One month in Spain and 10 cities to discover. This was the master plan for our party of three. Three adventurous souls with a serious love for food. Glorious food in Spain that unquestionably makes this country a culinary destination. One city that distinctly stands out for its popularity in old-world elegance, tradition and exquisite cuisine in this country is San Sebastian. Naturally, this was where most of our time was spent – eating.

San Sebastian is located in the northern part of Spain. Its climate has warm summers and cool winters, but typically, there are cloudy or overcast conditions for most parts of the year. Not surprisingly, when we arrived in mid-June, we were welcomed by rain showers and a temperature worthy of a thick jacket.

We dashed to the nearby Ondarreta Beach which could be reached by foot from where we stayed at the Old Town sector. One can walk to La Concha Bay and Mount Urgull to see one of the most breathtaking views this side of the world. All these we did in cool wintery weather a few weeks prior to Spain’s summer month. And for what? Aside from fulfilling the obligatory visit to the famous attractions of a city, we were undoubtedly working up a huge appetite for our main purpose in San Sebastian.

And eat we did! The pintxos crawl in the Old Town sector was the start and is a must-do in San Sebastian. Pintxos (Basque for a small snack eaten in bars) of all forms, size, taste, color and presentation were ready and available on the counter tops of all the bars and restaurants we chose. There were shrimps, fish, beef, jamon to angulas (eel), scallops and sweetbreads. The imaginativeness and brilliance of the people behind these pintxos creations is remarkable. Those that stood out were from: La Cuchara de San Telmo where the most tender sweetbreads and veal cheeks are; Casa Alcalde, which aside from being one of the oldest pintxos bar, had a wonderful colorful display of pintxos; Bordaberri for the most succulent crispy pig’s ears with tximitxurri sauce, creative and beautifully executed ravioli squid in ink, and an unforgettable risotto with Idiazabal (Basque sheep cheese); Casa Vergara; Bar Sport, and all of the previous establishments named for the fabulous foie gras.

Foie gras for me is not only duck or goose liver, pan fried, served with sliced bread or glazed apples, or served with a grape compote, or whatever sweet or tart partner to balance its richness. There’s more to it: I love it. Why? Because it is consistent, pure and intense, and it never fails to please. The feeling of comfort it gives is indescribable. And so my love affair for it continued and even heightened while in San Sebastian, as foie gras was served in most if not all the bars and restaurants. A serving portion of foie gras is usually limited in other countries and cities, as this is quite costly (one is to one—one duck/goose to one liver). However, in San Sebastian, this was served in generous portions. Thick and big. The one at La Cuchara de San Telmo surpassed all in size. Retiring in San Sebastian is now an option.

The highlight of our trip to San Sebastian was to dine in Arzak, a three-Michelin star restaurant owned and run by Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter, Elena Arzak. Originally, this was a house built by the owners’ grandparents in the late 1800’s and was subsequently turned into a restaurant by the descendants. Just like anything I love that centers on consistency, this restaurant epitomizes such. The three Michelin star was awarded yearly to it since 1989. Reviews and comments of diners all complimented and commended the place, food and dining experience. Our regard for it was no different.

We never expected this Michelin starred restaurant to be tucked away in an obscure street in San Sebastian, right beside a school run by Assumption nuns. It was raining that evening we came, and we were 15 minutes early for our dinner reservation, which was secured months in advance. There was nowhere to go for our party of three, so we decided to take temporary shelter at the building to its right. Our 15-minute wait turned out to be a worthwhile experience, as the kind and accommodating Assumption sister who saw us by the footsteps took us in and gave us a grand tour of the school grounds, facilities and its rare artifacts. It was definitely a blessing in disguise and a fitting prelude to what lay ahead.

The ante room of Arzak is a testament of how much pride and honor the family has for their name. I and the rest of the world who have had the privilege to partake of their divine offerings understand and agree why.

A degustacion menu was presented to us and it was stellar from beginning to end. Five appetizers ingeniously prepared started us off. Moringa and prawn gyoza, banana and squid, bitter raspberry, txistorra or Basque sausage with beer and mango, and smoked eel with chili pepper served in bottles.

The mélange of flavors, texture and colors of the dishes blew our senses away. We had the fish of the day marinated with patxaran and dusted with purple corn. Patxaran is Basque for a sloe, sour bluish black fruit-flavored liqueur. We also had a very pretty Red Space Egg. It’s red egg cooked at 65 degrees centigrade with red peppers, cereal ferments and crispy pig’s trotters.

Who would have thought to incorporate hieroglyphics in a dish? The Arzaks did with Monkfish Cleopatra. That’s perfectly grilled monkfish served with pecan nut paste, adorned with hieroglyphic forms of pumpkin and chickpea.

In the middle of all the food and service frenzy, happily welcomed with open arms and mouths by all the diners, entered the superstar of the restaurant, Juan Mari Arzak himself, who greeted guests as if they were personally invited to his home.

The presentation of food at its finest continued with the lamb entrée with cypress aroma. Roasted lamb loin over a nut and armagnac spread was accompanied by yuca and “guitar” shavings which envelop the whole dish in a light cypress aroma. Not to be outdone is the pigeon with potato feathers. That’s pigeon with traces of mastic – a small Mediterranean tree of the cashew family – accompanied by feathery textured potato. Next, an array of desserts paraded before us.

We thought dessert was the sweet ending to this feast, but there was more. A tour to the kitchen was given to us and in the center of that kitchen, was none other than the other superstar, Elena Arzak. Elena was very gracious. She took the time to answer all our questions on food, her culinary career, restaurant plans, and more. She even gave us advice on various matters. Bottom line, her message was: “Love what you do.”

The food, wine, ambience, service and the over-all experience were truly exhilarating. However, the humility, passion for work, love of satisfying guests exhibited by Juan Mari and Elena Arzak and their team earned the most stars from us.