Azurmendi
Housemade Rum and Aromatic Herbs
Tuber Skin
Foie Gras Peanut
Parmesan Cheese Biscuit with Pepitas
“Cotton” Candy with Asparagus Dust
Zucchini with Spring Onion Emulsion
Avocado Bon-Bon
Gorka Izagirre 2014, Picnic Basket Homemade Salted Anchovy Millefeuille / CaipiriTxa / Roe and Dill, Black Corn
Chestnut Cracker and Juniper Infusion
Frozen Olive and Vermouth – Green Olive Ice Cream, Black Olive Soil, Candied Olive Twig
Bergamot and Ginger
42 by Eneko Atxa 2013
Egg from Our Hens, cooked inside out and Truffled – Tofu and Aromatic Oils
Olive Oil, Milk Bread
Oyster, tartar and Gelee – Oyster Leaf and Sea Fern
White Bread
Natural Spider Crab, emulsion and infusion
Tomato and Eel – Ice Cream, Gelee, Raw, Cooked
Roasted Lobster out of the shell on herb oil and chives
Artichokes and Pesto – Puree, Confit, Croquettas, Crisp
Stewed Wheat with Farmhouse Milk Emulsion and Ox Tail
Home Made Black Pudding, Arrano’s Red Bean Stock, Cabbage, Lightly Spiced Flower
Roasted Red Mullet on Vine Shoots, Fried Eggs and the broth of the Bones
Rabbit Confit, Mushroom Emulsion and Grilled Sweet Potato – Orange ‘Daiquiri”
Coconut and Passion – Panna Cotta, Passionfruit Textures
Cheese, Red Fruits, and Mint – Blue Cheesecake, Raspberry Ice Cream
Sheep Milk and Black Olives – Dark Chocolate
Mignardises – Ancient Grain Rochers, White Chocolate and Pink Pepper Lolli, Yogurt Marshmallow, Apricot Gelee, Honey Cracker, Mint Macaron, Spicy and Citrus Chocolates
(Corn Bread not Photographed)
Opened in 2005 by Eneko Atxa, a Basque native looking to not only change the way the world dines but also the way we think about food, Azurmendi sits high in the hills of Larrabetzu outside of Bilbao at once as a high-flying culinary trapeze act and at the same time an ode to innovations in sustainability, the steel-and-glass geothermal box contributing zero carbon footprint to it’s lush green surroundings.
A modernist dreamscape, the gleaming kitchen open to eyes of onlookers as Atxa and a team of 35 prepare two menus for guests that unfold over approximately twelve courses plus several bites offered during a tour of the grounds, those fortunate enough to secure a seat in the dining room are undoubtedly in for an experience unlike any other, one that encompasses not only superlative service and food but a trip into the process of a man interested in making a real difference.
As much a ‘campus’ as it is a restaurant, select wines and spirits made in a building further down the hill as lush gardens bloom both outdoors and inside a greenhouse experimenting with concepts as unique as growing lemon trees without soil, greetings at the entrance of Azurmendi quickly see guests ushered back outside where Stages, Chefs, and Gardeners explain techniques and improvisations, a splash of rum amidst an aromatic background offering a first taste followed by a chip made of only an ugly unnamed tuber’s skin and foie gras miming a peanut.
Continuing the tour with several vegetables expressed in textures one might never expect it was on return to the foyer that a picnic basket of treats were offered, the slowly dissipating avocado mousse from a candy cleansed from the palate by sips of house wine before indulging in the elegant anchovy Mille-Feuille.
Walked through the pristine kitchen en route to a table overlooking hills where a rainbow would later form as though staged by Atxa himself it was with greeting from one-and-all present that additional canapes were tasted, a total of fifteen bites and beverages offered before the menu itself began to unfold.
Divided into the €175 Adarrak and €145 Erroak, with substitutions and supplements allowed, it was with little hesitation that the former was selected with one extra course from the later and starting off with a glass of Eneko “42” at the Sommelier’s suggestion the dry white was a perfect accompaniment to a majority of the meal, a garden of melting olive quickly leading to the signature amuse of an egg yolk partially replaced with concentrated black truffle.
Pairing housemade breads to courses throughout the meal, follow-ups to the egg included an oyster explored in textures next to an oyster leaf beneath tempura sea fern and moving on to a smooth potage of spider crab the flavors transitioned from brine to something sweet and silky, the flavor when all mixed not all that different from She-Crab soup popular in the Southeast United States.
Spurred on by the textures and temperatures of famous “Tomato and Eel” and further impressed by the arc of flavors found in a lobster vessel to follow the meal only grew better with an Artichokes cream that rendered any guacamole in my memory inconsequential, the creamy croquettas flashing forward to similarly textured cubes of oxtail resting amidst pan jus fortified grains and smear of cheese.
Supplementing a sphere of black pudding resting in creamy beans with a rim of crispy flour stems and leaves it was with a large fillet of mullet followed by a gateaux of rabbit saddle that savories would conclude, and transitioning swiftly to dessert with “Coconut and Passion” the only dissatisfying course of the afternoon was brought forward, though certainly not a fault of the chef but one of personal preference.
Getting back into good graces with funky cubes of cheesecake and fragrant dollops of meringue around a centerpiece of raspberry sorbet it was once again the briny flavor off olives that served to mellow vanilla ice cream and tuilles of dark chocolate as the menu reached its climax, the mignardises all well crafted with something to offer as opposed to just being something pretty to look at.
Presented with a wax-sealed menu alongside the bill, another kitchen visit insisted upon by the staff so that the Chef could bid me farewell, it is the little touches like this that go above and beyond both concept and creativity to make Azurmendi one of the finest dining experiences in the world.
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