Akelarre restaurant, San Sebastian, Spain

Slightly annonyed after Iberia misplaced my luggage on a flight from Zurich, I finally made it to the destination of my journey the restaurant Restaurant Akelarre in the hills outside of San Sebastian. View and location is great, lush green hills on the shores of the Atlantic and most seats have a fascinating sea-side view.

Heading to the Basque country is generally a good idea to do some heavy food sight-seeing. The amuse bouche was a play on of a sandy beach, with different elements that transported the salty & sandy feeling to your palate. Not that creative but expertly executed. The slight tendency to show effects continues with some prawns cooked and flambeed table side, who doesn’t like a show involving fire right next to you ?

My favourite dish was a pasta-like sheet, covered with some mushrooms and parmesan, this was a course which sends a strong signal to any italian restaurant. The foie gras was sprinkled with what appeared to be way too much salt & pepper, but the “salt” was a sugary candy. While the effect was surprising, the slight porcelain quality of the “salt” was disturbing.

Fish in various preparations followed and the menu ended with two interesting components for dessert. One was a coconut sponge which was interesting to eat and the texture felt great, the other being an apple tart without any fresh apples, covered in an edible, printed sheet of paper. The restaurant sports quite a bit of surprising “molecular” approaches to certain components. I am slightly torn to balance the gimmicks versus the flavours, textures and presentation. I wouldn’t agree to the three michelin stars awarded, I’d say that it deserves two. The main argument (inline with Michelin’s guiding principles) is that it’s not worth flying to San Sebastian just for this restaurant, but if you’re already in the area it’s well worth a detour. Do plan some time to shop for toothpaste, socks and basic laundry items if you’re flying Iberia…