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Cooking in Bilbao

Our food was masterfully prepared and was stunning, simply stunning; we have all promised to try to emulate the recipes at home. I would recommend this in a heartbeat...Thank you, what a gem we found…
—Dr. N. B., Stafford, U.K., June, 2009

Gourmet Seville

Roger not only knows everything there is to know about Spanish cuisine and wine, but he also happens to be delightful company. On his tapas tours of Seville, he teaches not by lecturing, but by nimbly leading you through the city, introducing you to the various people and flavors that make up the extensive and often intimidating tapas universe. Questions arise naturally as glasses of beer or manzanilla and plates of garbanzo beans and spinach, jamon iberico, salmorejo and bacalao sandwiches, lightly fried baby squid are placed on the bar in front of you. As charming and funny in Spanish as he is in English, Roger has apparently been given the culinary keys to the city of Seville: the bar owners and workers love him and he is treated like a VIP and, more importantly, a friend. I could imagine no better way to get to know both Sevilla and its stellar cuisine than by following Roger’s brilliant, steady lead for a night.
–Christina, Virginia, November 2008

Epicurean Roads

Gerry has an extraordinary knowledge of Spain, not just the cuisine and wine but the geography (little tapas bars on tiny streets in villages up in the mountains), history, culture and people. One of the highlights of the trip for me was not a 3-star Michelin meal, but a lunch at a winery. Gerry, of course, knew the winemaker, and we dined in a large beautiful room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the vineyard. We ate simply: tomato salad, jamón ibérico, great bread and olive oil, baby lamb chops grilled over grape vines cuttings (exquisite), ewes’ milk cheese and, of course, great wine. What was special about this was the people, who invited us into their home with warmth and genuine hospitality, their alegría de vida (joie de vivre). I don’t speak Spanish but didn’t have too, we communicated through food, wine, banter, laughter and facial expressions.
—Terrance Brennan, Chef-owner Picholine and Artisanal restaurants (New York)