The Grand Spain Tour

Disfrutar

In Disfrutar (in English “Enjoy”), which is ranked #1 on the world’s 50 best restaurants list, creativity, high technical skill, fantasy, and good taste are the hallmarks of El Bulli veteran chefs Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro, and Eduard Xatruch.

They conjure up a true gastronomic experience via several tasting menus in a simple, contemporary space with an open-view kitchen. The name of the restaurant, which translates as “enjoy,” says it all.

We will enjoy the special “Living” Table experience.

A proposal born from the initiative of the interior designer Merche Alcalà, with which chefs Castro, Xatruch, and Casañas have worked to offer a totally different and new culinary experience. The “Living” Table is located in the R&D kitchen of the restaurant, gives life to the table, and invites guests to participate in the gastronomic experience.

Alkimia

Chef Jordi Vilà, at the helm of Alkimia, digs deep into the past, present, and future of Catalan gastronomy. Exploring the entire range of the culinary landscape, from the center to the margins, Alkimia is both grounded in tradition and open to embracing the most radical contemporary ideas.

When thinking about Alkimia’s cooking, we always place value on the moment, that fleeting instant in which the secret of each dish is revealed.

Cooking is an odyssey, a journey that can only be made in one way: cooking.

We shall enjoy a specially prepared feast at Alkimia’s most beautiful Private Dining Room.

Estimar

Estimar, nestled in the heart of culinary excellence, is the embodiment of love for the sea and its bounty, created by the dynamic duo of Rafa Zafra and Anna Gotanegra, his partner.

Zafra, a culinary virtuoso, began his journey at 16, honing his skills at renowned establishments like Tristán, Arzak, and the legendary El Bulli under Ferran Adrià. Anna, the maestro behind the restaurant’s seamless operation, brings her heritage from the historic 1895 fish market of Plaça Sant Pere de Roses.

This lineage ensures Estimar’s daily access to premium quality seafood. Together, they create a harmonious blend of expertise and tradition, offering guests an unparalleled dining experience that celebrates the richness of the sea.

Els Casals

The Hungry Tourist’s sanctuary and foodies’ heaven.

Chef Oriol Rovira’s Els Casals is more than just a restaurant. It’s a way of life. Set within farmland owned by the Rovira family for over 600 years, Els Casals offers cuisine from the land in which the majority of products come from the family’s own farm or nearby producers: vegetables and fruit, eggs, milk, and dairy products, poultry, pork, mushrooms, truffles, etc.

The cuisine is highly dependent on the seasonality of products, which are always treated with the highest respect so they may be appreciated and enjoyed in the best conditions.

DiverXO

Many consider DiverXO, the culinary circus of genius chef Dabiz Muñoz, the best restaurant in Spain, and the current menu the best ever by chef Dabiz.

Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of flavors from all over the world as Muñoz personally interprets them, and his crew takes you to gastronomy la la land.

The backdrop to your culinary experience is a stunning modern design, unlike any other restaurant you’ve ever visited.

Desde 1911

Desde 1911 is one of Madrid’s great modern seafood temples, created by the legendary Pescaderías Coruñesas, the family company that helped turn landlocked Madrid into one of Spain’s great fish cities.

The idea is simple, but very serious: the best fish and shellfish brought directly from the ports, treated with elegance, precision, and restraint.

This is not a restaurant built around tricks. It is built around product. Beautiful fish, perfect cooking, serious service, and the kind of room where you immediately understand that seafood is being treated with real respect.

For GST, Desde 1911 gives us another side of Spain: not fire, not avant-garde, not countryside, but the quiet luxury of extraordinary seafood in Madrid.

Asador Etxebarri

Asador Etxebarri, ranked #2 on the world’s 50 best restaurants list, is nestled deep in the Urkiola mountains of Vizcaya, surrounded by green fields and craggy peaks. The entrance takes you through a simple village bar. Once upstairs, though, you are transported to another world, a space at once refined and rustic.

Chef Bittor Arginzoniz dominates that most primal, most basic, most ancient element of fire, which he applies with a delicate touch to the best raw ingredients. Using a deceptively simple technique, he elevates them as close as possible to their Platonic ideal.

Elkano

Elkano is a classic restaurant, a cozy restaurant, a Basque restaurant. Its fish and seafood are peerless. The setting and service are warm, refined, and unfussy. Owner Aitor Arregi expects rodaballo, turbot, to be at its height during our visit. His father was the pioneer in grilling turbot whole over chestnut coals.

The crispy skin, the delicate buttery flesh, the crunchy fins, the squishy bits around the head: all are meant to be eaten in turn, and Aitor will come to the table to give us directions and advice; it’s almost like a piscine anatomy lesson. In a long lineup of Basque grill experts, Elkano is a leader of the pack.

Casa Julian

Casa Julian Restaurant in Tolosa, Spain, is a beloved establishment that has been serving traditional Basque cuisine since 1950. The restaurant is renowned for its specialty dish, the txuleta, a thick cut of grilled beef that is cooked over a wood fire and served with roasted peppers and fries.

The restaurant’s interior is rustic and charming, with exposed brick walls and wooden beams, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Casa Julian is a must-visit destination for anyone traveling to the Basque Country who is seeking an authentic culinary experience.

Pintxos Crawl

The real action in San Sebastián starts at nightfall when the international crowd of foodies mingles with the local and hops from one pintxos bar to another to try their best creations with a glass of Txakoli, cider, or beer.