Which restaurant?
 

I am curious to know your thoughts...

We have bookings at both Etxebarri (luncheon June 3) and Elkano (dinner June 9).
Would you recommend going to both or one over the other?

Would be very different experiences, and I would have done both.

Thank you Kimhe for your recommendation. We will keep both.

Any favorites in Bilbao or Barcelona?

Have you eaten white caviar (snail eggs)?

In Bilbao, you should go for pintxos in some of the many great places in the Casco viejo/Old town.

La Mina restaurante, at the river and close to the Ribera food market, comes highly recommended by locals and the local press. Haven't been there myself.
http://restaurantemina.es/
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur...e_Country.html

I also suggest you visit the oldest café in town, Café Boulevard. It was closed down to great public protests in 2006 after 135 years of history, but it reopened last spring. This 10 min documentary about the last day before closing speaks volumes of the café and its significance as well as of the bilbainos themselves: http://www.vimeo.com/2690209

In Barcelona, traditional Catalan food in the best atmosphere in the oldest restaurant in town, Can Culleretes from 1786: http://www.culleretes.com/ENGLISH/ENGpresentation.htm
http://www.timeout.com/barcelona/bar...can-culleretes

A couple of excellent tapas bars inside the famous Boquería food market.
Pinotxo: http://www.worldsofflavorspain.com/node/745
El Quim de la Boquería: http://www.worldsofflavorspain.com/node/746
http://www.barcelona.com/barcelona_d.../tapas/el_quim

And no snail eggs so far...

Hi Kimhe, I immediately looked for the video for the Cafe and this is what I got..."Sorry, "BOULEVARD DE BILBAO" was deleted at 6:02:58 Tue Dec 28, 2010. We have no more information about it on our mainframe or elsewhere."

I am going to look it up for its address and other new info.

I am about to read your other tidbits of help. I shall check back with you later. Thanks

Here are a couple of clips from the reopening of Café Boulevard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Anc6Isns8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuL2M...eature=related

http://www.eitb.com/news/entertainme...ens-its-doors/

You are most thoughtful to have sought out those clips.

The link to eitb.com is very interesting to explore; more about Lekeitio and Basque region.

The Boulevard is now on the list of "sit and sip.." places.

What do you think of Bascook for pintxo? (in Bilbao) Too showy and costly for true pinto?
...and what do you think of La Bideguilla, (inexpensive) also in Bilbao?

I know we will slake all over each city, town, and village sniffing for more local fare yet when places are written up in notable magazines and the New York Times, one must pay attention.

The NYT talks about Bascook as a similar place like "A fuego negro", but it is not so much a pintxos bar ... it is a restaurant. I have eaten at other places owned by Aitor Elicegui, and liked all of them, but I haven´t eaten there yet. My friends have been for Saturday dinner a couple of times, and we are planning on booking a table for the end of march, when some friends from Madrid come visit. They rave about the food and the service.

A similar place to Bascook would be Atea, from Daniel Garcia.

For pintxos, you cannot go wrong with Cafe Bilbao for classic fare in the Old Town, El Globo in Diputación, Gure Toki in the Plaza Nueva for hot, just cooked ones, and of course, Bitoque, either the Jardines de Albia place or the original in Particular de Estraunza (I like a lot the fried chicken with curry sauce).

Rgds, Cova