Squeezed between the western edge of the Pyrenees and the turbulent waters of the Bay of Biscay, the motorway roars through a concrete tangle of highways, ‘sixties housing blocks and bleak industrial estates.
We weren’t worried though, from the web site we knew our hotel was well away from the urban sprawl, nestled in deep green foothills, among the hayricks and pretty villages made of stone and red-tinted timber. At least that’s what we thought as we turned off the A-8 from Bordeaux and climbed up an increasingly rustic byway.
After a few kilometres, the sign for Hotel Usategieta pointed down a country lane, overhung with branches gleaming in the drizzle that gives these hills their emerald hue.
Then came a surprise. The lane suddenly became a bridge, taking us over the highway again, we passed a lorry park and a service station, and there was the hotel, within sight and sound of the rumbling traffic below.
With trepidation, we parked and walked toward the reception. Although the traffic hum faded, it was drowned out by a blast of Mika’s “Grace Kelly”, swiftly followed by a brace of Spanish disco numbers as a rowdy family fiesta got into full swing in the ground floor restaurant. So much for our restful country inn.
We needn’t have worried. “Ongi etorriak,” smiled the receptionist. That’s welcome in Basque. Even more welcome was her assurance that “Dancing Queen” blaring away downstairs was to be one of the last numbers at the party. As a bus pulled up to take away the revellers, we took a stroll round the grounds.
The Usategieta turned out to be an oasis of greenery amongst the urban mess. The main building is a solid old farm house with stone walls overhung by an oak-beamed roof. The crimson façade was hung with a tumble of blue and white petunias.
Broad-leaved oaks sprout from the lawn with a hammock strung between them to lie back and admire the view of mount Jaizkibel looming over the coast. The vegetable garden was bright with curly lettuce, tomatoes, parsley and anis.
Our room was a stylish mix of traditional and modern, with wood floors, terracotta tiles in the vast bath room. From the balcony we could see the cloud-shrouded Aiako Harria mountain park off to the east.
The Usategieta makes a great place for exploring what turns out to be a wonderful region with the natural grandeur of the mountains to the coast lined with sandy coves and a cuisine which any Basque will assure you is the best in the Iberian Peninsula.
Just a short drive away is the city of San Sebastián, Donostia to Basque speakers. The city’s elegant 19th-century avenues radiate from Concha bay, Europe’s nearest rival to the Copacabana, complete with golden sands overlooked by Monte Urgull in the role of the Pão de Açúcar. There are splendid harbourside fish restaurants on the Paseo del Muelle and a warren of bars and eateries that keep the parte vieja or old quarter humming late into the night. Txikiteo is the Basque equivalent of a pub crawl and the bars of the parte vieja are renowned for their pintxos (the Basque equivalent of tapas) to be nibbled with a zurito (small glass of beer), cider or the local taxakoli white wine.
At the Usategieta they make their own cider from the apples growing in the garden during the season from December to April. Then it’s served with a menu of tortilla and salt cod especially designed to sharpen your thirst. We had to make due with a bottled version as a pre-dinner drink, made with apples brought in from Asturias. It’s poured from on high into tall, chunky tumblers, never more than a finger’s thickness at a time. I have to say that this ultra-dry tipple is something of an acquired taste.
The restaurant is in a great vaulted room which must once have served as a stables or barn for the farming family living above. We were not surprised to find it empty, this is Spain after all and people eat late. But on a damp, July night we stayed eating till 11 p.m. and remained the only diners, which was a pity because the food was excellent.
As we scanned the menu, hot crusty rolls appeared, ideal for soaking up some fruity olive oil from the jar on our table. There were also croquetas de jamón, puffs of potato and ham.
The opening courses were copious. My salad of bacalao contained loads of shredded salt cod, mixed with lettuce from the hotel garden in a light garlic mayonnaise sprinkled with toasted pine nuts and strips of grilled red peppers.
Garden produce featured heavily in the other starters: five fat white asparagus with mayo and vinaigrette on the side; and grilled foie gras served on a bed of seasonable greens that included baby broad beans, peas and tiny florets of cauliflower.
It was a great start, helped down with a terrific wine picked out by tour waitress _ Fernández de Piérola, Crianza 2003, a gorgeously perfumed Rioja filled with plums, figs and summer fruit that’s producee by a new bodega on the border between the Rioja region and the Basque province of Álava.
Among the main courses were that Basque classic bacalao al pil-pil, salt cod slow cooked in garlic and olive oil with a hint of chilli. This is always a simple dish that depends very much on the quality of the materials. The only complaint here was that maybe the cod was a bit on the bland side for having been left to soak too long in the desalting water.
The waitress was insistent that we try the bonito _ a summertime favourite from the Cantabrian coast. Cooked encebollada, braised with sweet onions, the two-inch-thick posto of this small relative of the tuna was fabulous, but too much for a single appetite to handle. For carnivores, the sotomillo steak was grilled to perfection with a handful of chunky chips and more of those some charred red peppers.
The desert list included Tolosa cigarros _ almond and butter cakes from the nearby hill town; orange soup with white chocolate ice-cream and the house special _ raisins and dried local cherries soaked in Armagnac (from just over the French border) served with helado de queso _ cream cheese flavoured ice-cream.
After that, there was a café solo and a glass of patxaran, the local sloe gin, to give us the energy to stagger upstairs.
The next morning we were up early, but squeezed in a breakfast with good café con leché, freshly squeezed orange juice, oven warm rolls, a mixture of hams and jams and a slice or two of Idiazábal sheep cheese from up in the valleys.
B&B was €140 for three, dinner came to €117. All that was left was to say eskerrikasko and agur until the next time.
http://www.hotelusategieta.com
http://www.pierola.com/
