa.

Toasts of Iberian shoulder with spring xixa

At Hidalgo 56, in Colón 15 (Barrio de Gros) of the chef Juan Mari Humada – the first pintxos chef to get a Michelin star in Spain and winner of the award for the best pintxos bar Más Gastronomía 10 years ago – his black pudding volcano with egg yolk is emblematic, sultanas and apple, artichoke in textures with foie gras or bacachan of cod with txangurro a la donostiarra, although his first dish of the season will be Salpicón de bonito del norte with shrimp and salmon on toast of Tremenzino.

Salpicón de bonito del norte with shrimp and salmon on toast of Tremenzino

In Itxaropena 1910, at 16 Enbeltrán Street, which opened in 1910, was a branch of Vallés in the 1970s, the bar where the Gilda, the emblem of the pintxo of Donostia, was created. In the last two years, the Algerians Moha and Najat have introduced pintxos and tasty dishes such as their fried asparagus, their bread of dehydrated mushrooms with egg yolk or the newest winner of the award for the best miniature cuisine of Gipuzkoa, their artichoke salad. And now, their novelty will be the spring vegetable garden with split peas, beans and ham on a spinach omelette.

Spring vegetable garden with split peas, beans and ham on a spinach omelette

Matalauva, at 17 Zabaleta Street, run by Borja García Argüelles, director of R&D at Akelarre, is a tasca in the Gros neighborhood, where this chef, trained at Arzak, Vía Veneto and Akelarre, shows ingenuity in a kitchen without fire, a small bar, two tables and a terrace. In this case, the quality is inversely proportional to the size. Matalauva offers market cuisine with creations that generally use no more than three products, such as its Filete euskaltxerri or Oriental dried mackerel, to which it adds this season, as a novelty, a Talo crunchy fish cake that takes a traditional recipe.

Talo crunchy fish cake

At Sukaldean, located in the center of Calle San Martín 45, the young Aitor Santamaría, trained in the kitchens of Arzak, Aquarium and Bokado, has installed tradition and innovation in the plate, the classic or signature pintxo and the scenic surprise, guaranteeing a safe gastronomic recreation. It continues the family generation that has renewed the Donostian pintxo in Oñaz and Aloñamendi with creations such as the euskaltxerri jowl with beans or artichokes candied with parsley root. And he makes his debut in miniature cuisine with his Salmorejo with txitxarro marinated in cider.

Salmorejo with txitxarro marinated in cider

The alphabet puts things in order and, finally, the Txepetxa bar, located in Calle Pescadería 5, in the old part of town, established in 1916, is an expression of exquisite culinary ingenuity and skilled hands, brought together more than a hundred years ago to create the perfect formula for marinating Antxoa, which includes up to fourteen different ways of preparing it. It is their star product, with versions in jardiniere, with spider crab cream or with sea urchin roe, a culinary treasure whose marinating formula is kept in a safe. New this year will be a cod with black garlic on a tartlet with candied garlic and honey jelly with edible flowers.

cod with black garlic on a tartlet with candied garlic and honey jelly with edible flowers

These are eight examples of San Sebastian’s current pintxo scene, representative of the many things to discover in San Sebastian and throughout Gipuzkoa, where cities like Hondarribia with El Gran Sol, Tolosa with El Frontón or Eibar’s Baratze Gourmet also express the generous spontaneity of another type of street food.

San Sebastian’s pintxo culture has amazed Lonely Planet’s food writers, who report that San Sebastian’s chefs have turned bar snacks into an art form, that pintxos offer endless flavors and that when you walk into a San Sebastian bar, the offer that lines the bar “leaves you speechless”.

More information: Gastronomicom News, SL

Tel. 91 357 41 30 – 639 651 566 / ana@gastronomicom.com