Restaurant Martin Berasategui, Lasarte, Spain

This is one of the best lunches I have ever had and I will remember it for a long time – everything was absolutely perfect and exactly what  you would  expect from a 3 star Michelin restaurant – and more! It is located in a leafy suburb of San Sebastian in North-West Spain in a two storey house with huge bay windows overlooking  a large garden with flowering trees, undulating lawns and views over the surrounding countryside.  As you come into the foyer your first impression is of understated elegance – white orchids everywhere, beautiful tiled floors, gleaming wood doors.  There is a very large number of staff,  several of whom are there to greet you at the top of the steps  into the house, and from that moment on your every wish is catered to. The dining room is large, decorated in shades of grey and with well-spaced  tables  and we were led to one set right in front of the windows.  My handbag was set on a little footstool  beside my chair and we were ready to contemplate the choice between  the twelve  course “Great Tasting Menu” or the a la carte menu. As we had eaten  two tasting menus  in the previous days, we decided to go a la carte,  and then came the difficult decisions – the big advantage with the tasting menus is that everything is decided for you! Here are descriptions of the dishes we had: Millefeuille of smoked eel Squid soup, creamy squid ink ravioli served with squid crouton. (This was an incredible dish – the ravioli explodes in your mouth and though the waiter had warned me to keep my mouth closed, I still contrived to spray my face quite effectively!) Roast Foie Gras with Seaweed resting on horseradish curd, fermented soy broth and hazelnut salt. Roast red mullet with crystals of edible scales, soybean sprouts, wheat semolina and cuttlefish. (Edible fish scales doesn’t sound very appealing but they were delicious – crunchy and really appetizing). Grilled sirloin “Luismi” over a bed of Swiss Chards chlorophyll and Cheese bonbon. Warm toasted almond cake with honey ice cream.  (The cake turned out to be perfect almond soufflés ) And perhaps the most unusual dish:  fish “ tonsils”  which my friend was served instead of the eel  millefeuille. At least from the explanation the waiter gave us after he had eaten them , that’s what we think they were!

We had a light red Rioja wine,  20/20,  from  Leca Garcia which was recommended to us by the Sommelier.   Another interesting touch:  when the waiters brought anything to the table they wore white gloves – the summum of elegance!  The service was perfect – discreet but faultless– and the numerous waiters were friendly and very eager to explain the origin and contents of the various dishes .   At the end of the lunch came a selection of petits fours  and chocolates. Although Martin Berasategui has several other restaurants in Spain he always cooks at this his flagship restaurant and afterwards he came to every table to talk to the guests and ask for their impressions of the meal. Upon leaving I was given a copy of the huge parchment menu, the label from the wine and a Martin Berasategui cookery book, all tied up with a grey ribbon to match the theme of the dining room décor. An absolutely unforgettable experience  – and one day I would like to return for the Grand Tasting Menu.  Obviously this was an expensive lunch (well over 100 euros per person)  but worth every penny of it! Apparently the favourite dicton of the chef  is “If you work you will eat bread” – Martin Berasategui started working in his family’s restaurant at the age of 13 and since then he has really earned his Michelin stars and presumably eaten lots of  bread!