Memorable Meals from 2025

Food Tour in Spain: Barcelona and San Sebastian

This year, my most memorable meals all took place in one week. That’s because in June, I was invited by a friend to take part in a small organized food tour. On the itinerary were six restaurants, all with Michelin stars, four of them with 3-stars. It was an amazing gastronomical feast, day after day. Luckily, only one meal a day was planned, as each of these meals lasted between four to five hours. The full-service trip was arranged by food writer/blogger Jocelyn Chen, based in Milan & Shanghai. Check out her IG @jocelyn_tastytrip. You just get yourself to the city–she takes care of the rest: all the lodgings (top notch), transportation, and reservations. Here’s a rundown of the experience.

Cocina Hermanos Torres

The first stop in Barcelona was lunch at Cocina Hermano Torres, run by twin brothers Sergio and Javier Torres. They just received their third star in 2024. Located in big, open space with the kitchen in the middle of the restaurant, this was a beautiful, and fabulous way to start the tour. Coincidentally, the space happened to be formerly occupied by a Michelin tire shop.

Here is the menu

Disfrutar

The next day’s stop was at the three-starred Disfrutar, named the #1 restaurant in the world in 2024. Because our meal was in the special kitchen which could only accommodate six diners, our group was split into a lunch and dinner group. I was in the lunch seating. This extraordinary experience, established by three alums of the legendary el Bulli:  Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, was topped off by a dessert called the “living table,” perhaps the most memorable course of the whole trip. See video below.

Cellar De Can Roca

Our last stop in the Barcelona area was El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, founded by the Roca brothers. Joan is the head chef; Josep is the sommelier, and Jordi heads up desserts. (The first course is a broth with three pours into a cup that shows the profile of each brother–see below.) This was a 30+ course lunch that was topped off with a VR experience with dessert. It has retained its three-star Michelin status since 2009.

Elkano

We next headed to Basque country, and the first stop was Elkano in Getaria, a multi-generational seafood grill. Coming after three meals full of complex creations, Elkano’s simply grilled seafood was simply fantastic. While the turbot is the supposed star of the menu (and it is special), the kokotxas (the lower part of the cod’s chin, or cheeks) was a revelation.

Azurmendi

Located near Bilbao, the three-starred Azurmendi is a dining experience that takes place in several stages, first in a “welcome picnic” in the large greenhouse lobby, then tastes from the sea in the kitchen, then flowers, branches, and nectars in the garden before moving to the table for the main meal.

Asador Etxebarri

The last stop was possibly my favorite. Located in the village of Axpe in a little stone cottage (eight tables and an upstairs loft space), Chef Victor Arguinzoniz prepares simple live-fire cooking. It lives up to the hype. Simply amazing. It was an added treat to visit the tiny kitchen after the meal.