Life

Nearly 10 years after Gerald Hirigoyen opened the Basque restaurant Piperade, and already a lunchtime success in the Bay area of San Francisco, the Basque chef has signed a lease to take over the space directly next door to Piperade.

According to Inside Scoop SF, Hirigoyen does not plan to open another restaurant. Rather, he intends to extend the current space in order to allow "for private events, special dinners, and maybe even some pre-dinner lounge seating".

The new space will be named Lauburu, after a Basque cross that some say represents the sun. Others say its vertical heads, sometimes called sunset, represent female expression (emotional and perceptual) or the elements of fire and water and the horizontal heads, sometimes called sunrise, represent male energy (mental and physical) or the elements air and earth.

Gerald Hirigoyen arrived in California in 1980 armed with nothing but a suitcase, no word of English, and his own American dream: to become a chef.

Nowadays he is one of the most renowned chefs of San Francisco, owns a Basque restaurant and a tapas bar and has authored three cookbooks, 'Bistro', 'The Basque Kitchen' and recently 'Pintxos'.

Born in the Basque town of Bayonne, Gerald did his apprenticeship in a bakery in his hometown of Biarritz and then moved to Paris, where he worked in a pastry shop. He was lucky to live right above a Basque restaurant owned by Peio Pagueguy who he "spent many evenings talking to and watching."

Once in California, he opened a French bistro called Fringale together with a partner. Then in 2002, Gerald, with his wife Cameron, finally achieved his dream when he bought out his partner in Fringale and opened Basque restaurant Piperade, followed less than two years later by Bocadillos, a lively tapas and wine bar.

Since then, as well as developing a loyal clientele and winning a reputation in San Francisco, Gerald Hirigoyen has won recognition on several occasions including being named one of 'Food & Wine Magazine''s "Best New Chefs in America" as well as twice "Best Chef of the Bay Area" by 'San Francisco Magazine'.

For both Piperade and Bocadillos, Chef Hirigoyen integrates the cuisine of the Bay area and his Basque homeland into what he coined as "West Coast Basque Cuisine". "I gave them an American twist and I also gave them my own twist as chef. As a chef you grow and you have to move forward".