Donostia-San Sebastian: A Michelin constellation

One three-star, three two-star and several one-star restaurants make Donostia-San Sebastián the epicenter of this constellation of haute cuisine. Other gourmet dining guides support the Michelin rating, and some are even more generous with their stars.

Donostia-San Sebastian is the place in Gipuzkoa with most awarded restaurants, which include the Urepel, Panier Fleuri, Arzak and Akelarre Restaurants. Then there are a further four restaurants in Gipuzkoa province with stars: Mugaritz Restaurant in Renteria, Martín Berasategui in Lasarte and Zuberoa and Matteo restaurants in Oiartzun.

In any one of these restaurants you can enjoy delicious dishes prepared with top-quality ingredients plus all the know-how of master-chefs in a land well-known for the exquisite quality of its food.

With the Basque Country's long tradition as a holiday destination, it should not come as any surprise that the privileged travelers of a century ago demanded a special sort of cuisine. First and foremost, it had to be of excellent quality, with an added festive touch to break out of the daily mould.

The roots of Basque cuisine grew out of these two ideals and were quickly embraced by holiday-makers and summer residents. Basque culinary heritage was rediscovered and given that distinctive edge like so many other things in the Basque Country, including rural sports, Basque customs and the Basque language.

What was once an upper-class cuisine with cosmopolitan undertones somewhat mired in the past gave way a quarter of a century ago to the so-called nueva cocina vasca (new Basque cuisine), much the same as what happened with the nouvelle cuisine of France.