Life

It was in May last year I first met with Jon Warren, the man behind San Sebastian Food. Since then, EITB English has followed the company’s progress as it has gone from strength to strength.

Just over a year later, Xanthe Clay, food and drink critic for UK daily The Telegraph, chose San Sebastian Food to guide her around one of the world’s most famous gastronomic destinations, for a special piece in the paper’s Weekend Food and Wine Section, published on November 19th.

After two intense years of getting the company up and running, there can be no denying the significance of being featured in a newspaper like the Telegraph: “It’s been a fantastic endorsement,” Jon assures me, “especially in a piece written by Xanthe Clay, who is such a highly regarded food writer.”

Clay took part in more than one of the company’s top-rated experiences, says Jon, though her item focuses mostly on the ‘Pintxo Tasting Tour’ where she went with Jon, to “dodge the rain showers to make a ‘paseo’... of some of the best” bars in the old quarter. She vividly sums up the experience of entering those many pintxo bars, not least the sense of being bombarded with such a huge choice of tasty bites.

“It was great fun to guide Xanthe and we look forward to staying in touch with her,” says Jon. “She enjoyed (doing) a half-day Basque cooking class as well as our Pintxo Tasting Tour. We went to a couple of extra bars and coincidentally met up with (Spanish food writer) Paul Richardson (author of ‘A Late Supper’) making for a fun end to the evening.”

Jon gave up a career in London’s financial quarter to build up a company dedicated to something he loves: food. The pay-off of a piece in one of the UK’s most distinguished papers must be hugely rewarding?

“It’s a dream come true,” he says. “When I started the business just over two years ago we were in the depths of (a) global financial crisis and it took a lot of convincing for people to understand what we were trying to do.

“Today, the concept of San Sebastian Food is the same, namely to connect people to the best food and wine in the region,” continues Jon. “As soon as we started, I knew we had a niche market with a lot of potential. Clients appreciate our careful attention to detail and how we genuinely care about them enjoying themselves.”