Both a fascinating culinary experience and an absolute treat for the senses, Azurmendi has been awarded the most sustainable restaurant in the world and ranks #26 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants List. Eneko Atxa's food is a fantastic combination of the most groundbreaking culinary techniques with the traditional flavors and ingredients that form the backbone of Spanish and Basque cuisine.
We were greeted at the restaurant's beautiful entrance hall, where we warmed up for our lunch with a very special picnic basket.
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Delicious Guernica peppers straight from the plant
By the time we were seated at one of their tables overlooking a fantastic view of the Basque landscape, we were totally excited and our taste buds ready to take in all that Azurmendi's extensive tasting menu had to offer.
We started off with an interesting snack called "Hazelnut, peanut, almond and mushroom leave". Note that in modern cuisine, very often things are not what they seem…
 
Delicious homemade bread with extra virgin olive oil.
 
And then came one of their most celebrated dishes: "Inverted egg", or egg cooked inside out and truffled.
 
The next dish was something called "Bloody Mar". Mar means "sea" in Spanish, and as its name promised, this adaptation of the popular tomato-based cocktail delivered a super intense sea flavor, thanks to the use of sea urchin or uni.
 
With the new dish we continued with the flavors of the sea with this amazing "Oyster, vegetable and sea pil-pil accompanied by sea urchin and seaweeds".
Following this came what was, in my opinion, the highlight of the meal (and it really wasn't easy to choose one): "Roasted lobster out of the shell on oil herbs and sweet chives". The lobster cooked to perfection, the intense flavor of olive oil infused with chives, the crunchy cone on top filled with lobster tartar… Absolutely amazing!
More delicious food: "Tear peas, Iberian ham gel with a milk infusion on a base of dry mushrooms".
 
Next, another mind-blowing dish: "Squid noodles, crunchy and infusion". That's what it was, basically. Noodles made of squid, cooked in a super-concentrated squid broth. Simple flavors, multiplied by 1000.
 
During the course of our meal, we were allowed to visit the kitchen and take as many photos as we wanted. It was beautiful to see all the staff working on our dishes with so much care, and most of all, to see Chef Eneko supervising every piece of food that left the kitchen.
    
Time for the main dishes to arrive. The first one was a total explosion of flavor in your mouth: "Salted stew: vegetables, anchovies and Iberics". A pork feet stew, so thick and concentrated it stuck to your lips, accompanied by Idiazabal cheese spheres.
  
Next dish was just fantastic: "Hake cocotxas with potatoes and garlic". Note the little flower on top of the fish. That's the garlic flower, and as it name indicates, it delivers a very powerful garlic kick as soon as you bite on it.
 
Last but not least, came the "Pigeon, deuxelle and cauliflower". Perfectly cooked piece of meat, accompanied by pigeon jus and a delicious pate made with the pigeon's liver. Wow.
 
At this point, we were overwhelmed by the amazing flavors we had just been served, and were totally full and satisfied, but we weren't done yet. Three desserts and the "petit fours" came soon after to add a sweet touch to this already fabulous experience.
Dry croissant of fruits and creamy cheese ice-cream
 
Red fruits and almonds
 
Petit fours.
  
By the end of our meal, I was not just full of food but also joy and happiness, moved by every single dish that Chef Eneko had designed in his menu, and hoping one day I could be half the chef he is now.
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