TALKING WITH JUAN CARLOS CARO
CHEF OF THE ZELAI TXIKI RESTAURANT
Juan Carlos and Eva meet in Orio. Both children of restaurateurs, he was studying culinary arts and she was doing business studies. At that time, they did not know that the future would hold a project they both dreamed of, to open their own restaurant. After a long search, they found the perfect spot in a farmstead of San Sebastián, where they decided to bring their vision to life. After countless hours of effort, team work and dedication, they have earned a Michelin Green Star, a prestigious award that not only recognises their culinary excellence, but also their commitment to sustainability and respect for the natural environment. We went to the slopes of Mount Ulia to chat with Juan Carlos Caro, who explained how – along with Eva and their team – they have turned Zelai Txiki into a place that pays tribute both to the earth and to the palate.
GO TO ZELAI TXIKI
1. How did the project start and how has it evolved since Eva and you opened in 1997?
After completing my cookery studies, I started working at my parents’ restaurant in Oiartzun and that was when I realised that I would like to have my own restaurant. Then, the opportunity emerged through a friend to buy the Zelai Txiki farmstead in San Sebastián. The owner’s only condition was that we kept the house’s architecture, as he had built it and did not want to see it demolished for another project. I told him that our plan was to run a restaurant in the farmstead, without destroy it or making any changes; that was how everything started. Eva and I sat on the steps that are next to the car park, and said: “we will have to come up with a menu”; which was nothing like the one we have now! We had great hopes and enthusiasm: “if it doesn’t work out, we are young and we could always pull out and carry on with our lives in a different way”, we said. We threw ourselves into it and we are still here today. That was how Zelai Txiki started.
2. Your commitment to the environment and environmental responsibility has earned you a Michelin Green Star. What practices/actions have you used to achieve this recognition?
Over the years, we have worked on developing environmental actions that have resulted in being awarded the Michelin Guide’s Green Star. We are currently working with the local council on a solar panel project. We installed a pellet stove and use the wood one for low temperature cooking to avoid having to use the Roner sous-vide. We even have a heating coil in the wood stove that heats the water we use. We are also committed to the circular economy. For example, left-over bread, vegetable cuttings and potato peelings, etc. are all used to make compost and feed the hens.
We have also established our own vegetable garden, where we plant based on the lunar calendar. Depending on the phases of the moon, we work out the most favourable time for the tasks in the vegetable garden, as the moon’s influence on the earth and water affects the plant’s growth. So, we follow that calendar for better plant health and yields.
3. How would define the type of cuisine at Zelai Txiki?
At Zelai Txiki, we produce honest cooking; I think it is a very appropriate word to define our dishes. Our cooking is not dressed up; it is ingredient-driven cuisine, as the product is always the star, complemented with very few ingredients. Fish nape, cod, hake or turbot, served with a small garnish or sauce that are in the background. The seasonality of the produce is set by the vegetable garden and we adapt our dishes according to the time of the year. Our culinary offering is therefore based on seasonal cuisine.
3.1 What is your culinary offering based on?
Our dishes are adapted to the diner. For example, we offer different vegetarian and vegan options – even if they are not on the menu – to make sure that diners have an enjoyable experience eating at the restaurant. Thanks to the vegetable garden, we can quickly whip up dishes such as beetroot salmorejo – thick cold soup – or boiled leeks with a warm vinaigrette.
4. How do you balance tradition and creativity to reinvent Spanish classic dishes like lamb and suckling pig?
When I arrived, there was a wood stove and the former owners roasted lamb and suckling pig there. They are the hallmark of the establishment and that is why I think the people of San Sebastián identify Zelai Txiki with those dishes. But that has evolved and the dishes are no longer presented as in the past. We now take the meat off the bone when it comes to the suckling pig, for example, so the diner does not have to deal with the bones and can eat it more easily. The sauces and garnishes have also changed. The lamb is now served with mashed potatoes, and the suckling pig with apple compote or a pumpkin puree from our vegetable garden. The ingredient continues to be the same, but the way to present and serve the dish has changed.
5. Tell us about the homemade bread that you make yourselves at Zelai Txiki.
After taking a course on innovation, development and new culinary techniques at the Basque Culinary Center, I did work experience at the Can Fabes restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed when the owner died and the pastry chef told me that its sourdough starter was going to be lost, after the restaurant had kept it going for 8-10 years. I brought it to Zelai Txiki and started to feed it every four days and to make our own homemade bread. Even when I go on holiday, I ask a friend to come and stir and feed the starter. And it is still going strong today.
I should point out that, apart from learning about breadmaking being an ongoing process, it is essential to have the right tool to be able to make this product and serve it at the restaurant. In our case, we have a four-level stone oven. It is not very common to find restaurants that make their own bread as it requires a lot of work and time; but it has been an ongoing learning process in our case. The bread we made at the start is not the same as the much more professional bread that make now. I would award the Zelai Txiki bread an eight.
6. You have your own wine store at the restaurant. What is the star product that we can find between those four walls?
Ten years ago, we added a wine cellar in the dining room so clients can pursue it and chose the wines they most like. Eva is a sommelier and personally selects all the wines on our list. We offer a wide variety of sparkling, white and red wines, mainly from Spain and Europe.
> At national level, our careful selection of La Rioja wines stands out. They include, Marqués de Murrieta Ygay, available in different vintages, along with Artadi terroir wines, such as Pisón and Carretil. We also stock Artuke, a small winery and we offer two of its wines: Paso Las Mañas and El Escolladero. We have recently started to work with new wine makers, such as José Gil, Carlos Sánchez and Alegre Valgañon.
> When it comes to Ribera del Duero, I should mention wines such as Dominio del Águila and Dominio de Es, along with a wide range of vintages of Vega Sicilia – Único and Valbuena –.
> In the Priorato, the presence stands out of Álvaro Palacios, a name that is very well-known in the international wine world.
> When it comes to whites, Rías Baixas wines are well represented, with names such as Albamar, Zárate and Bodegas Fulcro.
> As regards Spanish sparkling wines, I should mention Bodega Raventós, and we offer several of its wines including Textures de Pedra.
> Then, internationally speaking, we have a fine selection of Champagne and wines from Germany, France Italy and Portugal.
7. Could it be said that everyone can enjoy your culinary experience? Or do you have a specific client profile?
We adapt to each person. We have now started offering a tasting menu at Zelai Txiki, as international clients were asking for one. From my point of view, it is a very good thing because the client tastes a little of everything and gets an idea of what the restaurant is about. But, on the flip side, you have to give them the chance to dine in another way, choosing what they want, which is why we also have the à la carte menu. We have a great variety of dishes, with something for everyone. I would say that, in general, it is a restaurant for the whole family.
8. What are essentials in Zelai Txiki’s kitchen?
Real musts are a good roast, part of this restaurant’s identity, and a good grill to be able to cook all the seasonal fish we have in the Bay of Biscay. These are the two cornerstones of Zelai Txiki. Then, there must be top quality vegetables, another of our cornerstones thanks to the vegetable garden project. It is part of what is also setting our course, working with the ingredients in situ in our own land.
> *Would like to visit its vegetable garden? At Zelai Txiki, they grow herbs, fruit, root and leafy vegetables, and even have a hotel for insects! Just ask when you arrive at the restaurant and, if there is availability, they will organise a visit for you.
9. National and international film starts, musicians and even Olympic athletes have visited you time and again. What would you highlight of Basque cuisine that so attracts everyone?
I believe that it is a cuisine that everyone likes because of its simplicity. Our cuisine is very well prepared, very simple, but in turn very tasty; I believe that is what comes across and appeals to people. The actor Jessica Chastain, for example, has come several times. She is vegetarian and I believe that she likes about Zelai Txiki is to find a top-quality culinary offering, prepared with pleasure and great care. Conveying love for what you do is fundamental.
10. Finally, what advice would you give to anybody that wants to start up their own restaurant?
First, you will have to find the right premises and know what is available locally. You have to be able to continue learning and to accept criticism – and to embrace it as something positive to improve performance and the dishes you prepare –. You have to be passionate about the profession and ensure the quality is maintained, and to carry on developing your skills, which are learnt and improved day by day. That is what we have been doing right from the start. Eva and I began sitting on the steps thinking that we had to come up with a menu, and look where we have come! With enthusiasm to carry on.
Juan Carlos’s culinary top tips:
> Cafés for breakfast: Pastelería Pariès, Old Town Coffee and Simona.
> 3 pintxos bars – and your recommendations – Scrambled eggs with field mushrooms at Ganbara; the tuna and anchovy pintxo at Bergara; and Paco Bueno’s Norway lobster in a crunchy batter.
> 3 restaurants Txoko Getaria, in Getaria; Laia Erretegia, in Hondarribia; and Casa Urola, in San Sebastián.
> A market to do the shopping La Bretxa.
> 3 seasonal ingredients Artichoke, beetroot and aubergine
> A dessert and where to buy it The Basque Cake at Pastelería Pariès
> 3 cider houses Lizeaga, Petritegi and Bereziartua, in Astigarraga.