They say when you come to Biarritz, you better come hungry. It might not boast of the brightest constellation of Michelin-starred restaurants (that plaudit goes to Basque sister town, San Sebastian) but what it does have is an extraordinary number of places to gorge yourself with wild abandon. Why? Here in Biarritz, food is the thing.
For those who grow up in French Basque Country, it’s practically a religion. A deep-rooted reverence for honest ingredients, fostered early in childhood and (thankfully) no fancy French chicanery in the kitchens, just simple cooking over a fire. It’s a marked contrast to Biarritz’s glamorous history: a playground for Europe’s rich and royal after Empress Eugenie came for the healing waters (inspiring Napoleon III to build her a summer palace, now the Hotel Imperial). It’s where Coco Chanel opened her first boutique outside Paris, Jean Cocteau and Frank Sinatra spent summers and a place immortalised in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
We checked in to the town’s other grand dame hotel, Regina Experimental, a little further out from the main drag. With its Belle Epoque architecture and detailing (the Eiffel Tower-inspired ceiling of the main atrium is particularly wonderful) and postcard-perfect views of the Atlantic from our bedroom, the cortisol from our 7am EasyJet flight evaporated instantly. Special mention has to go to the woman behind its neo-deco aesthetic, Dorothée Meilichzon, who has woven seaside-inflected flourishes into the interiors seamlessly. Think: lots of striped ticking fabrics, jaunty rope tassels and bronzed seashell sconces lining the walls. But we came to eat, so our first port of call was Les Halles market, with its jaunty purveyors of fresh fruit, veg, wine and cheese.
For those who grow up in French Basque Country, food is practically a religion
We made like the locals and started off with coffee from Lobita and snacked on pintxos at as many counters as we could handle before grabbing local specialities for lunch on the seafront. The sea is, naturally, a big draw for surfers (our concierge said it’s not uncommon to master the art in a weekend) but we were content watching the swells from a distance on our petite picnique. We headed back towards our hotel in a post-lunch stupor along the esplanade, where the other great sport Biarritz offers is people watching. While there is a pervasive feeling of old money (the private villas and their manicured gardens prove as much), you’ll have a hard time spotting a guy in finance with a trust fund. The locals appeared all about slow living, not fast and flash; in their happy place perusing brica-brac at the weekend antiques market or playing pétanque at sunset at the roadside café Extola Bibi. After a reviving massage at the hotel’s subterranean spa, it was back out for dinner.
Aiete looked unassuming at first, but the long, open room and candlelit tables offered a perfect setting for the exquisite food. Local wine producers dominated the house lists, while plates festooned with curried carrots, pickled girolles and tender veal chops from Basque farmer Pierre Matayron disappeared as soon as they were set down. In short: we came, we saw, we ate. And no doubt, we’ll be back for seconds.
BEST BASQUE BITES
As ex-Chiltern Firehouse chef Richard Foster is set to open his new Basque-inspired London restaurant, Ibai, we quiz him on Basque Country’s foodie hot spots
BIDART
South of Biarritz is Bidart. La Maison de l’Uhabia is aboutique hotel there with traditional Basque design, featuring a grill-focused restaurant — the best in the area with honest, delicious and simple food.
GUETHARY
Just a bit further south of Bidart is a village called Guethary, a very relaxed place to hang out, laid-back, surfer cool. Foodie places of note are Providence and Le Café du Fronton; both regularly have guest chefs.
SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ
In Saint-Jean-de-Luz, restaurant Chez Mattin is probably the most renowned restaurant to enjoy authentic, classic French Basque food, old-school style.BAYONNE
A little-known fact is that chocolate came to France through Bayonne; in the 17th century the town was one of the biggest producers of chocolate in Europe. Today its claim to fame is prestigious Bayonne ham
