Xarma

Though the location on a busy avenue near a highway overpass may lack some charm, chefs Xabier Diez and Aizpea Oihaneder’s restaurant is a real insider’s address for some of the most exciting contemporary Basque cuisine in San Sebastián. The chefs cooked their way through an impressive array of star kitchens, including Michel Bras in France and Arzak and Martin Berasategui locally, plus a stint in Spain’s Extremadura, before setting up shop here, and this place is all about their passion for tweaking tradition in the most delicious of ways. Think white asparagus ice cream and inventive, sometimes playful, dishes like foie gras bon-bons with green apple cream, boned pigeon with red-fruit risotto and liver toffee and a sublime cocoa sorbet with almond cream.