On my latest trip along the Atlantic, I was looking forward to again visiting one of my all-time favourite restaurants: Casa Urola in the Parte Vieja of San Sebastian. After checking in at the hotel, I quickly grabbed a taxi and a few minutes later entered the Hidden gem of Donostia’ for the first time in two years. It was wonderful to catch up again with chef and owner Pablo Louriero. I never order because everything is fantastic and it’s much nicer to be surprised by Pablo. I started with some excellent, refined pintxos and soon after Pablo brought me oysters in Iberian bacon, cream of cauliflower, broth of sea crab and lemon zest followed by one of his signature dishes which I just love: hake loin with cheeks and clams. Simply fantastic! This was followed by the house-salted anchovies and white tuna ‘ventreska’ with grilled peppers. Amazing! And if that was not enough, he came with ‘Chuleta ‘Premium’ de vaca a la parrilla’ which is a grilled ‘premium’ beefsteak. Pablo cooks on a charcoal grill, which is a difficult thing to use in a kitchen because, as he told me, it is like ‘a double-edged sword’, meaning that if you use good quality products, it intensifies tastes such as umami, making the dish stand out from the rest with a great texture and flavour, but if you have mediocre products, it emphasises the bad flavour. This is why he sometimes orders fish and meat twice a day. What a treat! If you happen to be in the Basque country and passing through San Sebastian, you really must stop at this exceptional place.