The food here was just extraordinary, ranging from the oysters from (of all places) Bordeaux, to the extraordinary langoustines, giant shrimp, and cigalas to the phenomenal stuffed baby squid. We also had an assortment of different kinds of Iberico Bellota that preceded all the seafood, then went through a bevy of fish courses, including a fabulous white fish (I forgot the name) and their exquisite bacalao, all washed down with two Albariños, a 2007 Mencia from a winery I’d never heard of called Ultreia de Valtuille, and a wine that I was, of course, familiar with, the 2006 Clos Mogador Priorat.

I tend to shy away from restaurants in hotels, but this was highly recommended, and turned out to be one of my top three or four meals of 2009. The chefs here are Jesus Santos and David Marcano. I suppose the Spanish would call this seasonal Basque haute cuisine, but I call it spectacularly delicious. I would certainly recommend reservations, given how packed this place was on a Tuesday night. One unusual thing about this restaurant is that it is almost impossible to know it is in the Hotel Wellington unless you actually ask at the front desk, because it is tucked away in back corner without any signs. You might walk in with a reservation and think you’re in the wrong place, but the restaurant is in the Hotel Wellington.