Being in Basque country and having been denied the
opportunity yesterday to indulge ourselves with a ‘true Basque dinner’ we were
determined to make it happen today so the very first thing we did was to
recruit our friendly desk clerk for help in making a reservation at one of our
top three choices in restaurants. He was not optimistic he warned. Usually you are unable to make a reservation
for the same day he advised but agreed he would try.
Meanwhile Judy and I set out to further investigate San
Sebastian. As we strolled along the
promenade at the beach we noticed these great white lampposts at three different
place that light the stairs down to the beach after dark when the disc partiers
come out. Each lamppost has four
gargoyles with their wings spread and a frightful look on their face. I wondered why they didn’t make the
gargoyles friendlier looking it is such a pretty place but then realized if
they were friendly they wouldn’t have been able to frighten off the evil
spirits which I am sure was their purpose.
Following our stroll of the beach we wandered through the
shopping area and I managed to buy yet another leather coat. Somehow I am simply unable to resist the
bright colors and soft buttery feel of the leather here. This one is bright blue and Judy says it’s a
perfect match to my eyes. I just think
it’s hot!
Yesterday we had spotted these wonderful and unusual
purses and agreed we wouldn’t normally buy the same item but in this case maybe
we would have to. You see these purses
have telephone handsets for handles and a rotary dial for decoration. Between us we spent over 60 years making our
money off of telephones which seemed to make these purses the perfect way to
spend some of that money now. It was just one of those karma things where we
simply knew we had to have these bags.
When we arrived back at our hotel we learned the good news
that we did indeed have reservations for dinner at our first choice restaurant,
Bodegon Alejandro located in old town.
We were excited and delighted. The reviews for this restaurant in Trip
Advisor were mixed but the locals all raved about it and we were going with the
locals. After all who would know Basque
food better than Basque people?
I’m pleased to say we had an absolutely delicious
dinner. The restaurant was downstairs
below street level but did not have a cave like feeling but more intimate and
cozy. We were greeted warmly by a
hostess with good English and were seated promptly. Our menus and the specials list were also in
English making our selections easier especially because we were now in Basque
country and many of the items on the menu were unknown to us. Judy and I ordered a tuna salad to share, she
a veal dinner and for me the lamb.
We were immediately served a small serving of complimentary
gazpacho accompanied by thin toast slices served in the slats of a small tree
branch, very clever. The gazpacho was
probably the best I’ve ever tasted but it was the first bite of the salad when
Judy and I realized we were in for a treat!
We both loved our main courses and there was not a single dab of food
left on either of our plates when we were finished. We easily selected a dessert to share as
there was one that was so unusual that there was no question but that we had to
have it, Peach Gnocchi with Coconut Ice Cream and a Citrus Juice Sauce. The combinations of favors in this dessert
were amazing. I am usually a one or two
bite dessert person but not tonight.
Tonight I fought Judy right down to the last bite. And as if that dessert was not the perfect
finish out came a complimentary creamy after dinner drink and a small
cookie. We had experienced a true Basque
restaurant and loved it.
As good luck would have it as we were leaving the restaurant the chef was standing near
the hostess desk and I stopped to tell him how much we had enjoyed our meal and
to compliment him on his culinary skills.
He blushed just a tad and was grinning from ear to ear as he thanked us,
he had made our day and we had made his!
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