Arzak, ranked 8^th of the World’s top 50 restaurants, is located in the Basque seaside town of San Sebastian. I dined here in October, with my former student, Barbara Siblikova. 

For me, dining in a restaurant where the chef-patron walks around during the service, greeting guests or discussing the menu is a special treat. This personalized involvement in a guest’s dining experience may not be realistic or indeed practical for many owners but it certainly makes it memorable.

And even better, Arzak is the work of a father-daughter partnership,  Juan Mari Arzak and Elena Arzak Espina. Elena describes working “in tandem” with her father, “we are a family here”.

The entrance to the restaurant is unobtrusive. Once inside the reception-bar area, you can glimpse the kitchen and sense its busy-ness. The restaurant is situated down some steps and an electronic door, insulates it from the bangs and crashes of the kitchen. The décor is modern and elegant and seats around 50 people.

When Barbara and I arrived, we were prompty seated and then before we had even ordered Cava, Elena came over to take us for a tour of the kitchen. Thirty staff is a lot to manage and shows the Arzak’s enormous commitment to  quality and training. The kitchen staff ranged greatly in age with Juan Mari, at nearly 70, overseeing much of the action. The chef’s table had 6 guests enjoying the tasting menu and they were certainly part of the kitchen’s action. This modern stainless steel labyrinth with the curious use of zinc linings in the service areas and on through a series of small rooms to the bodegas – their temperature controlled wine room. With over 3000 wine, primarily Spanish, it is a cool, dark place and must be a welcome refuge on those scorching summer nights.

The tasting menu consisted of a diverse selection of dishes.

From foaming broth to duck livers encased in these curious shapes that we were instructed to pick up in our fingers, tip over and eat as if it was an ice cream in a cone. Cromlech is garnished with grounds of coffee and tea.

Cromlech with onion, coffee and tea

Coralline lobster is a beautiful dish with delicate colours and swirls of flavours and texture.

I naturally chose the lamb for the meat dish.

Lamb loin with lemon verbena and swiss chard as well as mint.

The part that looks like filo pastry is in fact ewe’s milk that has been sauteed quickly to convert the proteins.  It is seasoned just with a little salt and tastes delicious.

In this dessert, the use of petals to garnish gives a distinctly feminine feel. The discriminate use of natural colours makes some dishes look as if they come from an artist’s palate rather than a plate about to be consumed.

After our outstanding meal, Elena joined us. I was intrigued to know why she had joined her father as a chef. She explained that with her sister Marta, who now works as the director of the History of Art at the famed Bilbao Museum, she used to come regularly to the restaurant as a  child. In her teenage years she would work each summer holidays for 2 hours per day while her mother would do the accounts.