Asador Etxebarri

Walking into Asador Etxebarri for the first time is a small piece of theatre, and that is before any food has arrived.

The room is exactly what you want it to be: Basque hillside, Bittor Arginzoniz at the grill. We were seated near the back, given menus we hardly needed, and brought a small bowl of olives without being asked.

We started with house-cured beef carpaccio, which set the tone — generous, unfussy, and confident enough not to crowd what was coming. With it we ordered a Chianti Classico Riserva I wrote down in my notebook, and were glad of both.

Then the main event: chuletón of old dairy cow, the dish that puts Asador Etxebarri on every short list. Cut through it and you found that deep, beefy, almost iron-tasting interior that only comes from time and dry air. The signature touch — everything kissed by wood smoke, even the ice cream — is not a gimmick; it is the reason to come.

For sides we asked for grilled radicchio with anchovy butter and buttered haricots verts. Both arrived hot, both arrived early, both were exactly large enough to overdo it. We overdid it.

Dessert was panna cotta with stewed cherries, mostly because the waiter raised an eyebrow when we hesitated. He was right to.

A perfect Sunday lunch, which is what I came for.