Six good-size shrimp ($11) are served Basque style, a la plancha, in the iron skillet in which they were just grilled; they are dressed only with olive oil and vinegar, which help bring out their shrimpy flavor.
With his partner, Frank Falcinelli, Mr. Castronovo is changing their Spuntino restaurant on the Lower East Side from an Italian to a Spanish place, serving Basque-style tapas fashioned by Ryan Bartlow, who toiled in San Sebastián, Spain, for two years.
Lucky for us, because that prompted him to open this Santa Monica tapas bar stocked with Spanish wines and cheeses and serving Basque-inspired pintxos as well as traditional tapas (gambas al ajillo, patatas bravas, tortilla española — and albóndigas).
Marichu serves unusual Basque dishes in a location near the United Nations, frequently drawing a crowd of diplomats.
Ergaña Oriza, San Fernando, 41, (34) 954-227-211, serves classic Basque dishes with Andalusian touches in an airy steel-and-glass dining room at the edge of the Alcázares gardens.
Such itineraries usually include stops at the capital's better state-run restaurants, like El Aljibe, where you can get a roast-chicken dinner, or El Templete, which serves overpriced, Basque-style food on a breezy terrace at the edge of Old Havana.
You can wander the aroma-filled Old Town stopping in at one of more than 200 pintxos bars serving the Basque version of tapas night after night; or unfurl your napkin in a Michelin-starred restaurant such as Arzak (arzak.info), Martin Berasategui (00 34 943 366 471; martinberasategui.com), Akelarre (00 34 943 31 12 09; akelarre.net) or Mugaritz (00 34 943 522 455; mugaritz.com).
When he opened his restaurant, Mr. Arguinzoniz wanted dishes more ambitious than the chuletones — rib steaks — served at traditional Basque grill parlors.
In fact, every aspect of life in San Sebastián seems to revolve around food, from the gastronomic societies that are a less formal equivalent to British gentlemen's clubs — and where members do their own cooking — to the small bars that serve pintxos, the Basque version of tapas, in the city's historic center.
