where i feel best. the restaurant. anthony: i first came here in i think 2001, 15 years ago. you know my father died very young but look, i d like him to know that since the first time i came here i feel like he s looked after me like a father, he s been a loyal and good friend and supporter and i want him to know i appreciate him. [ speaking spanish ] arzak: as if i were his father. anthony: i mean he s only 14 years older than me but. [ speaking spanish ] arzak: not too much, eh? anthony: no, you could be my older brother. arzak: yes, yes, this, it s better i am the big brother. gabriella: yes, big brother. arzak: not the father. [ laughter ] anthony: but thank you. arzak: thank you. anthony: for everything.
flavor. then, you have to consider, now, when we create new dishes, we create about 50 every year, we always take into account that palate. anthony: squid with walnut, ginger paste, psyllium sauce and black tomato. anthony: is he ever going to take off the chef jacket? what is his plan? gabriella: what is your plan for later? arzak: for me nothing, i remain in san sebastian. anthony: i knew he was going to say this. arzak: i would like to die at this table. gabriella: he wants to die at this table. arzak: i like. anthony: not tonight. gabriella: soon, no! arzak: no! gabriella: today no! arzak: this is the place
because my father died when i was eight, i am an only child, very spoiled by all the waitresses. first i helped my mom and then i studied architecture for one year in madrid. there was a friend there who was in cooking school and he told me it was very simple. it was three years. at the weekends, you could work as an extra cook. and later i travelled around the world, i met bocuse, troisgros, chapel. anthony: so how many years in the restaurant business? gabriella: you re 74 now, right? arzak: seventy-four. since i was 20 or 22 i ve been here with my mother. until i got married. i inherited the restaurant from my mother, because i was an only child. and she also left me some money. i ve been very lucky. anthony: in 1976, 12 basque chef s under the influence of the recently emerged nouvelle cuisine movement in france formed what later became known
san sebastian with juan marie arzak is like walking through chicago with michael jordan or washington d.c with george washington. he s the godfather, universally beloved and respected. anthony: you re like elvis. you re like elvis presley. [ laughter ] anthony: why do the basque unique among their neighbors obsessively insist on such high quality ingredients for everything? arzak: it s always been about seasonal products, grown close to here. gabriella: people have a passion for food here. anthony: why here? arzak: i don t know. anthony: it s always been this way. gabriella: until about 80 years ago there wasn t a lot of this stuff written down.
what s called a poteo , a bar crawl. grazing for the specialties of each place. elena: buenas! i would like, we start with a little bit of beer what do you think? anthony: yeah. elena: eh, not too much because we are going to another place. welcome! gabriella! anthony: gabriella rinelli has worked closely with both arzak s for years and is considered a leading authority on the basque culinary scene. gabriella: you ve got to move from place to place because the important thing is you have different atmospheres you have different flavor profiles. people here really like the classics. you know, people go after exactly what they re looking for. anthony: fried quale egg, blood sausage and peppers. gabriella: this is like a whole breakfast on a piece of bread. anthony: wait a minute what s that? gabriella: sea urchin do you want to try some? anthony: sea urchin with onion and cava. elena: you are good at eating pinxos. it s so difficult to stop, no? anthony: yeah.