An apparent road sale sports a Michelin star in a village of only 56 inhabitants, where a self-taught chef and a sommelier build a proposal of traditional Riojan cuisine with a contemporary twist to "rejuvenate" it. Venta Moncalvillo is the project of Ignacio Echapresto, which summarizes his tasting menu (with prices from 100 to 130 euros) subjected to the lunar cycles. In the room, Carlos Echapresto is host and sommelier (cellar of 1,800 references). It is a village restaurant, a gastronomic destination whose location argues its raison d'être as a hospitality business and marks the style of its solid and liquid proposal.

Converted into perfect excuses to plan a culinary getaway (and, in some cases, get to know the gastronomy of the so-called emptied Spain), village canteens are distributed throughout Spain, with a variety of cuisines and business models. The route through La Rioja can continue with Echaurren, an institution in Ezcaray managed by the fifth generation of the Paniego family. In addition to Suma boutique hotel, it has Echaurren Tradición, a restaurant with traditional cuisine learned from Marisa Sánchez (mother of the clan, who died in 2018), including its famous croquettes and a menu for 95 euros; El Portal, two stars captained by Francis and Chefe Paniego, in kitchen and dining room, with tasting menu for 190 euros; a tapas bar and El Cuartito, with the Share Menu (70 euros for two people).

The village restaurants that can be visited this spring are varied by offer and location. Sometimes, the almost monographic specialization marks their proposals. An example is Lera, house of Luis Alberto Lera, in Castroverde de Campos, a town of 300 inhabitants in Zamora, where he guarantees "the culture of use of the pigeon in the area". You can eat a la carte or with tasting menu (98 and 138 euros).

Restaurant Erro (Arrazola).

BASQUE ROUTE

Etxebarri is the third best restaurant in the world, according to The World's 50 Best Restaurants list. It is the business of Bittor Arginzoniz; occupies a hamlet in the Plaza de San Juan in Axpe, a neighborhood of the town of Atxondo, a valley with just 1,500 inhabitants. Since April 1990, "the village bar of a lifetime" is a grill with top raw materials and the unsurpassed hand of Arginzoniz with fire (tasting menu for 264 euros). On Sunday, there is a pintxos bar at affordable prices.

Not far away, Erro opened a year ago in Caserío Makatzeta, a seventeenth-century house in Arrazola, where Jorge Asenjo (co-founder of Galerna) practices "wild cuisine", which he summarizes with two tasting menus, for 70 and 95 euros. As a casual plan B, it has La Taberna de Erro.

In the Biscayan town of Dima, Garena is the project of chef Julen Baz and his partner Aitzol Atutxa. Looking out over Mount Gorbea, this young chef recovers "the cuisine of Basque farmhouse", awarded with a star and synthesized in menus for 48, 58 and 128 euros. He has more affordable formula in his tavern.

We recommend the stop in the Alava town of Campezo, where the family home of Edorta Lamo is Arrea!, since the end of 2019. Its "village cuisine" linked to the Alava mountains (one star and two Repsol Suns) is enjoyed with a menu (lunch, three dishes to choose from and desserts, for 125 euros); Mendialdea menu at noon for 50 euros and the informal menu of the Kuadra.

From Galicia to Aragon

A destination for inland Galician cuisine is Río Loyo, in Paradela, next to the Lugo town of Portomarín. Located on the banks of the Belesar reservoir, its specialty is fried eels and churrasco within a good offer of grilled meats.

In Cantabria, an interesting stop is La Bicicleta, the family business opened in 2011 in Hoznayo by Cristina Cruz and Eduardo Quintana. With one star, it offers tasting menus for 125 and 155 euros, with dishes such as broccoli meringue, onion cake and fried caper.

Molino de Urdaniz is a two-starred Navarrese located in the town that gives it the surname, very close to Pamplona. David Yarnoz's cuisine sticks to the earth on a menu for 155 euros. On the ground floor, Origen is its informal version, with a menu for 32 euros. Teruel also exists in the culinary, with tracks such as Hospedería El Batán, with a star in Tramacastilla (menu for 110); and Existe, local of the young Alberto Montañés and María Dávila, in Mosqueruela, with menu for 32 euros. In Catalonia, L'Aliança d'Anglès, a business founded in 1953 in this town of Girona is led today (with one star) by Cristina Feliu and Álex Carrera, with menus for 100 and 135 euros.

Castilian getaway

In Castile, there are endless options. A getaway near Madrid is El Mesón de Doña Filo, Julio Reoyo's house in Colmenar del Arroyo, with some specialization in cuisine with casqueria and always with traditional roots. With an average ticket of about 60-70 euros, you can try the nine-course Landscape Menu, with a shorter alternative (seven) for dinner.

Charolés is a reason to visit San Lorenzo de El Escorial and eat its famous cocido (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) in this traditional business very close to the Monastery. Opened in 1977 by Manuel Mínguez, it has other dishes such as tripe, berujas salad (chickweed) or steak tartare (average price, from 40 to 55 euros). In the province of Segovia, Casa Taberna is the project of the television Samantha Vallejo-Nágera in the Plaza Mayor of Pedraza. This Castilian house of the seventeenth century adds restaurant, tavern and hotel. "Classic cuisine with embers, product and simple recipes", with a ticket from 30 to 65 euros.

In Torrecaballeros, a few minutes from Segovia, La Portada de Mediodia is a steakhouse in an old sixteenth-century post house. In its dining rooms lined with stone walls and wooden beams, you have to order suckling pig or lamb, chorizo de la Olla de Bernuy de Porreros, marinated slaughter mince or fried vegetables (average price of 35 to 45 euros). In Cuéllar, the Guijarro family has in Terrabuey, an advanced oxen farm; their meats are famous and are served in La Brasería, whose grill passes some great steaks, with maturations of 60 to 90 days. Its average ticket is estimated between 55 and 100 euros.

Restaurant Fuentelgato.

Heading to La Mancha

In Castilla-La Mancha, a curious clue can be Fuentelgato, a project by Álex Paz and Olga García, in Huerta del Marquesado, a town of just 200 inhabitants in the mountains of Cuenca. With just 25 years, they took over the bar of her family, where they installed a couple of years ago only five tables and a tasting menu format, for 50 euros, which changes daily.

Just half an hour from Madrid, in Casarrubios del Monte (Toledo), and in the middle of the Southwest Highway, Las Esparteras is a curious grill to eat lamb or suckling pig roasted in its wood oven, as well as matured meats and rations in its bar. El Coto de Quevedo is a Michelin star in Paraje Las Tejeras Viejas, belonging to the town of Torre de Juan Abad (Ciudad Real), with José Antonio Medina as chef, who signs "an update of La Mancha cuisine and proximity" (menus for 75 and 100 euros).

Versatile (Zarza de Granadilla).

From Extremadura and Andalusia to Valencia

This possible map of village canteens can be rounded off with a couple more stops. Versatile, in the Cáceres town of Zarza de Granadilla, is the contemporary Extremaduran cuisine house of the Hernández Talaván brothers, with two spaces: living room, with menus for 69 and 84 euros; and winery, with a more casual menu.

A side of Andalusian gastronomy is in Ronda, where Benito Gómez dispatches haute cuisine in the two-star Bardal (menus for 170 and 190 euros) and its more casual side in Tragatá (30-50 euros). Eating rice in a Meliana hut can be considered by some a village dining room. This is La Barraca de Toni Montoliu, located in the heart of the Valencian orchard. Entering this unique place involves enjoying a paella with chicken and rabbit, made over a live fire with orange wood.

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