Ephemerratic | Up with Pintxos! Down with Tapas! Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain (w

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Up with Pintxos! Down with Tapas! Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain (wrap-up)

By Lauren Girardin

Thurs, October 9, 2008

Pintxos at Sagartoki, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

Pintxos at Bar Sagartoki in Vitoria-Gasteiz | Photo by Lauren Girardin

For a couple of former New Yorkers like Todd and myself, the letter pair "TX" can conjure up some very foreign images – of ten gallon hats, big steaks and even bigger hair, and soon-to-be ex-Presidents baling hay on their vacation ranch instead of running the country (into the ground).

After visiting the Basque capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz, "TX" has an entirely new positive association for us: with the paramount nosh, pintxos.

First, cozy up to the bar and ask for a txakoli, pronouncing the "tx" as a "ch" sound. Once your decisive power is fortified by a glass of the sparkling, slightly acidic white wine, it's time to choose your pintxos from the bumper crop of choices covering the bar top.

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The bartender may give you a plate to load up or you might have to point out the pintxos you want – either way, if there are toothpicks stuck in the food, hold on to them as they may be counted to figure out your bill at the end. Sometimes no toothpicks are needed if the bartender's memory is good enough to remember pi to the thousandth digit.

Cigarette butt marred floor, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

Cigarette butt marred floor, Vitoria-Gasteiz | Photo by Lauren Girardin

The pintxos may be as simple as house-marinated anchovies wrapped around picked vegetables – much better than it sounds, sublime if done right – or as elaborate as lasaña de hongos y helado esporas at Bar Sagartoki, a hot-cold pairing of a spoonful of mushroom and cheese layered pasta with a spoonful of mushroom ice cream.

You can keep grazing on pintxos until you're full or join the txikiteo and stroll down the street to the next bar.

On your way out, don't forget to toss your napkins on the floor, where they belong.

Vitoria-Gasteiz Travel Tips

We only had 24 hours in Vitoria-Gasteiz, so this is just a small sample of all there is on offer.

Where we ate:

Bar Usokari - They seemed to drizzle balsamic vinegar reduction on everything, but besides the overenthusiasm for that one ingredient, it was all good: YEH
Bar Sagartoki - Winner of the best Spanish pintxos bar in 2006, they display their pintxos in museum-style display cases. They're not fucking around: YEH!!
Bar Toloño - Traditional and typical pintxos, often involving lots of mayonnaise, but very well done: YEH

Where we stayed:

Hotel Dato - A very, very strange hotel. The décor was unreal, with incongruous art nouveau statuary, mirrors and tchotchkes crowding the halls and stairs as well as a fairly useless but pretty faux-stained glass bathroom door in the room. It's the bargain in town, clean, and well located: YEH

What we saw:

Artium Museum - Where were the permanent exhibits? Where were the signs? Where was the art that didn't make us go: MEH
Free bikes from the tourist office - Well, we wanted to bike, but they ran out very quickly. Seems a good idea, but under supplied: MEH