Pintxos in San Sebastian
If I were a rockstar I would move to San Sebastian, learn to speak Basque, and do nothing other than drink wine, have plentiful sex, and eat Pintxos (pronounced Peen-chos) until my heart failed. If you don’t know what Pintxos are this will probably sound a tad dirty, but let me assure you that it is just really exciting tapas style food and nothing more…well, depending on how much you like food.
Last winter I had planned on spending a couple of days in Donostia-San Sebastian before moving onward to Bordeaux which is a short 1.5 hour train ride away across the France/Spain border, but instead I ended up skipping Bordeaux altogether to stay in San Sebastian. The motivation for the change of plans was simple. Stay for the food.
Old Town San Sebastian at Night
It’s late and I’m wandering the streets of Old Town (Parte Vieja) San Sebastian past the dinner hour and keep seeing all of these tiny bars loaded with locals standing around having a great time in front of these massive platters of food. My stomach is starting to eat itself, but I’m a little intimidated. McDonald’s would be an easy choice, but that would be sacrilegious in a town like this.
I find a bar that has a younger staff banking on them speaking a little more English than the older, more traditional set. I step into Txondorra Pintxos bar and approach the bartender for some advice. He is friendly and explains to me in English all about the Pintxos.
Help yourself to whatever you want on the platters lined up on the counter and then show your plate to the bartender so he knows how much to charge you. Cool. I take an assortment of the small Tapas and start chowing down.
I immediately fall in love with the Pintxos.
Pintxos at Txondarra in San Sebastian
It’s such a simple combination of things that make up Pintxos but they are fantastic. Prosciutto with cheese and julienne cut carrots with corn and olive oil, or a variety of mushrooms and cheese, all of which are served on small pieces of baguette. Some of them are more like little meat pies, some of them seafood based. I’m sure this is all meant as an appetizer, but I more or less decide that I would be happy eating this as a full meal all the time.
The next night I go back to the same bar and try some more of the local suggestions. The bartender buys me a couple glasses of wine and has the cook make up some of his favourite Pintxos for me. Once again a fantastic night of eating with a little more local insight. Going back to the same restaurant more than once while travelling really does buy you an entirely different experience (see Repeat Diner Theory).
All-in-all I was thrilled with the Pintxos experience and can’t wait to make a pilgrimmage back to the food heaven that is San Sebastian again. I find the city itself very relaxing and with food and wine like that I don’t need anything else — except for the rockstar salary, and the plentiful sex of course.
Some San Sebastian Resources:
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