Three Michelin stars Eneko Atxa and Ángel León held a 4-hand dinner at Azurmendi for 30 or so guests of San Sebastián Gastronomika – Euskadi Basque Country. Two seas, two living driving forces of global cuisine, come together to delight us with twenty or so of their best dishes.

Yesterday, San Sebastian Gastronomika encouraged the hosting of a dinner for thirty fortunate guests to experience and remember for a long time. Eneko Atxa from Vizcaya was playing at home: Ángel León from Cádiz was on the visiting side. “But this isn’t an official match, it´s a friendly one”, cheerfully remarked Ángel León after the meal who had brought two of his chefs to Larrabetzu “and to show a little of who we are”. “The idea is to shed a little light at this difficult moment, have fun and make people enjoy themselves”, he added. “It’s a game between both kitchens where we’ll all have fun, the diners at the table and us in the kitchen, because you don’t cook with Ángel, you laugh and enjoy every second, rounded off Atxa before dinner. 

In the end, there were a total of twenty dishes in which at times the Mediterranean would appear, at others the Atlantic, the Cantabrian on many, a feeling of everything coming from the source in all of them. The evening commenced in the hall of Azurmendi with kaipiritxa and the piquillo ice cream of the Basque chef, and the caviar, oysters and hake form the Andalusian. This was just the warm up. 

At the table, the score of the friendly match should already be 4-4. But it was still the first half. Atxa and his service, was playing at home, surprising us with an Autumn Leaf hidden in the centre of the table, and the classic Limón Grass and mushroom praline, mushroom brioche and the lobster and butter tartare. “All edible except the plate”, the waiters kept informing us. This is the spectacle of Azurmendi. Ángel smiled with the hake cheeks with bread. It continued to be a draw.  

Time for the main dishes. Ángel León brought on his best players such as marine bacon and two of the dishes he had presented that same day in his presentation at Gastronomika: halophytes from the marshland and baby squid black pudding. One could feel the sea but with undertones, as if playing at aesthetics with the dish in which Atxa wins the Champions League. Here at this level, the Basque chef came back with his winning dishes shrimp, vegetable juice and frozen tomato; baby squid, juice and coffee butter, grilled eggplant, anchovy, caviar and legume broth. The referee was about to blow the whistle but the stakes were still high. One last chance for each of them: Aponiente’s legendary Almadraba tuna tail and concentrated flavours in a spoon by Azurmendi from Vizcaya. 

The diners were the judges and gave their sentence: a draw. They were both cup winners. The final penalties were for the people in the grandstands: Passion and chocolate and yeast ice cream, frothy milk and liquorice from Azurmendi. Applauses and hugs all round, all backed also by Chivite and San Pellegrino who helped in the wine pairing.

One of the longest distances between two points on the Iberian Peninsula was bridged by tasting. “We’ve been friends for a long time and I was looking forward to cooking with him”, pointed out León. It was multilaterally reciprocal. “Thanks to Gastronomika for making this possible, for your continued support to our beloved gastronomy”.