Txitxardin : Lasarte, Spain

So many restaurants to update y’all on, so little time. Today’s spot is a real gem, one that got me so excited that it zoomed past all the pending posts I have, straight to the top.

Sergio Humada, the son of Juan Mari Humada of Hidalgo 56 fame, has returned to his hometown and opened a restaurant. Txitxardin opened in mid-September, in the nearby town of Lasarte, in the shadow of Martín Berasategui’s three-star flagship.

Casa Humada is located in a lovely mansion in Lasarte, about ten minutes from the center of San Sebastián. The plan is to outfit the house with several food spaces, and the first of those to premiere is Txitxardin.

The motto is ’the grill and tradition’, and the menu is one of those that makes you want to order one of everything. That is pretty much what we did, starting from the left, which includes a sampling of tempting small bites: mussel croquetas (top), tempura-fried shrimp (above), a crunchy tuna cannoli and more. Seasonal produce, much of which passes over the grill, ranges from traditional (ajoarriero cod) to original (a duck, cheese and apple “sandwich”, below).

Each bite was an improvement on the one before, bright flavors that made us excited for each successive dish to arrive. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve felt that way?! Especially about a restaurant billed as ‘traditional Basque’. (PS I know I am utterly spoiled.)

The autumn menestra was amazing. Delicate vegetables bedded in a glossy, thick jus and punctuated with gorgeous hunks of porcini…my kind of plate and one that even won over the guy waiting for the steak.

Then a lumagorri canneloni, with an Irati cheese sauce and a retro vibe that I fell for from bite #1. At this point, we are all getting a bit full but have #noregrets about the 3 remaining courses on their way.

The menu also bears traces from Cataluña, where Sergio spent years cooking at Vía Veneto, a renowned restaurant with a Michelin star. In this case, it manifested into a fideuá with ocean-y flavors and chunks of monkfish.

You have to love that the wheel is not being reinvented here…everything is just extra delicious and carefully prepared. “We are finding ourselves without great traditional restaurants," says Humada, in a recent interview. “Which is why I hope Txitxardin dissuades locals from leaving town to look for traditional flavors.”

An arroz cremoso de ibéricos felt both traditional and contemporary, with a lovely pink point and a rice strongly flavored of charcuterie.

The restaurant itself lacks a bit of ambience, but during the day and in nice weather it must be one of the nicest spots to eat in town. Perfection would be taking a table in the sunshine with the leafy boughs overhead and ordering a big plate of the fries. Not kidding—we ate them too raptly to snap a picture (also missing is the lamb that they accompanied, sorry, we were in a political argument at the time it came out), but they reminded me of the fried potatoes at Emeril’s in New Orleans, made by cooking potatoes, breaking them into small strings, recomposing them into French fry shape, and frying them with a golden, crispy crust.

The project is revealing itself phase by phase, and next year will see the opening of Shuma, a more daring dining proposition with only 30 diners and a tasting menu format.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Txitxardin
https://casahumada.com
Oria Etorbidea, 12
20160 Lasarte-Oria
627 37 45 83