lunch at Arzak - what to wear?

[malika]

I'm very excited to have a lunch reservation at Arzak next month. After doing lots of reading on this site, and Chowhound, I still have one question. What to wear? I'm hoping that someone who has been there can give me some hints. It is lunch, not dinner, so does that mean less formal? And what, specifically, do other people wear?

This is my first time at a three-star restaurant (or one with any Michelin stars at all, for that matter), and while I'm looking forward to the food and the experience, I also don't want to feel out of place.

Thanks for any help, and I promise a report when I get back!

[little ms foodie]

My husband and I had lunch at Arzak in July. We were really surprised at how casual 70% of the people were! We dressed 'business casual' while many others were in jeans (and not the expensive kind!!). Anyway, I wore a cotton skirt and print top, hubby wore khaki's and a short sleeve silk button shirt.

We saw the staff giving some of the jean wearers some interesting looks! But it's definately not a suit place at lunch time.

Also we had lunch reservations for 1:30 pm and were the first ones there! Have fun, you will LOVE it!!! We actually took pictures of our food

[malika]

Thanks - that's exactly what I needed to know-- I've been wondering about whether or not I needed to bring a "fancy" outfit that I would only wear once, not to mention the usual fashion crisis about what shoes to wear!

[little ms foodie]

For lunch you don't need to go all fancy. I always travel with at least one pair of 3" heels but that's just me. I wear heels with jeans, I like them!

I hope you have the chance to order the lamb with a coffee veil! It is amazing!!

By the way.....WELCOME to eGullet! or at least to posting!

Edited September 29, 2004 by little ms foodie (log)

[Bux]

Shoes, definitely shoes? In terms of dress, restaurants have become incredibly less formal than they were a decade ago in Spain or France. It's been my experience that it's the Americans who are often the most formally dressed, but the least sylishly dressed in many dining rooms, but that's a broad generalization. Age is a factor. Older diners tend to be more conservatively dressed or at least more dressed up. As a man, Arzak is the sort of place I'd wear a jacket or blazer if the weather were cool enough, but I wouldn't be surprised to see many men in sweaters or in shirtsleeves with a sweater over their shoulders or to have me put my jacket over the back of my chair.

Arzak is a special restaurant and an excellent choice, but I'm curious, why, or how, did you pick this one for your first starred restaurant? Do you travel much in Spain or Europe and where do you eat at home for a really special meal? All of this is none of my business, but you might be willing appease my curiosity about how and why people pick restaurants. I assume reading here was part of your process.

[malika]

Those are good, interesting questions... This will be my third visit to Spain, but my first time travelling there with any sort of money-- I'm usually a budget traveller, with the ideal of staying as long as possible. But our business is doing relatively well, which means that I can be a little more "spendy" than I'm used to - and Arzak seems like it's as spendy as it gets! The business also means that I can't take off for two or three months - I've got eleven days in the Basque country, plus five in Rome visiting my sister. In fact, I think this may be my shortest visit to Europe--

Yes, reading here was part of my restaurant-choosing process, along with reading a lot of magazine and newspaper articles.* I knew I was going to have at least one spluge (I'm hoping to make it two), and I had it narrowed down to Martin Berastegui, Karlos Arguiñano, Arzak, and Akelarre. There's a lot of debate on this site about the Martin B, and it does seem like he may have spread himself a little thin, so I took that off the list. KA was also going to be a hotel splurge and a surf day, but my partner voted for an extra Pyrennes day instead of surfing, and we decided that the Hondarribia parador would be our hotel splurge, so that got knocked off the list. I've requested reservations at both Arzak and Akelarre, but haven't heard back from the latter yet.

Special meals at home? Well, in Santa Cruz our choice of good restaurants is very very slim. We've got great taquerias, but for special meals there are really only two restaurants worth eating at, in my opinion. We've had some good meals in San Francisco and Berkeley, but I tend to like the descendants of Chez Panisse - Zuni, Cafe Rouge - and while the food is delicious, they are not formal restaurants at all.

So that's what's leading to my first time eating at a starred restaurant. Part of me wonders if it's worth the hype... On the other hand, while most of the French starred restaurants I've read about seem to emphasize elaborate preparations and involved sauces, the Basque restaurants always mention fresh, local ingredients first and foremost, which ties in very nicely with my California "seasonal, local, organic" sensibility.

* My best find during the research/planning part of the trip has been the Collected Traveler series by Barrie Kerper:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-h...6777890-2507151

I'm using the Northern Spain edition for this trip, but I'm sure that the rest of the series is just as good. They are anthologies of articles, along with traveling hints & tips - guidebook recommendations, research resources, etc. The book is like an annotated, personal, clip file.

[butterfly]

Malika--

This one is easy. Don't bring the special outfit. Treat yourself and go shopping once you get to Spain--especially for the shoes! Then you'll have a nice reminder of your meal to take home with you...

[Bux]

Shopping in Europe is fun, but expensive these days, though European brands will still be cheaper in Europe.

Malika thanks for the candid response. I have a deep curiosity about why people travel and where they choose to eat when they're interested in food. Mrs. B is a travel agent by the way and thus the subject is one we talk about. I've been traveling on and off for about 45 years since the first time I went abroad. I've done it on a high and low budgets. They say it's better to be rich than poor, but on the whole, nothing will ever replace the trips on a student budget or the one where we had a set amount of money and the ability stay in Europe until it was gone. My education in gastronomy was formed on a very low budget, and I now enjoy haute cuisine as well, but good food is good food at all levels. Arzak, Akelarre and Berasategui would all be excellent places to eat. Berasategui is clearly my favorite, but it's based on few meals at each restaurant. In fact the region around San Sebastian requires an extended stay to appreciate fully. I don't feel I know it at all after three visits. Grab what you can. I favor fancy lunches and dinner at tapas bars.

Arzak may, or may not, be as spendy as it gets in Spain, but I can assure you that this kind of meal is more expensive in France.

Hondarribia is a neat town. We've not stayed at the Parador, but we spent a night at one of the other two hotels in historic buildings. In fact, it was at the least expensive of the three. Be sure to visit the lower part of town with the fisherman's residences.

[docsconz]

I had lunch at Arzak yesterday. It was probably the best and certainly the most creative meal of our trip, which included many great and creative meals. I will also confirm unnecessarily the informal attire of Spanish dining. I´m sorry that I brought any more formal clothes.

I just returned from an afternoon of fresh grilled fish in Getaria - a nice contrast to all the haute cuisine.

[malika]

Thanks for all the hints! My clothes worries have been laid to rest...

Can I ask, Doc (and is that what I should call you?), where you ate in Getaria? I want to have lunch there one of the days I'm in San S., and was looking at Kaia-- love to know anything about it, or if there is a different/better choice for lunch there.

I'm going to post my itinerary, too, in a new thread-- I'm a sucker for reading other peoples', so I figured there would be a few folks who would like to see it, whether or not they want to give comments & advice!

[docsconz]

We ate at a nice open air restaurant called Txoko. We had simple grilled fish - very good. I doubt there is much of a difference between the places.

[Eduardo]

I was in San Sebastian a week ago and went to Guetaria for lunch on Saturday. I ate at Elkano and I had the best turbot in years. The problem is that my wife finally couldn't make it, so I had to face a piece that would feed perfectly two people. I learnt from this time that fish is not the best thing to get stuffed with.

I haven’t been to Kaia, but as docsconz said, there shouldn’t be much difference between both places. I’d say that Elkano might be more popular for locals.

On Friday night I went to Martin Berasategui: if he’s not going through a good stage, boy I don’t know what to expect when he’ll get to his best. We had a great dinner, and the menu was entirely enjoyable. He has an incredibly technique, and all our dishes were very balanced and well thought. He really got brilliant in three or four dishes. Unfortunately, I left the printed menu at the restaurant. I’d try to get it from them so I can tell you all my favourites. Although the sumiller was extremely friendly, the only objection I can rise from that night is that the rest of the waiters weren’t at the level of Martin’s cuisine. I would expect a better service at a three star restaurant. In my opinion, Martin Berasategui is clearly behind Akelarre and Arzak on service.