Restaurante Akelare | Pedro Subijana
Fine dining restaurant · Gipuzkoa
Padre Orkolaga Ibilbidea, 56, 20008 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Highlights
Inventive tasting menus & wine pairings with sea views
Inventive tasting menus & wine pairings with sea views
"A three-Michelin-star restaurant in San Sebastián that is highlighted as a stop on a DuVine culinary tour of northern Spain led by Basque chef Mikel Olaizola, alongside pintxo bars and other regional gastronomic destinations." - Travel + Leisure Editors
"The haute cuisine dishes at Akelarre strike the perfect balance between innovative and comfort food. That’s no surprise considering Chef Pedro Subijana was one of the founders of nueva cocina vasca. His contributions to this movement are still on display on the €350, eight-course tasting menu. Here, traditional Basque dishes, like beans and blood sausage, get a makeover from humble stew to a tiny, perfect black pudding layer cake served with a shot of thick garbanzo consommé. Add floor-to-ceiling views of the Cantabrian Sea and a wine list with rare bottles you can’t get anywhere else in town, like Buisson Renard from Didier Dagueneau, and you have all the ingredients for an unforgettable night." - marti buckley
"The haute cuisine dishes at Akelarre strike the perfect balance between innovative and comfort food. That’s no surprise considering Chef Pedro Subijana was one of the founders of nueva cocina vasca. His contributions to this movement are still on display on the €350, eight-course tasting menu. Here, traditional Basque dishes, like beans and blood sausage, get a makeover from humble stew to a tiny, perfect black pudding layer cake served with a shot of thick garbanzo consommé. Add floor-to-ceiling views of the Cantabrian Sea and a wine list with rare bottles you can’t get anywhere else in town, like Buisson Renard from Didier Dagueneau, and you have all the ingredients for an unforgettable night." - Marti Buckley
"With his impressive CV and distinctive moustache, chef Pedro Subijana is an icon of the restaurant scene and as such commands the utmost respect. As one of the founding fathers of the New Basque Cuisine movement, he believes in constant evolution, and even if the focus here is squarely on creativity and technique his approach is rooted in traditions that should never be forgotten. Located inside the spectacular hotel of the same name on Mt Igueldo, Akelaré has already celebrated its golden jubilee, and continues to impress with its interior design, views of the Bay of Biscay and meticulous cuisine. Its cooking is showcased on a special menu entitled Urteurrena (“anniversary” in Basque), which features options such as crab, talo and curd milk; teardrop peas with a blue pea infusion; and fried red mullet with a beurre blanc and ceviche “in our own style”. The menu adds a magical perspective to contemporary recipes alongside a series of dishes based around reinvented versions of the restaurant’s signature classics." - Michelin Inspector
"Igeldo, the out-of-town settlement somewhere between suburb and bucolic hilltop village, is best known in San Sebastián for three very different things: its funicular railway, the baby peas grown on its allotments, and Pedro Subijana's Akelarre restaurant (one of a trio of storied establishments in the city boasting three Michelin stars). For years, Subijana had dreamed of building a small hotel as an adjunct to his restaurant and was snapping up adjacent plots of land for the purpose (on one of which stood an abandoned discoteca). The result, unveiled in 2017, is a cut above the average restaurant with rooms. Attached to the existing building is the modernist structure of the hotel (designed by Marta Urtasun and Pedro Rica of Madrid-based architects Mecanismo) whose low-slung cuboid forms are faced with rough grey slate. Akelarre's 22 rooms have the studiedly neutral aesthetic of the boutique retreat de nos jours, with oak-lined walls and floor, cool modern furniture (check the butterscotch-colored leather armchairs), total soundproofing, and plate-glass windows giving wide-screen views of sea, sky and verdant farmland. The effect is so restful it's easy to forget you're just a 10-minute drive from the bustle of downtown San Sebastián." - Paul Richardson
