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Gourmet San Sebastián and La Rioja

The Pintxos tour on the first evening was definitely a great way to get things started but my favorite was definitely the trip to La Rioja. We took a tour of the Roda winery and got to taste all their 3 wines, which Gabriella told us never happens, as well as the different olive oils they produce.  The rest of La Rioja was great as it was interesting to see the bodegas of the different wines I had ordered while pintxos bar hopping. The lunch at Ezcaray was so good.  We started off with an artichoke dish and we ate it in such a way I never had eaten an artichoke before. Then we had a breaded anchovies dish with rataouie and then a beef cheek and foie grois dish, and for dessert, rice pourage with cinnamon. All very very good.

My brother’s favorite was the cooking class. Our chef made us a traditional Basque food.  We were lucky because apparently they were not allowed to fish anchovies for 2 years until this year.  So we bought anchovies in the market and brought it to the gastronomy society which our chef made for us an appetizer.  We had a hake dish and clams and rice dish.  For desert, our chef made us a traditional puff pastry which I am still dreaming about to this day.  Everything the chef made was made so simple, but it was absolutely delicious. 

The day in France was great. They had the best macaroons I had ever tasted that I had to bring some back to Vancouver with me.  It was very interesting to see the difference in the French and Spanish sides of Basque country.  This was definitely more than just a food tour, it was an unforgettable experience.  Gabriella then took us to the restaurant we were supposed to eat at if we walked down the coast to Pasajes de San Juan. The food again was just off the charts.  Lots of seafood and for desert, the chef had just made an apple pie which I could hands down say was the best apple pie I had ever had.

To end it we had dinner at Arzak. I cannot even begin to describe how good the food was at Arzak.  I can easily say that it was the best meal of my life.  Gabriella was amazing and got Elena Arzak to show us the kitchen before our reservation. 

Overall, it was an amazing trip.  Gabriella was a very knowledgeable, well connected, and approachable guide and we couldn’t have asked for anything more.

–Carla and Sonny, May 2010

San Sebastián

The three days in San Sebastian with Inaki were great.  He’s a wonderful guide with a good sense of humor, loads of energy, and great knowledge of the area.  The pintxos tour was delicious.  And when we did our own pintxos tour a couple of days later, we realized how important local knowledge is!  We enjoyed the winery visit and lunch in the gastronomic club, too. Thanks for helping us have a wonderful visit to Spain!
–Dan and Lynn, New York, October 2009

Catalan Cooking in the Empordà

We really had an amazing time and will contact you when we return to see more of Spain!  Thank you for all of your help and thanks to the people you had recommended as they really made our Spain experience come alive.  We will be sure to let our friends know about our trip and your help in planning it!
—Nik, Ontario, Canada, August 2009