![]() One of the chefs, Igor Zalakain, guided us through the twisting hallways and into the wine cellar, which houses a staggering 100,000 bottles and more than 2,300 labels. She led us into the capacious kitchen, where we observed 30 cooks silently preparing food with precision and intensity. The real action lay ahead in San Sebastian, which is nestled on the Atlantic Ocean and home to Juan Mari Arzak, who's considered the father of modern Spanish cooking.Īrzak's daughter, Elena, who will one day run the restaurant, greeted us warmly. Madrid was merely a culinary sideshow of Padron peppers and fried cod. Including myself, Team Spain consisted of Robert Berry and Ricky King, two chefs in Washington, D.C., with scary appetites and a deep understanding of food. The trip began with the three of us rendezvousing in Madrid. Complications caused us to stumble occasionally. We always had a destination, but we didn't always make it. When not bagging stars, we tackled tapas at a hodgepodge of other recommended restaurants. Our gluttonous tour was mapped around a trio of famous Michelin-starred restaurants named Arzak, Mugaritz and Can Fabes. We tapped our savings and wielded our credit cards without remorse. We had no budgetary constraints, blowing more than $17,000 primarily on food (mostly good occasionally awful) and wine, cava, Campari and that American stalwart, Jack Daniels. We tacked on about 25 pounds among the three of us. We drove a couple thousand miles, dashing from city to city, trying to get there in time for our reservations. We toppled the world's greatest tasting menus and astounded waiters as we devoured a dizzying number of dishes. We mastered the three-hour lunch, followed by the five-hour dinner. We didn't write one postcard or buy one souvenir. We didn't stroll around any parks or fountains. Since returning from Spain, where I spent two weeks with a couple of buddies, people constantly ask: "What did you do?"
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