Elizaberriko Etxeberria

Activist restaurateur and founder of the Ernest network Eva Jaurena is reconnecting with her roots (near the Ardanavy River, to be precise), alongside her chef partner Alex Mahood and a handful of locals, who together revived an old inn languishing in the heights of Hasparren. There, in a sleek dining room with exposed wooden rafters, the British chef (formerly of Jones in Paris) does more than just breathe new life into the Elizaberri neighborhood with his French-Spanish delights, like what we had for lunch recently: a sublime Saint-Jean-de-Luz albacore tuna tartare seasoned with garum and dill, served on crispy Arto Gorria corn tostadas; perfectly prepared and achingly tender Galician-style octopus, with potatoes from the Ferme d’Uhaldia, olive oil and piment d’Espelette; before a sweet coq au lait upside-down flan. Almost as soon as we’d wolfed down our lunch, we made a dinner reservation, hoping to secure a taste of the salmorejo, the whole fish or the txuleta (Basque prime rib) dry-aged in house, all cooked over the embers, and the tarta de queso with grilled apricots… Elizaberriko Etxeberria, we’ll be back! // Loulou Pic

FEELING THIRSTY? : Low-intervention wines that never compromise quality: Y A Plus Qu’à De, an Alsatian sylvaner-Auxerrois blend produced by Kumpf & Meyer (€7 a glass), Xut, an Irouléguy blanc from the Domaine Etxondoa (€50 a bottle), Adèle, a mauzac rose varietal produced by Laurent Cazottes (€42)…
PRICE: : Appetizers and tapas €6-14, mains €18-30, whole cuts of meat and fish, depending on what’s available (txuleta €62/kg), desserts €5-6.