Elkano, the Getaria grill that was among the best restaurants in the world

With the grill as the conceptual axis and

that appears on the grill installed outside the restaurant, the Arregi family home in Getaria (Guipúzcoa) is positioned among the best restaurants in the world according to the prestigious ranking of

.

You have to wait three months on the waiting list to sit at their tables and enjoy the liturgy around this flat fish (and other Cantabrian products) with Aitor Arregi (second generation) as master of ceremonies.

In 1969, Pedro Arregi had the idea of ​​putting a head of hake on the grill.

That was a kind of exoticism, according to his son Aitor.

"Clients began to come en masse to try it. Unintentionally,

: a culinary revolution linked to the fact that it was the day he began to prepare a neck on the grill and, two, economic, since he began to pay sailor, the head of the fish is more expensive than the tail", assures this ex-soccer player (he played for teams like Villarreal) who represents the second generation of Elkano, a Getaria grill that, in the 2022 edition of

list , is has remained at number 16.

The team that works in the restaurant.

It is curious that a business founded in 1964 in a small locale in Getaria can manage to sneak into this ranking (of British origin) drawn up with the votes of more than a thousand international experts, in which it rubs shoulders with Spanish spaces such as Barcelona's Enjoy ( third place) and Madrid's DiverXO (fourth), while he is preceded by Italian Reale (number 15) and ahead of Berlin's Nobelhart & Schmutzig (17).

," assured Aitor Arregi, minutes before the gala presentation of the

list began on July 18 in London.

He doesn't know exactly, but there is some math: being in 16th place means that a few Spanish and international voters chose to include Elkano in their annual election (each one can vote for up to seven restaurants in their region and, this year, three more from other geographical areas, if he had traveled despite the Covid of 2021 and the beginning of 2022).

And, adding and adding, it reached more votes than, for example, the Basque

(number 21) or the Alicante

(42).

Jump to the '50 Best'

Evidently, the 16th place in '50 Best' is the result of the fact that, in recent years, there has been a growing number of international gastronomes sitting in its dining room, to whom they try

with the grill as the axis and star products such as turbot or kokotxas is a culinary experience to be classified among the most impressive in the world.

"We only do the same thing that

taught us, perhaps, giving it a little twist in some cases but being very faithful to what we have always done in this house," says Aitor Arregi.

When his father decided to undertake and open his own business in his town, after working for two years in Germany, it was because he "thought there was a gap in the market to open a bar," as his son recalls.

Among the first dishes that he decided to serve was the

with the

Aitor's grandmother (Joxepa Oyarzábal), which today, with a

, is still served in Elkano.

With a grill installed by the founder at the door of his business (following the custom of this town in Gipuzkoa), he began to grill the products that friendly sailors brought him.

Although his mother didn't know it, there was something experimental about it, a kind of involuntary R&D, since he was trying different fish and cuts.

Until, around 1972 or 1973, he prepared a turbot on the grill, at that time, a fish less valued than

such as sole or hake.

As it did not fit in a bream box, he placed it between two;

he was inventing a tool that blacksmiths from the region later began to make.

" It was a

, that he put the first flat fish with skin and whole on a grill"

, defends Aitor Arregi.

The interior of the Elkano.

You have to understand that, in Getaria, the grill is pure local culture;

it was the instrument historically used by sailors to roast fish on their ships;

when they reached land, they unloaded it to place it in the street.

"That grill that was used to aviate the victuals in the transoceanic expeditions of the 16th century", they describe in the restaurant.

Juan Sebastián Elkano himself, born in the town of Gipuzkoa, left a couple of grills in his will (he died in 1526).

For this reason, Aitor Arregi decided years ago to carry out research with the historian Xabier Alberdi to find the "historical and scientific basis" of this tradition within what the hotelier calls

, a context that marks Elkano's offer and that summarizes a book about the restaurant (published by Planeta Gastro in 2016), where, in addition, they reflect their complicity with specific local suppliers, most of them fishermen, but also some vegetable producers (in spring , the tear pea from Getaria enters their dishes).

Hallmark: the turbot

In any case,

, which the customer first finds as soon as they arrive at the establishment or placed on the street grills, or waiting to go to the fire, to later enjoy it sitting down at the table subjected to the liturgy

by Aitor Arregi.

He is in charge of presenting and dissecting this tasty flat fish, freshly grilled, so that the diner not only tastes the meaty loins, but from their cheeks to the marrow.

The flavor varies in each bite or area of ​​the animal;

at Elkano, they encourage remaining customers to eat it with their hands, which remain sticky from the collagen in the turbot.

The turbot in parts, from space.

Here there is no rehash, no superfluous sauces, only the power of the turbot (pieces of about 1.2 kilograms of average weight).

, says Aitor Arregi.

In this marine jelly feast, the grill-keeper creates a pilpil live in the dining room with the juice released by the turbot, allied, by the way, with a secret ingredient: what is baptized in the house as 'water from Lourdes', a dressing where there is sure to be an acid touch (perhaps lemon and vinegar).

"Oil, salt, some acidity and

", describes with a laugh Aitor Arregi. "Fish is a good gentleman and Lourdes water is a good squire", adds this restaurateur who works in the establishment as host and master of ceremonies, who, after passing through professional football, joined the 100% family business in 2002.

His mother, Mari Jose Artano, is still active in a house where the whole family works, including Aitor's wife, Ester Sánchez (in the management part), in addition to the Argentine chef Pablo Vicari (experienced grill), key piece and right hand of Arragi.

In 1988, Elkano moved to its current space, a glass corner that in the past was Hostal Larrañaga and that the Arregis acquired years before the move.

The old premises became a bar, Elkano Txiki.

Other products on the Elkano menu

The anti salpicón that is served in the restaurant.

If turbot is the Cantabrian product that reigns in Elkano's offer, it is not the only one within

, of which there are fewer and fewer and which we are clear vary depending on the place where are captured and even where they have fed", details Aitor Arregi.

On its grill, where they always use oak charcoal (because it is the most neutral),

(which began to be prepared on the grill here in 2003 and which can also be tasted candied and battered, in a species of trilogy),

, among other fish and shellfish.

They coexist with the advance in the offer of raw or semi-raw recipes that apply to fish such as bonito or mackerel.

Apart from the fish soup, the so-called anti-salpicón de lobster is essential, a true tribute (even more so if it is

).

"It arose from a client who asked us to eat the bug already worked, with the trunk area cut and the claws open and whole; instead of making a splash with shellfish remains, we present its best parts."

For dessert, for example, panchineta.

There are two ways of eating in Elkano: a la carte (price from 100 to 180 euros) or the 'Proposal by area and species', a tasting menu with a price of 170 euros (not including drinks), with which the sea and the temporality granted each day.

Of course, take into account the

: right now, the first available date to get a table is exactly three months from now, on October 30, with the month of November with open reservations and already several full weekends.

It never hurts to call, because there may be vacancies some days and hours due to cancellations.

Acknowledgments

It was truly paradoxical that the awards came to Elkano when the founder was no longer at the helm, even though, in 2011, the Getaria house had already been included by

in a selection of the

(at the time, with Ángel León's Aponiente from Cádiz, on the list).

On the one hand, Elkano received a

in November 2014, nine months after the founder's death.

On the other, in 2018, it debuted in the

(position 77), to move to 30 a year later and climb to 16 in 2021, a place it has maintained this year (in 2020, there was no edition due to the pandemic).

In addition,

and, last June, the 2022 edition of the OAD (Opinionated About Dining) list, of American origin, placed it as the European leader of its

, a kind of traditional root business ranking.

By the way, Aitor Arregi and Pablo Vicari

, a branch in the south located in the Iberostar Andalucía Playa hotel, in Sancti Petri (Cádiz), where they apply their grilling philosophy and technique to local produce from the Atlantic.

Data of interest:

Address

: Herrerieta Kalea, 2. Getaria (Guipúzcoa).

Telephone: 943 14 00 24.

http://restauranteelkan.com

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more