SAN SEBASTIÁN TO APPEAR ON FRED SIRIEIX’S ‘REMARKABLE PLACES TO EAT’

The world’s most famous maître d’ Fred Sirieix, together with some of the industry’s leading chefs, has embarked on a culinary tour showcasing the best city-break restaurants in a new BBC2 series. ‘Remarkable Places to Eat’ takes viewers to the most coveted gastro-cities and behind the scenes of their best restaurants as critically acclaimed chefs take Sirieix to their all-time favourite places to eat. During the four-part series Sirieix will visit the Basque city of San Sebastián accompanied by chef, food writer, and restaurateur Nisha Katona.

San Sebastián is one of Europe’s most famous gastro-hubs boasting a staggering 18 Michelin stars within a 25-kilometre radius and 11 restaurants in the Michelin Guide. Gastronomy is an art and a way of life in these parts of Spain where great care is taken to maximise the flavours of locally sourced ingredients. San Sebastián and its surrounding area is home to restaurants such as Arzak, Berasategui, Akelarre and Mugaritz. It is the second city with the most Michelin stars per capita in the world, second only to Kyoto, Japan.

Katona takes Sirieix to discover Mugaritz, a prestigious fine dining establishment listed at seventh in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Here they spend time foraging in the countryside around the city with the chefs from the restaurant before discovering how the food is exquisitely prepared behind the scenes. The pair also spend time exploring the back streets of San Sebastián finding out about how locals eat day to day. One of the more rustic establishments they visit is Bar Nestor (11 Arrandegi Kalea) where they sample a slice of the more rudimentary cooking rather than the ultra-luxe fine dining San Sebastián is renowned for. Katona told The Times:

“San Sebastián is so open-hearted and accepting. There’s the charm of La Concha, but everything really happens on the backstreets, where the bars are open until late and bursting with passionate foodies. It’s the sort of place where you can go for dinner alone and end up with an army of friends. Food is a great opening gambit.”

In San Sebastián the locals are passionate about their food and take pride in delivering the sentiment to those who are lucky enough to visit. It is only fitting that it should feature in ‘Remarkable Places to Eat’.

‘Remarkable Places to Eat’ can be seen on BBC 2 at 9:00pm or on BBC iplayer.