Pintxos Crawl

San Sebastian Pintxos Crawl Cheesecake was not the end After a five-hour lunch at Etxebarri, heading out for pintxos might have seemed ambitious. Heavy rain gave us another reason to keep things short. We went anyway. We started at Tamboril with deep-fried stuffed peppers, plenty of fried Padrón peppers, and beer. The line at Ganbara was too long, so we continued to Borda Berri for its “risotto” and veal cheek. Both were absolutely delicious. Our next idea was foie gras at La Cuchara de San Telmo. Another long line put an end to that plan, so we headed to La Viña for cheesecake. That would have been a perfectly reasonable place to stop. But my food warriors weren’t finished. They went straight to Bar Desy for a late-night fix of txuleta burgers. A shorter crawl than planned. Not exactly a light dinner.

Piper Beteak Deep-fried stuffed peppers at Tamboril Piper beteak is Basque for stuffed peppers, known in Spanish as pimientos rellenos. At Tamboril, ours came enclosed in golden batter, puffed into irregular shapes with crisp little edges. Each had a toothpick poking out, ready to pick up from the shared plate. With beer and more peppers alongside, this was a very comfortable place to begin our rainy evening.

Pimientos de Padrón Fried green peppers at Tamboril Generous plates of green peppers, their skins blistered and glossy from frying. The preparation leaves very little between you and the pepper: tender flesh, wrinkled skin, oil, and salt. Padrón peppers come from Galicia, and although most are mild, the occasional one can bring some heat. We ate plenty of them with our beer. Spain’s tourism board gives fair warning about the spicy ones.

Risotto de Puntalette con Idiazábal Borda Berri Borda Berri’s “risotto” has a small surprise: it contains no rice. Instead, it uses puntalette, little rice-shaped pasta, with Idiazábal, the Basque sheep’s-milk cheese. The result is a creamy bowl with a little bite left in the pasta. The San Sebastián Pintxo Institute lists it among the bar’s specialties. Ours was absolutely delicious, as was the veal cheek beside it.

Carrillera de Ternera al Vino Tinto Veal cheek braised in red wine at Borda Berri Carrillera de ternera al vino tinto is the name to look for: veal cheek braised in red wine. Long cooking softens the cheek’s connective tissue, giving the meat its yielding texture and the sauce its body. Ours arrived surrounded by a generous pool of reddish-brown sauce. A proper slow-cooked dish in pintxo proportions, and another absolutely delicious plate.

Tarta de Queso La Viña cheesecake Santiago Rivera created La Viña’s cheesecake in 1990, long before versions of it traveled around the world. The original has no cookie crust, just a deeply browned exterior surrounding a soft, creamy center. Our slices arrived without sauce or decoration. La Viña tells its origin story; San Sebastián Tourism explains the crustless preparation.

Hamburguesa de Txuleta Bar Desy Aged beef, a brioche bun, and a mild cheese cream. Bar Desy’s txuleta burger keeps the ingredients simple, but Gorka Pérez and his team spent months developing the meat-and-fat blend with La Finca. After La Viña, my food warriors headed straight to this little bar in Gros for their final fix. Five hours at Etxebarri, a pintxos crawl, cheesecake, and now burgers. Look at those faces.