Manzanilla, Yann de Rochefort & Michelin-starred Spanish Chef Dani García's Spanish Brasserie Closes After One Year in Business And With a Confusing Message From Dani Dani García on Facebook

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Panel at the entrance to Manzanilla Spanish Brasserie with Chef Dani García, which closed Feb. 27, 2014 after just over a year in business.  The words on this panel, all of which evoke Andalucía, were chosen by Chef García.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest.  Canon EOS 50D / Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.

I got the notice below by e-mail yesterday, the same day of the closing.  With so short a notice, I couldn't manage to attend the closing "fiesta."  I truly hate seeing a beautiful Spanish restaurant like Manzanilla close.  Yann de Rochefort still has his two Boqueria restaurants in Manhattan and another in Washington, D.C., all of which are packed most of the time.  

 

 Croquetas de calamares en su tinta (squid in its own ink croquettes), Manzanilla Spanish Brasserie, New York City.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest. Canon 5D Mark III / Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

 

MANZANILLA SPANISH BRASSERIE

Dear Friends, Tonight, Thursday, February 27th, we will be closing our doors. It's bittersweet — we are proud of the food and service we provided this past year, and we hope you loved your experiences with us as much as we have loved serving you. All good things must come to an end, but instead of crying, we will be celebrating in true Spanish spirit, with a fiesta that will go until we close. Come eat and drink with us, and say goodbye to our awesome staff! The best part?  Our entire, critically-acclaimed wine list is 50% off! Bring your friends, bring your family, order up some paella and that 1956 Rioja you've been dreaming of. Because tonight, the wine is going to be cheap and plentiful.   Chef Dani García at Madrid Fusión 2014.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest.  Canon 5D Mark III / Tokina 17-35mm f/4

Dani García, in a Facebook post, wrote this about the closing:

Después de un año en NYC, debemos revisar el modelo de negocio y entendemos que la cocina Española debe tener una representación en la cultura americana sin perder la esencia y el sentido culinario Español.

Manzanilla NY ha recibido una respuesta inmejorable de público y clientes habituales. 
  

Sin embargo, es necesario una refundación con operadores que traten de enseñar la cocina Española de forma directa, honesta y sin "americanizar"; creemos que tenemos un alto nivel en nuestro país, apreciado internacionalmente y seguro que NY lo tendrá en breve.

Próximamente tendréis nuevas y buenas noticias de la cocina Española en NY, esta vez en "estado Puro".

Dani García. 

Translation:  "After a year in New York City, we need to revise our business model and understand that Spanish cuisine should represent American culture without losing the essence and sense of the Spanish culinary experience.

Manzanilla NY has received an unforgettable reply from the public and habitual customers. 
(GD Note:  In retrospect, Dani might want to re-phrase this "unforgettable reply" line.) 

Nevertheless, (paraphrasing) going forward we need a "rebuilding" (of our approach) with "operators" who try to show Spanish cuisine in a direct, honest way, without "Americanizing" the food; we believe that we have a very high level of cuisine in our country, a cuisine that is internationally appreciated and which New York will surely have shortly.

Soon, you will have new and good news about Spanish cuisine in New York, this time in "estado Puro, it's pure state."  (This a cryptic reference.  Does he mean that Estado Puro, a small group of modernized traditional Spanish tapas bars by Chef Paco Roncero in Madrid, is coming to New York or does he mean that someone will do "pure state" Spanish food that "represents American culture?")

Dani García. 

Interesting takes on Manzanilla Spanish Brasserie:

Dani García and Yann de Rochefort’s Manzanilla Closes Tonight, Grub Street

An Import With a Foot in Spain Restaurant Review: Manzanilla in Manhattan
Pete Wells, New York Times, April 16, 2013

What's a Modern Spanish Brasserie?  Dani Garcia brings a touch of avant garde to Gramercy, 

"Several modern Spanish chefs closed their New York restaurants not too long after they opened them, so it would be understandable if García were reluctant to commit entirely to anything too haute or experimental. As a "modern Spanish brasserie," which is what Manzanilla calls itself, the restaurant seeks a safer sort of middle ground—permission to fool around in experimental fine-dining territory, right next to the promise of reassuring crowd-pleasers like a 12-ounce strip steak and a "snack" of Brussels sprouts. While it's charming that a smart, technique-driven chef has come from Spain to present New York with a dish of eight fried sprouts ($12), it's also a bit peculiar: Served in one long row, slightly raw in the center, they're like the punch line to a joke that's been lost in translation." Tejal Rao, www.villagevoice.com 

April 8, 2013 El País, Critic José Carlos Capel (Also President of Madrid Fusión): 
Dani García, Manzanilla, NuevaYork, spanish brasserie... (in Spanish)

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

About Gerry Dawes
 

Writing, Photography, & Specialized Tours of Spain & Tour Advice

For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned Spanish wine, food, cultural and photographic itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  

I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and led on shorter excursions and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Norman Van Aken, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, Christopher Gross, Rick Moonen, James Campbell Caruso and many others.

 * * * * *

“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

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"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Arts

contributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine.  Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

* * * * *

"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

 * * * * *

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Pilot Trailer for a Proposed Television Reality Series

(Click on the arrow to play.)

All Rights Reserved, EO Agency, Copyright
Filmed in Valencia, Alicante, Denia, Monóver, Xinorlet, Parcent, L'Albufera, El Palmar, Alfafar

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com

The Great Flamenco Guitarist, Paco de Lucia, Dies of a Heart Attack in Mexico

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Paco de Lucia.
(I wish I knew to whom credit for this photo should go.  I found it on the internet.)

"So farewell then, Paco de Lucía.

Those late night sessions in London were unforgettable. The rumour had run among the cognoscenti that one of your brothers, or a close relative owned a restaurant on the Fulham Road called the Costa del Sol, and this was strategically situated right next to the famous London Guitar Studio.

Those in the know said that if you booked a table at the restaurant on a concert night, the whole Paco de Lucía entourage would arrive at the restaurant after the show and move to a basement room in the restaurant where they would eat, drink, play music, sing and be merry all night long.

So, after a knock-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring a very young Paco alongside a steady Larry Coryell and an utterly frenetic John McLaughlin, in which the unquestioned talent of Paco shone, we scrambled to the Costa del Sol for dinner.

True enough, after about half an hour Paco de Lucía arrived with three or four other dark-haired men, all carrying guitar cases. They all went downstairs. We strung out our meal as much as possible and eventually, as the rest of the diners left, we got our chance and asked if we could go downstairs to congratulate the great man. We were told we could. This led to the first of three great evenings at that famous restaurant.

Paco de Lucía was more than a virtuoso guitarist and exploratory composer, he was in my opinion the finest producer that flamenco music ever had.

Paco, I always thought you were the genius behind Camarón. It was your tact and dexterity in the recording studio that drew out that tormented singer's best moments.

And the concerts with Larry and John: a revelation. You'll be missed." - - From my friend Harold Heckle, Associated Press, Madrid. 

Spanish  flamenco  guitarist  Paco de Lucia  dies  at  66,  BBC  News 

(Click  on  this  link  to  see  article.)

 ________________________________________________________________________________________________

About Gerry Dawes

Writing, Photography, & Specialized Tours of Spain & Tour Advice

For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned Spanish wine, food, cultural and photographic itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  

I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and led on shorter excursions and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Norman Van Aken, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, Christopher Gross, Rick Moonen, James Campbell Caruso and many others.

 * * * * *

“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

* * * * *

"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Arts

contributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine.  Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

* * * * *

"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

 * * * * *

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.



In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.



". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

Pilot for a reality television series with Gerry Dawes  
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com

Endorsements and Testimonials From Culinary Stars and Those Who Have Traveled With Gerry Dawes in Spain

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Endorsements and Testimonials

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I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller (six times), Terrance Brennan (twice), Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez.  And I have led on shorter excursions and/or have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Danny Meyer, Norman Van Aken, Ruth Reichl, Mauro Maccioni, Jeffrey Steingarten, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, Cindy Pawlcyn and James Campbell Caruso.

* * * * *

 "My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés of José Andrés ThinkFoodGroup, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

"Trust me everyone, I have traveled with this man, if Gerry Dawes tells you to eat somewhere it's like Bourdain, believe it!!" - - Chef Mark Kiffin, The Compound Restaurant, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“Spain wouldn’t be as known to Americans without the stories Gerry tells and writes.” - - Superstar Catalan Chef Ferran Adrià, elBulli

"But, for Gerry, Spain is more than just the Adriàs and (Juan Mari and Elena) Arzaks. He has connected with all manner of people working at every level and in every corner of Spain. I’m always amazed at this reach. You can step into a restaurant in the smallest town in Spain, and it turns out they know Gerry somehow. I remember one rainy night in Madrid during the 2003 Madrid Fusión congress. I wanted to go to my favorite place for patatas bravas, the ultimate tapa. But Gerry had another place in mind, and I didn’t know about it. But Gerry is always right. The potatoes at his place were amazing.” - - Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019; Chef-partner of Mercado Little Spain at Hudson Yards, New York 2019 
 

(Double click on tour advertisement to enlarge.)

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"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

* * * * *

“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

* * * * *

"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Artscontributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine. Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

* * * * *

 Tapas hopping with a few friends at Rafa in Madrid.  

Gerry Dawes, Tetsuya Wakuda, Rochelle Smith, Livia Iaccarino (Don Alfonso 1890)
Janet Van Aken, Charlie Trotter, Norman Van Aken.  Photo: Don Alfonso Iaccarino.

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EO Agency Pilot Video of Proposed 7 Days, 7 Nights Television Series

with Gerry Dawes (& Guest Chef Terrance Brennan)
 

(Click on arrow to play video.)

"Gerry has an extraordinary knowledge of Spain, not just the cuisine and wine but the geography (little tapas bars on tiny streets in villages up in the mountains), history, culture and people. One of the highlights of the trip for me was not a 3-star Michelin meal, but a lunch at a winery. Gerry, of course, knew the winemaker, and we dined in a large beautiful room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the vineyard. We ate simply: tomato salad, jamón ibérico, great bread and olive oil, baby lamb chops grilled over grape vines cuttings (exquisite), ewes’ milk cheese and, of course, great wine. What was special about this was the people, who invited us into their home with warmth and genuine hospitality, their alegría de vida (joie de vivre). I don’t speak Spanish but didn’t have too, we communicated through food, wine, banter, laughter and facial expressions." - - Terrance Brennan, Chef, cookbook author, creator-owner of New York’s Picholine and Artisanal restaurants. Brennan rates this trip, which predates the film pilot, as one of the top two gastronomic experiences of his life. 

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Gerry Dawes has been traveling in Spain for more than 40 years has done more than 100 extensive food and wine trips to Spain, 60 in the past decade alone. He has been cited for his knowledge of Spain in The New York Times and New York Times Magazine, New York Newsday, The Wine Spectator, The James Beard Foundation Newsletter, Food Arts, Men's Journal, and Spain's El País, El Mundo, Cambio 16, and Restauradores. Dawes has led numerous culinary and wine tours to Spain. 

His clients have included The World Trade Center Club, Club Managers of America Wine Society, Chef Mark Miller and his management team, the mythical 61st Tactical Fighter Squadron and The Commonwealth Club of California (trips in 2006 & 2013), Chef Michael Chiarello, Chef Ryan McIlwraith, the Club Chefs of New York and Connecticut, John Sconzo of Docsconz: Musings on Food & Life.

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Testimonials on Gerry Dawes's Spain Expertise

"I have been reading Gerry Dawes’ work on Spain for years, have been guided by him on visits to Spain, depend on him to answer any questions I might have about Spain, and hear from him when I get something wrong about Spain. No one is a more indefatigable lover and authority about his adopted country, and no one writes better about its food and wines."- - John Mariani, Mariani's Virtual Gourmet Newsletter; columnist for Esquire, Wine Spectator, Bloomberg News and Radio, and Diversion. He is author of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink (Lebhar-Friedman), The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink (Broadway), and, with his wife Galina, the award-winning Italian-American Cookbook (Harvard Common Press).

"My first introduction to Spanish cuisine was a fabulous two-week trip I took all around Spain with Gerry Dawes in 1990." -- Thomas Keller, Chef-owner, The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery.

"As with most culinary adventures, for Terrance Brennan (Chef-owner of New York City's Picholine and Artisanal restaurants; Founder of Artisanal Premium Cheese Center) it began as an occasional whisper. Then it became a persistent drone. And, finally a repetitive shout: 'Spain! Go to Spain! . . . Spain is the new France!' It was hard to ignore, so when his long-time friend Gerry Dawes suggested a whirlwind gastronomic tour of Spain, Terrance leapt at the idea. Dawes often referred to as 'Mr. Spain' (in culinary and wine circles), is an expert on that country's food, wine, and culture, and was the ideal person with whom to make the pilgrimage. Reigning in Spain: Blazing Through a Culinary Tour, The Artisanal Table, Summer 2008.

"Going to Spain with Gerry Dawes as Janet and I have done is one of the greatest ways imaginable to take in what is white-hot or classic regarding all things gastronomia. Treat yourself and those you love to the real insider's tour and join the Gerry tapeo!"-- Norman Van Aken, "The Father of New World Cuisine, "Chef, Author, Restaurateur

 

"I have taken ten trips to Spain, but the best trip was the one (of the six) Gerry Dawes orchestrated for me. His love and knowledge of the foods and wines of Spain are intoxicating. His ever present enthusiasm made my Spanish experiences with him memorable." - - Mark Miller, Chef/owner, Coyote Cafe (Santa Fe, New Mexico), winner of the James Beard Foundation's Southwestern Chef of the Year Award 1996.

 

"Just wanted to send you a big THANK YOU for the world's greatest two-hour tour of Madrid. From the boquerones to the capes to the good company, we loved every minute! Hope to have the pleasure of seeing you again soon...on any continent. With appreciation." - - Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, James Beard Award-winning co-authors of BECOMING A CHEF, CULINARY ARTISTRY, DINING OUT, CHEF'S NIGHT OUT, THE NEW AMERICAN CHEF, WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT, THE FLAVOR BIBLE and ON MASTERING WINE (forthcoming from Little, Brown), Web: www.becomingachef.com

Commonwealth Club of California

A Taste of Spain Tour October 2006

(Click on the arrow to activate slideshow, click on the lower left corner box to turn captions on or off; double click on the image box to go to a Picasa webpage where, by clicking on "slideshow," you can see the images enlarged full frame.) 

 Testimonials

"Wow! What a trip!!! It was everything we hoped for and so much more--we very much enjoyed it. This has been one of the best trips we've ever taken and believe me, we've had a blast in the past! We hope to join up with you on a tour Southern Spain. Until then." Jo & Linda Rubino

"Thanks so much for guiding us thru Spain and showing us your unique insider's view-it was a taste of Spain in more many ways than food and wine although that part was fantastic. We could never have had the experience of the country without your efforts and expertise.We believe (as do Tom and Carol) that your knowledge as well as the friendships that you have developed is a unmatched asset." All the best, Celia and Steve Rosen, New York

"Carol and I are still a bit woozy in the head from the time difference but we have been talking nonstop about our great trip and how it exceeded our expectations. Thanks for the adventure and getting us access to the best wineries and restaurants in from Madrid to Barcelona. Again thanks for everything." Thomas H. Burkhart, CEO, The Savant Group, San Francisco, CA 

"Lars and I just got home from Spain. Wanted to tell you again how memorable you made the tour of Spain and how much we enjoyed the great restaurants, wineries and people you were able to gather together for the group." Carol Vistnes, San Francisco

"Thanks for the tour! Mercedes (Lopez de Heredia, La Rioja) and the cooperage will always be remembered as will the "boat" trip (the ferry to Casa Camara in Pasajes de San Juan) and meal in San Sebastian (at three-star Michelin Arzak). Thanks for a wonderful trip. This one is the best ones ever for me. We would like to take another trip with you next year." Jim & Anastasia Brown, San Francisco

Elkano in Getaria, West of San Sebastián: The Best Fish Restaurant in the World? The Culinary World Mourns the Passing of the Great Fish Maestro Pedro Arregui, Who Over a Half Century Run Made Elkano a Legendary Restaurant

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Persistence of Memory* (Salvador Dalí) Five-Watch Rating

Mourning the passing on Feb. 14, 2014 of Elkano owner Pedro Arregui, El Maestro del Pescado.  Pedro is shown in this 2010 photograph with two of the whole grilled rodaballo (turbot).  On Jan. 15, Pedro celebrated his 50th anniversary at the helm of Elkano.  His son Aitor has long been a moving force behind the restaurant, so Elkano will live on with the inedible stamp of Pedro remaining in the lessons he taught his son. 
Photograph by Gerry Dawes©2010. Contact gerrydawes@aol.com.

Slide show by Gerry Dawes on Restaurante Elkano, not a part of the Departures article.
Double click on the photos to see the slide show enlarged.

Elkano

Getaria (Basque Country)

(From my article Spain's Best Undiscovered Restaurants, Departures, May 2011; also see my report on a dinner at Elkano during San Sebastián Gastronomika 2010.)

Located 15 miles west of San Sebastián, Getaria is the picture-postcard Basque Country fishing village that produced designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and Plácido Domingo’s mother. It was also home to the first mariner to circumnavigate the globe, Juan Sebastián Elcano, who is the namesake of what may be the best fish restaurant in the world (just ask chef Daniel Boulud or Nobu owner Drew Nieporent). Aided by longtime grill master Luís Manterola, Elkano chef Pedro Arregui and his son Aitor regularly turn out superb grilled clams, fat, sea-tasting percebes (goose barnacles), wood charcoal–grilled langostas (spiny, clawless lobsters) and whole wild turbot, fileted at the table. They do an excellent version of the Getaria speciality tartar de chipirón, a tartare of small, line-caught squid with sea urchin and ink sauce, and their two ways of preparing of kokotxas (hake glands), grilled or deep fried, are equally ethereal, especially when accompanied by light, refreshing Txakoli whites from the region’s small producers. Dinner, $115. 2 Herrerieta, Getaria, Guipúzcoa, Basque Country; 34-943/140-024.

Where to Stay: If driving back to San Sebastián’s fin-de-siècle Hotel María Cristina (rooms, from $435; 4 Paseo República Argentina; 34-943/437-600) isn’t an option, reserve a room with a spectacular ocean view at the Hotel Saiaz Getaria (rooms, from $160; 25 H. Roke Deuna; 34-943/140-143), which is ensconced in a 15th-century building in old-town Getaria.

View the Current Issue

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

About Gerry Dawes

Writing, Photography, & Specialized Tours of Spain & Tour Advice

For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned Spanish wine, food, cultural and photographic itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  

I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and led on shorter excursions and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Norman Van Aken, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, Christopher Gross, Rick Moonen, James Campbell Caruso and many others.

 * * * * * 

“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

* * * * *

"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Arts

contributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine.  Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

* * * * *

"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

 * * * * *

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

Pilot for a reality television series with Gerry Dawes  
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com

A Chance Encounter with A Long-time Friend, the Legendary Now Retired Mushroom-and-truffle Guru, Llorenç Petràs, at His Bolets Petràs Fruits del Bosc Stand in Barcelona’s Mercat de La Boquería, Jan. 14, 2014. On the Club Chefs of Connecticut & New York Taste of Spain Tour 2014.

* * * * *

The legendary mushroom-and-truffle guru, Llorenç Petràs, now-retired, but who just happened to be at his Bolets Petràs Fruits del Bosc stand in Barcelona’s Mercat de La Boquería that day (the stand is now run by his sons Isaac and Xavier) and showed the chefs a pile of prime black truffles. Club Chefs of Connecticut & New York Taste of Spain Tour 2014 with Gerry Dawes. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest. Canon EOS 6D / Tokina 17-35mm f/4.

The legendary mushroom-and-truffle guru, Llorenç Petràs, now-retired, but who just happened to be at his Petras stand in Barcelona’s Mercat de La Boquería that day (the stand is now run by his son).  With chefs (l to r) Carey Favreau, Glen Arbor Club, Bedford Hills NY; Llorenç Petràs; James Rosenbauer, Country Club of Farmington, Farmington, CT; Austin Simard , Brownson Country Club, Huntington, CT; and Victor Honrath, Wykagyl Country Club, New Rochelle, NY.  Club Chefs of Connecticut & New York Taste of Spain Tour 2014 with Gerry Dawes.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest. Canon EOS 6D / Tokina 17-35mm f/4.

The legendary mushroom-and-truffle guru, Llorenç Petràs, now-retired, but who just happened to be at his Petras stand in Barcelona’s Mercat de La Boquería that day (the stand is now run by his sons) and showed the chefs a pile of prime black truffles. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest. Canon EOS 6D / Tokina 17-35mm f/4.

Selection of mushrooms at Bolets Petràs Fruits del Bosc, owned by the legendary mushroom-and-truffle guru, Llorenç Petràs, now-retired, but who just happened to be at his stand (now run by his sons Isaac and Xavier), in Barcelona’s Mercat de La Boquería the day of our visit on Jan. 14, 2014.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest. Canon EOS 6D / Tokina 17-35mm f/4

A basket of colmenillas (morels; múrgola, rabassola o morilla in Catalan; colmenilla or morilla in Spanish) mushrooms at the Petràs stand in Barcelona’s Mercat de La Boquería. The legendary mushroom-and-truffle guru, Llorenç Petràs, now-retired, but who just happened to be at his Bolets Petràs Fruits del Bosc stand a that day (the stand is now run by his sons), and showed the Club Chefs of Connecticut & New York Taste of Spain Tour group a pile of prime black truffles. Jan. 14, 2014. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest. Canon EOS 6D / Tokina 17-35mm f/4.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

About Gerry Dawes

Writing, Photography, & Specialized Tours of Spain & Tour Advice

For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned Spanish wine, food, cultural and photographic itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  

I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and led on shorter excursions and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Norman Van Aken, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, Christopher Gross, Rick Moonen, James Campbell Caruso and many others.

 * * * * *

“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

* * * * *

"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Arts

contributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine.  Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

* * * * *

"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

 * * * * *

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.



In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.



". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

Pilot for a reality television series with Gerry Dawes  
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com

Espardenyes (sea cucumbers), Some Very Strange Creatures from the Sea, Are a Highly Prized Delicacy in Catalunya

* * * * *

 

 Espardenyes (sea cucumbers) served on pancetta, which I had with my great friend Juli Soler of elBulli fame, at Restaurante Fermi Puig, Barcelona.  Jan. 11, 2014. 
Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest.  Canon 5D Mark III / Tokina 17-35mm f/4.

Espardenyes, sea cucumbers, also called by the far less appetizing name, sea slugs, and you can read below, by quite a more exotic name by the fishermen in Cádiz.

The word espardenyes is the Catalan equivalent of the Spanish alpargatas (espadrilles) and are so-called because these equinoderms (akin to starfish), are reminiscent of the ribbed soles in the famous typical peasant footwear, which now re-designed and produced in stylish colors, sometimes with heels, is now sold in fashionable shops around the world. 

Espardenyes (in Catalan), espardenyas (in Spanish), the sea cucumbers, were once considered junk creatures from the sea and were usually only consumed by fisherman in Catalunya, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.  Now espardenyes, in limited supply, are considered a delicacy and are quite expensive.  Espardenyes creatures secrete a substance that forms a reddish, rough, linear  protective outer body, whose texture resembles the outer shell of starfish.  

Espardenyes, it has been written, have evolved a unique defense against a tiny parasite fish that invades the espardenyes's outer covering and dines on the sexual organs of its host.  The affected espardenya, merely (it would seem) rejects and jettisons the gnawed-on genitalia, then begins anew by re-generating the preyed upon (and undoubtedly prayed for) sexual organ in question.  Ironically, in the ports of Cádiz, on the Atlantic side of Spain, espardenyas (Spanish) are popularly know as carajos de mar (carajo is a naughty, but commonly used slang term for a phallus).

Now espardenyes, in limited supply, are considered a delicacy in Catalunya and are quite expensive.     

________________________________________________________________________________________________

About Gerry Dawes

Writing, Photography, & Specialized Tours of Spain & Tour Advice

For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned Spanish wine, food, cultural and photographic itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  

I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and led on shorter excursions and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Norman Van Aken, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, Christopher Gross, Rick Moonen, James Campbell Caruso and many others.

 * * * * *

“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

* * * * *

"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Arts

contributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine.  Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

* * * * *

"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

 * * * * *

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.



In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.



". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

Pilot for a reality television series with Gerry Dawes  
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com

Extrem Puro Extremadura Charcutería from Cerdo Ibérico de Bellota (Ibérico de Bellota Jamones & Ibérico de Bellota Cured Meats from Acorn-fed Pigs)

* * * * *

 
Chef Jordi Cruz (ABaC, Barcelona) at the Extrem Puro Extremadura jamón Ibérico stand at Madrid Fusión 2014. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest. Canon 5D Mark III / Tokina 17-35mm f/4.

Iberian pata negra pigs, the ones used for Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, foraging for bellotas (acorns) near Montánchez (Cáceres).
Photo by Gerry Dawes©2013 / gerrydawes@aol.com / http://www.gerrydawesspain.com Canon 5D Mark III / Canon 70 200mm f/4L USM with Canon 1.4 Telextender.

* * * * *

 A short video 

Extrem Puro Extremadura charcutería from Cerdo Ibérico de Bellota (cured meats from acorn-fed pigs): Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (salt-cured and air-aged ham), paleta Ibérica de Bellota (cured shoulder), lomito (underloin, the cured presa cut), lomo (cured true loin), salchichón (cured Ibérico, salami-like) and chorizo Ibérico.  

Filmed at Extrem Puro Extremadura, Montánchez (Cáceres), Extremadura, Spain by Gerry Dawes©2014 / gerrydawes@aol.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest.  Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS30 43-86mm f3.3 – f6.4.

______________________________________________________________________________________

About Gerry Dawes

Writing, Photography, & Specialized Tours of Spain & Tour Advice

For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned Spanish wine, food, cultural and photographic itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  

I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and led on shorter excursions and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Norman Van Aken, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, Christopher Gross, Rick Moonen, James Campbell Caruso and many others.

 * * * * *

“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

* * * * *

"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Arts

contributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine.  Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

* * * * *

"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

 * * * * *

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.



In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.



". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

Pilot for a reality television series with Gerry Dawes  
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com