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Every corner of Spain champions its culinary identity, but San Sebastián's refined fare is in a league of its own. Many of the city's restaurants and pintxos spots are in the parte vieja, on the east end of the bay beyond the elegant casa consistorial (city hall) and formal Alderdi Eder gardens. The building that now houses city hall opened as a casino in 1887; after gambling was outlawed early in the 20th century, the town council moved here from the Plaza de la Constitución, the parte vieja's main square.
In Hernani, a 10-minute drive south of San Sebastián (close to both Martín Berasategui's restaurant in nearby Lasarte and the cider houses of the Astigarraga neighborhood, like Sidrería Petritegi), the Eduardo Chillida Sculpture Garden and Museum, in a 16th-century farmhouse, got a face-lift after years of neglect and reopened in 2019. It is a treat for anyone interested in contemporary art. The indoor-outdoor restaurant on the premises punches above its weight.
In a 16th-century monastery behind the parte vieja, to the right (northeast) of the church of Santa María, the former chapel, now a lecture hall, was painted by José María Sert (1876–1945). Creator of notable works in Barcelona's city hall, London's Tate Gallery, and New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Sert's characteristic tones of gray, gold, violet, and earthy russet enhance the sculptural power of his work here, which portrays events from Basque history. The museum displays Basque ethnographic items, such as prehistoric stelae once used as grave markers, and paintings by Zuloaga, Ribera, and El Greco.
