A version of this article is also published by the Financial Times.
The fine line that separates the notion of wit, most frequently expressed by a chef, from that of fun, that prerequisite for a good night out, are clearly exemplified in the opening of two new Basque restaurants in London. Eneko under the One Aldwych hotel on the Strand offers wit while many would find Sagardi, which has recently opened on the far more boisterous Curtain Road in Hoxton, more fun.
Eneko takes its name from the chef Eneko Atxa, who, ably supported by his uncle Gorka Izagirre, has established his restaurant, Azurmendi, no more than a 15-minute drive from Bilbao airport, as one of the world’s best. In London he has teamed up with the hotel’s management to create a more casual restaurant.
It requires all of his wit as the space his restaurant occupies is far from ideal. In a basement, down not one but two flights of curved stairs, it has that rather cool feel normally associated with hotel restaurants (so cool in fact that my wife chose to eat wearing her raincoat).
Eneko enlivens the slightly sepulchral space with colourful leather banquettes and a series of light wooden tables that have been artfully sculpted by Arkaia, a local Basque firm that shares the same belief in the values of the family and tradition as Eneko and his uncle obviously do.
Perhaps it is these surroundings that have prompted Eneko to design and create such a colourful and interesting menu. A single A4 piece of thin cardboard contains all the savoury dishes with a good use of colour, red here, to signify the different headings – itsasotik (from the sea), lurretik (from the land) and ortutik (from the garden) – with smaller print used to give a dish’s more precise ingredients.
We started with two dishes from the sea, a tempura of fresh anchovies and a dish described as ‘Memories of the Bay of Biscay’ that incorporates oysters with apple blossom, crab with a sea urchin emulsion served in a crab shell and a wild prawn tartare served in a sea urchin. As dramatic as their flavours was their presentation. The anchovies were served in a cornet of a newspaper that bore that day’s date and had as its headline the arrival of Eneko Atxa, a three-star Michelin chef from Bilbao, in London. The shellfish dish was served over dry ice to which a seaweed infusion was poured to dramatic effect.
This high standard of flavour and presentation (our main picture shows the preparation of one of their pork dishes) were maintained in our main courses and, even more impressively, in our desserts. Cod bizkaina, a cod stew described as delicate despite a hefty smattering of fresh chilli, came in an enamel dish with a lid; the dish described as morsels of pork was in fact three pork sliders, succulent meat in milk buns, that were served in a rectangular wooden box in the shape of the nose and ears of a pig; while our dish from the vegetarian section, potatoes in green sauce, comprised small, new potatoes in a herb and Txakoli sauce, the plate dotted with crunchy, fried egg yolks.
I have always been a sucker for the caramelised rice pudding that is a speciality of the Basque region but I don’t believe that I have ever had one so stylishly served. Having left the dessert menu with us, the waiter went off and a couple of minutes later reappeared pulling a 21st-century dessert trolley, made by the same company as the tables, whose shelves conveyed several examples of the half a dozen desserts. He served the rice pudding and the equally good raspberry macaroon with basil before opening up the counter and serving a scoop of ewe’s milk ice cream to each of us from the trolley’s chilled container.
Sagardi, by contrast, is warmer and more relaxed. In its immediate impact it reminded me strongly of the bars and restaurants I have enjoyed in Bilbao and San Sebastian.
The Sagardi Group, which trades under the slogan Basque Country Chefs, was formed twenty years ago and it is easy to understand the reasons for its rapid (20 years?) expansion. The entrance is busy, with a butcher’s stall on one side and a pinxtos bar on the other. Beyond the butcher’s shop is a massive oak-burning grill.
The interior has the regulation East London light industrial feel of exposed ductwork and the tables at the back of the restaurant seem predominantly set up for large parties. The extensive menu is presented with this ease of service in mind, a large drawing of a cow adorning the section marked txuletón written by Imanol Jaca, the company butcher.
We began with a plate of Basque anchovies from Getaria and a plateful of predominantly meat pinxtos before moving on to a smallish steak and one of those typically Basque dishes that I should not have ordered in London. Txiperones en su tinta, stuffed baby squid in black sauce, is a great dish but here it was disjointed, the rice and fish served as two separate items rather than as one. I looked on enviously at the man at the next table who had ordered the grilled turbot.
Eneko and Sagardi join Donostia, Lurra, and Ametsa with Arzak Instruction in The Halkin Hotel as outposts of sophisticated Basque cooking in London. Which style is up to you.
Eneko One Aldwych, London WC2B 4BZ; tel +44 (0)20 7300 0300
Sagardi Cordy House, 95 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3BS; tel +44 (0)20 3802 0478