Dear Johnny-

How are things at Bottega?
It’s that time of year again, when magical things happen in San Sebastián. Wait..what time of year is that? Well...it’s Gastronomika...and there’s lots of food...and Nate Appleman is here, which reminds me of the Bottega kitchen, and the honey panna cotta with blackberry and buckwheat cookie panzanella that I never made and still think about.
Lots of cool stuff to see here...wanted to send you some of the flavor combos to see if you some inspiration will rub off.

fish bones | soy sauce | mandarin foam
ray fish | brown butter
raw mushrooms | orange juice | dried banana skin
coconut cream | herb coal | smoked salt | purple violet | tapioca sorbet
bonbon of foie | horchata soup | fried horchata slices | truffle oil
peas | wasabi | julienned pea pods | pea sorbet
suckling pig | garlic | melon | peach | reisling
green citrus caviar | garlic creme | coriander
chestnut pure | raw chestnut | fried slices | truffle
red cabbage | green yuzu | squid
pumpkin | orange | fennel | crab
caramelized onion | squid | red pepper
raw scallop | grape | horseradish
horchata | parsley juice | anchovy | garlic | cilantro
sea urchin | squid | tropical fruit | grapes | aji
white chocolate | raspberry | shortbread
tomato | apple | jamón ibérico | jamón infused salt
salmon | cucumber | chives | berries | radishes
red mullet {split, deboned, liver diced and returned to spine, wrapped and cooked sous-vide with olive oil}
deconstructed calamari a la romana {perfectly grilled calamari, sprinkled with balls of fried tempura and lemon zest, i think it was}
deconstructed liver & onions {caramelized onion puré, pate, and an onion microwave cake}
pumpkin {candied in lime and sugar, torched}
vegetable gazpacho {vegetables slow-cooked en papillote with aromatics}
mussels {cooked and pureed in their liquid, mixed with rice flour and piped into boiling water to make ‘beans’}


Those are just a sprinkling of the incredible flavors from Gastronomika.
I teared up two or three times. One, watching the Mugaritz video. The rest thinking of the kitchen.
You should have been here.
Miss you,
Marti