First a visit to New York City for Clare's work.
What's New York without its skyscrapers and the Empire State Building?
We were excited to have dinner at Jean Gorges with Nick's brother Greg and his lovely wife Denise.
Another highlight was visiting the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met.
Like many brilliant artists, that man was crazy!!
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| Samaniego |
Then off to visit Spain. We flew into Madrid and promptly braved the 3 and 1/2 hour drive up north to Rioja (superman Nick drove of course). Thank goodness for cafe con leche or Nick would have been asleep at the wheel!
After checking into our lovely hotel Viura (above), we ventured to visit the nearby walled Medival town of La Guardia and its small winery La Fabulista. The winery is situated under the mansion where the fable writer Samaniego was born.
The winery is unique in that they are very small
(producing only 32,000 litres of wine per year); is one of the few located within the city walls,
with their seven meter deep wine cellars buried deep under the city's streets.
More pictures of la tarde en La Guardia. La Guardia was founded in the 13th century by King Sancho el Fuerte as a defensive fortress for the kingdom of Navarra.
A perfect way to end our first day in Spain!
We finally gave into our jet lag and retired back to our hotel to enjoy some traditional Riojan cuisine, with its signature gold-painted wine barrels suspended from the ceiling.
Jamon anyone?
The next morning we checked out and drove to the little town of Elciego, where we visited one of Spain's oldest and most famous wineries (and now Gehry hotel), Herederos del Marques de Riscal.
In contrast to Fabulista, Marques de Riscal is a huge operation, producing over 4 million bottles of wine each year.
While still holding the prestige of providing wine to the King of Spain with his private collection shown here.
After the tour we checked into the much anticipated Gehry hotel.
More pictures of the hotel - a spectacular display of modern architecture set against the rustic and Gothic-Renaissance surroundings of Rioja.
Considered a continuation of Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao, the hotel is constructed of local sandstone and adorned or "wrapped" with rose, gold and silver titanium ribbons representing wine (pink), bottle netting (gold) and cork covered foil (silver).
Then off to Rioja's esteemed wine museum, an impressive 5-floor collection of all things wine. No one can say that the Spaniard's don't take their wine seriously!
Opened in 2004 by King Juan Carlos, its the largest wine museum in the world, a project by the Vivanco family.
The museum boasts an amazing private collection of wine materials, including ancient drinking vessels, centuries old pruning shears, massive 300 year-old wooden grape presses and all types of wine paraphernalia, sculptures, even Roman mosaics of Bacchus from the 2nd century, two Picasso paintings plus a collection of over 3,000 corkscrews.
Then off to lunch at the modern winery ("bodegas" in Spanish) Bai Gorri, designed by the architect Inaki Aspiazu. The winery is extraordinary - each phase of the winemaking process is designed to give a different architectural interpretation.
An entrance to the winery? Bai Gorri uses gravity and its seven floors deep into the earth as a core part of their wine making process.
After lunch, a luxurious afternoon spent at the hotels' vinotherapy "wine spa" - based on wine, olive oil and holistic medicine. Talk about decadence!
The English Gardens at the Marques de Riscal
Fresh ingredients, artistry, ingenuity and location are the four components that make Asador Etxebarri the jewel of the Basque country - a destination restaurant that sets itself apart from all of the rest. Anthony Bourdain said the following "When you are eating at Etxebarri no one else in the world, at that precise hour, is eating better than you"
Nestled in the sheep-herding village of Axpe in the mountains near Bilbao, Etxebarri is not the easiest place to get find, but after a 2 hour drive from La Rioja and thanks to Clare's excellent navigation skills and our trusty GPS, we were surprised to reach the restaurant only 15 minutes late for our 1:30pm lunch reservation.
Chef Victor Arguinzoniz begins each day making charcoal in his custom oxygen-regulated, wood burning ovens. He creates the charcoal from oak, apple, orange, grape, and even olive vines. Each food item- each order gets its own fire. The chef cooks everything served at the restaurant over elaborate and customized grills which he invented. Each of the grilling surfaces can be raised and lowered from the coals to achieve the exact amount of heat and smoke. In addition, he created custom grilling utensils and stainless steel mesh baskets to cook each specific type of food and to infuse the specific smoke flavor into the dish. It is beyond ingenuous. Almost anything can be being grilled; caviar, oysters, peas or even egg yolks. He uses no temperature gauges or timers to determine when the food is done and only relies on his keen sense of smell, vision and of course, experience. There is nothing more simple or primordial than cooking over an open fire and Chef Arguinzoniz has mastered what grilling is really all about; perfectly grilled, delicious food that is cooked with soul.
To celebrate our anniversary, a custom 15-course dining experience was created for us by the Chef. There were two items added to the menu. Clare requested to start with their homemade chorizo and also a lightly-smoked anchovy was the amuse-bouche.
The smoked goat butter on toast with St. Georges mushrooms was nothing short of amazing!. As I bit into the thin slab of creamy and lightly smoked goat butter accompanied with the slight crunchiness of the toast and the earthy mushrooms with a minute dust of volcanic salt, I had a realization that this experience at Etxebarri was something that was going be beyond words.
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The Dining Room at Etxebarri Palamos prawns come from the sea about 15km away. As these giant prawns swim to the surface from the deep cold water to the shallow warm water they change into this wonderful florescent pink/orange color. Grilled very slightly to the point where you don't think they are even cooked and finished with a touch of goat butter, the only thing I can say to describe these are ridiculous, ridiculously good. Sweet buttery tender meat that burst with the flavors of the open sea. Seasoned slightly with volcanic salt, the best it yet to come as you pull off the heads and suck the hot soupy fatty brains that just explodes in your mouth with unbelievable juices. Simplicity with meticulous perfection. I can honestly say that these prawns are by far the best thing I have ever tasted in my life!  Percebes or goose barnacles are crustaceans that attach to hard surfaces in the ocean like rocks. Goose barnacles name originated from the middle ages where people saw geese near the sea and assumed that the black and white barnacles were 'baby' geese that would somehow metamorphose into a goose. Goose barnacles are a rare and expensive delicacy in Spain. They are a somewhat ugly, dirty and messy dish. The shell is quite hard and therefore takes some effort to break into it to get the soft 'mussel-like' meat. Our waitress in her best broken english was trying to tell us to use our napkins like a bib since the juices from barnacles would squirt everywhere. She was correct, I shot Clare directly in the face with my first attempt at opening one of these suckers. There is simply no elegant or graceful way to eat these.  The pure essence of Spanish peas smoked ever so slightly in a small container with a piece of Iberian black Jamon and butter made this dish another one of the standouts. Clean, light, fresh and tradition flavors of this dish almost acted like a palate cleaner for our mostly seafood lunch so far.  After we were served the tradition Basque country dish of grilled Bacalao or salt cod, the final protein came out. This is why the grill was invented. The Galician rib-eye on the bone steak. A 15-year old animal, dried aged for 4 weeks and grilled to perfection over red oak. There are steaks and then there are steaks. The fat rendered perfectly, charred on the outside but rare on the inside, tender beyond belief and packed with flavor that is somewhat indescribable, this had to be the best steak I have ever eaten. We liked!  Lastly, we had a smoked milk ice cream with berry fruits which again confused my brain and palate of how you can infuse the slight whisper of smoke into a frozen dessert that was incredible light and not too sweet. What a meal!
As we left the restaurant and was meandering through the courtyard of the village we watched a dog chase a donkey and then the donkey chase the dog. This playful encounter along with the idillic backdrop of the village of Axpe was a great way to finish our magical lunch, our special day and the celebration of our 10 years together. As we drove back down to Madrid, I had time to reflect on our lunch at Etxebarri and the culinary craftsman, Chef Arguinzoniz. As other chefs around the world try to transform food into new and artful creations using complex techniques, painfully and meticulous prepared, Chef Arguinzoniz creates incredibly delicious food cooked using the primitive techniques and presented in an simple but enticing way. The food of this skill, quality and beauty is nothing short of a revelation. The food was so good and unpretentious it solicited an emotional high that I have never encountered at another dining experience. |
Etxebarri's charming surroundings in the town of Axpe
Here some of Madrid's marvelous modern architecture (and beautiful weather!)
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| Madrid's esteemed Prada |
Modern Art at the Sophia Reina, a converted hospital
Exploring Madrid
Including youth protests against Spain's 20% unemployment
Plaza Mayor - once used as an open-air theatre, a bullring, a place of execution and a backdrop for tournaments.
Of course how could we go to Madrid without us snagging lunch reservations at the hottest and most 'difficult to get a reservation' restaurant in town, DiverXO. DiverXO is Asian inspiration meeting Spanish execution from the up and coming, avant-garde chef, David Munoz. Shortly before 1:30pm we arrive by cab to the Cuzco area of Madrid to see a very low-key and discrete sign in gold lettering announcing the restaurant "DiverXO'. Very Zen-like and very dark would be the best way to describe the restaurant from the outside. Since Chef Munoz guards his privacy, no photos are allowed in the restaurant but here is one of the dining room.
The meal starts with a wonderful greeting from Chef Munoz's wife and Maitre'De and our amuse is served. It is very fresh edamame liberally sprinkled with sea salt and black sesame seeds. It is served in a white ceramic giant Dixie cup. There is a aioli, of sort, of garlic and a Peruvian chile. The heat is subtle and builds up over time to heat the back of the throat.
We order a wonderful German Riesling from Mosel to help balance the flavors throughout the 9 course lunch.
The next dish was a quail egg yolk which rests precariously on top of a blood sausage dumpling in a bamboo dim sum basket. Outstanding, but that’s only half the dish. Underneath the bamboo basket is a piece of pig’s ear which is soft, gelatinous and slightly browned and crunchy on the edges. A little spicy duck sauce and thinly sliced red onions accompany this one bite morsel. Again outstanding and an incredible fusion of east meets Spain!
Another great dish was paper thin pounded raw prawns, cut into two translucent disks that are barely cooked by pouring a stream of hot oil over them. On top of these disks are the contents from the prawn heads with minced chives, sesame seeds, micro greens and Japanese yuzu dotting the plate with some seasoned mayonnaise on the left. GIve me 10 more please! This was beyond tasty!
Another interesting dish features ox short ribs slow cooked with baby carrots and mushrooms strewed all over the dish. Tamarind foam dots were all over the plate like mini explosions.
Two desserts were served but the standout one consisted of three small logs of violet, white sesame and nut flavored panna cotta under a cloud of violet cotton candy foam. Very light and not too sweet. It was a work of art!
Although I am usually not a fan of 'fusion' food, this was a delightful meal and one we will remember. An fascinating anniversary lunch and no wonder it is the hottest ticket in town.
Shopping in Madrid
And how could we forget the jamon?!
The happy couple at our hotel's rooftop bar, before one of Madrid's late night soirees - the town that never sleeps!
