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36. Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel gerrydawesspain.com

"My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life. . .” - - Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019; Chef-partner of Mercado Little Spain at Hudson Yards, New York 2019

1/25/2020

Spanish Gastronomy Expert Gerry Dawes & Eating Las Vegas Restaurant Critic John Curtas Taste of Spain Tour 2020: Bilbao, San Sebastián, Navarra, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante & Madrid


 * * * * *
Gerry Dawes & John Curtas Taste of Spain Tour 2020

Bilbao, San Sebastián, Navarra, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante & Madrid

Wednesday, May 20 – Sunday, May 31, 2020
(11 Days, 10 Nights)

A Customized Itinerary for John Curtas & Eating Las Vegas Followers

Tour Designed and Guided by Gerry Dawes
Premio Nacional de Gastronómía 2003
(Spanish National Gastronomy Award)


$4,995 per person; $5,995 single supplement
(without airfare)



A complete prospectus and trip contract will be sent to each interested party.  Travel insurance is recommended.  Check with your credit card provider or personal insurance company.

"In his nearly thirty years (now fifty) of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

"Trust me everyone, I have traveled with this man, if Gerry Dawes tells you to eat somewhere it's like Bourdain, believe it!!" - - Chef Mark Kiffin, The Compound Restaurant, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless criss-crossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés of José Andrés ThinkFoodGroup, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

About Gerry Dawes and His Unique Experiences in Spain



"But, for Gerry, Spain is more than just the Adriàs and (Juan Mari and Elena) Arzaks. He has connected with all manner of people working at every level and in every corner of Spain. I’m always amazed at this reach. You can step into a restaurant in the smallest town in Spain, and it turns out they know Gerry somehow. I remember one rainy night in Madrid during the 2003 Madrid Fusión congress. I wanted to go to my favorite place for patatas bravas, but Gerry had another place in mind, and I didn’t know about it. But Gerry is always right. The potatoes at his place were amazing.” - - Chef-restaurateur José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019; Chef-partner of ThinkFoodGroup and Mercado Little Spain, Hudson Yards, New York.

Gerry Dawes will lead an exceptional, intensive, insider’s food, wine and cultural of the Basque Country’s Atlantic food and wine regions, with an excursion into la Rioja and Navarra and on to Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante’s contrasting Mediterranean interpretations of food and wine, before ending the trip in Spain’s capital city, Madrid. 

In all our travels, we will be dining in restaurants specially selected by Gerry Dawes for their authenticity, quality and uniqueness and our meals will be accompanied by wines chosen by Gerry to reflect the best aspects of each locale.  Although the emphasis will be on food and wine, there will be cultural activities and some spectacular countryside to see and photograph as well.  Participants on this trip will meet and interact with Spanish chefs and wine personalities, with whom Gerry Dawes is very well acquainted, visit placed known only to long-time Spain hands, and relax and enjoy the company and camaraderie of our fellow travelers.

Gerry Dawes received Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003.  He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish gastronomy, wine and cultural themes.  He has shown Spain to many top American chefs and culinary figures such as Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Michael Chiarello, Michael Lomonaco, Mark Kiffin, Norman Van Aken, cookbook author Rozanne Gold, Michael Whiteman (Joseph Baum Michael Whiteman Restaurant Consultants) and many others, including baseball great Keith Hernandez.  He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism (€14,000)for his article on Cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.  


 About John Curtas


John A. Curtas has been the voice of the Las Vegas food and restaurant scene since 1995. As a resident since 1981, he has seen Vegas grow into one of the leading restaurant cities in the world. His weekly radio commentaries air were heard on KNPR-Nevada Public Radio, 88.9 FM www.knpr.org for 15 years, and since 2008, he can be seen Friday mornings as “Las Vegas’ Favorite Foodie” on KSNV (NBC) Morning News in Las Vegas (http://news3lv.com/news/wake-up-with-the-wagners).  He is the author of EATING LAS VEGAS – The 50 Essential Restaurants, which will have its 5th edition published in December, 2016, as well as being the author of the Eating Las Vegas website (www.eatinglv.com). 

Mr. Curtas is also the Las Vegas correspondent for FoodieHub (www.foodiehub.com), and has been the restaurant critic for the Las Vegas Weekly, Las Vegas Life, SCOPE and Desert Companion magazines. He also and writes (or has written) on Las Vegas restaurants, food and wine for a variety of publications and web-based sites, including VEGAS magazine, VURB, BestPlaces Las Vegas, Fodor’s Las Vegas, TimeOut Las Vegas, and the Virtual Gourmet (www.JohnMariani.com).  He has also been a member of the North American voting panel for Restaurant Magazine’s 50 Best Restaurants in the World issue and has been the Las Vegas voting correspondent for the James Beard Foundation. John has also made a number of appearances on national TV shows, including as a judge for the finale of Top Chef Masters (twice) and Iron Chef America (four episodes).  


Itinerary

(B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, T=Tapas, D=Dinner)

Day 00 Wednesday, May 20 U.S. to Madrid 

*Each traveler or group of travelers will arrange their air transportation from their departure city to Madrid and from Madrid to Bilbao.  Many airlines such as American or Iberia have special pricing to cities in Spain via Madrid.  Flights should be booked U.S. to Bilbao* (via Madrid) and return from Madrid to U.S.  (*It is important to make the U. S. to Bilbao flight as part of your ticket, so your luggage gets checked through to Bilbao and you do not have to check in again and go through security again in Madrid to get your connection to Bilbao.



Day 01 Thursday, May 21 Madrid - Bilbao (D)  

All tour members will rendezvous in Bilbao at our hotel.  At 2 p.m., for those who have arrived and want to go for lunch, there will be an optional tapas crawl in the old quarter, then the afternoon will be free to relax.

In late afternoon, we will have a look at the Guggenheim Bilbao from the exterior and take a tour of the interior.   

At 9 p.m., we will meet across the river from the Guggenheim at a terrific Basque steakhouse with great steaks, regional specialties and good young wines from the Rioja Alavesa wine country southeast of Bilbao.   

Hotel Ercilla, Bilbao (or comparable.)


Bilbao Guggenheim Museum


After breakfast, we will take our medium-sized, maneuverable bus along some of the awesomely beautiful coastal roads east of Bilbao to the fishing village of Getaria, hometown of the dress designer Balenciaga, opera singer Plácido Domingo’s mother and birthplace of Juan Sebastián Elkano, the first man to complete the circumnavigation of the world (Magellan was killed in the Philippines and Elkano completed the voyage).

In Getaria, we will visit the Balenciaga Museum and the fishing port, then have a relatively light lunch in a spectacular restaurant overlooking the port, dining on exceptional, whole, wood-grilled rodaballo (turbot), other dishes such as txangurro (the classic Basque crab dish) and baby squid, all accompanied by special wines from the restaurant’s exceptional cellar. 

After lunch, we will arrive to the wonderful seaside city of San Sebastián, the gastronomic capital of the Basque Country.   We will check into our hotel that looks out on the city and Ondarreta beach.  The afternoon free for relaxing, shopping or enjoying on a walk on the spectacular beaches of Ondarreta and Playa de La Concha, one of the world’s greatest urban beaches. 

In the evening, we will ride up to Monte Igeldo, which has stunning views overlooking San Sebastián, then we will go to the old quarter of San Sebastián and sample tapas in the city’s colorful pintxos) bars.   After our tapas crawl, at the edge of the old quarter, we offer the option of a ending our evening in a classic bar that is credited with starting the Spanish gintonic craze among great international chefs, who drank them here after attending one of the legendary San Sebastián gastronomic conferences.

Hotel Galeria, San Sebastián.

Fishing port of Getaria, hometown of Juan Sebastián Elkano, the dress designer Balenciaga and Plácido Domingo's mother.


Getaria´s famous seafood restaurants specialize in fish, like the exquisite grilled rodaballo (turbot) shown here, grilled on open grills outdoors alongside the restaurants. 

 
Balenciaga Museum, Getaria.


 
 San Sebastián.

Paseo de la Concha, San Sebastián.



 Typical bar de pintxos (Basque for tapas) in San Sebastián.



Gintonics maestro Juanjo, Bar Dickens, San Sebastián.


Day 03 Saturday, May 23 San Sebastián – Pasaia Donibane - San Sebastián (B, L, T) 

In the morning, we will visit the market in downtown San Sebastián and stop for a morning tapa at one of the city’s most popular tapas spots.  The rest of this morning will be free for strolling, relaxing, shopping and enjoying this wonderful city. 

At 1 p.m., we will make a short excursion via bus and a five-minute charming ferry ride to Pasaia Donibane, a beautiful, one-street Basque village where Victor Hugo lived for a year.   We will stroll the town, then have lunch at a memorable restaurant that overlooks the Pasaia estuary, where we usually see teams of Basque rowers passing by. 

After lunch, we will return to the city to allow our tour members time to stroll the La Concha beach, re-visit the old quarter, shop or just relax and enjoy the charms of this unique city.

In the evening, we will have dinner in a new restaurant headed by one of the Basque Country’s most famous chefs, Michelin three-star Chef Martín Berastegui’s new restaurant, Eme Be Garrote.

Hotel Galeria (or comparable), San Sebastián.
  


Ferry to Pasajes de San Juan, a one-street seaside village where Victor Hugo once lived, near San Sebastián.


Day 04 Sunday, May 24 San Sebastián - Navarra – Barcelona (B, L, T)

In the morning, we will ride south to Navarra, where we will visit Olite, a striking Medieval castle village.  After Olite, we will ride south for half an hour and have an early lunch in southern Navarra with a winemaker at a restaurant that specializes in vegetable-based dishes from this great vegetable-growing district in Spain.  We will also taste a lineup of white wines, exceptional garnacha rosados (rosés), red and sweet dessert wines with the winemaker. 

 Drinking wonderful 100% free-run Garnacha rosados, delicious red wines and other surprises with winery owner Carlos Aliaga in Navarra.


 Foie-gras with friend artichokes accompanied by a luscious Late Harvest Moscatel at El Crucero in Corella, Navarra.

After lunch, our intrepid travelers can take a siesta on the bus as we press on to Barcelona, stopping a couple of times for refreshments.

We will arrive in Barcelona in early evening, check into our centrally located hotel, have a little time to relax, then those who are game can have the option of going out for a few Catalan tapas. 


 Hotel Duquesa de Cardona (or comparable), Barcelona.

Tapas in Barcelona.


 
 Miró, Picasso and Dalí, three legendary artists associated with Barcelona.


Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.


Day 05, Monday, May 25 Barcelona (B, L, D)  

In the morning, we will take a walking tour of the old quarters of Barcelona with George Semler, an American author who has lived in Barcelona for many years and has written extensively on his adopted city and will join us for lunch in la Barceloneta.  George says: “I normally give our guests information on architecture, history, gastronomy, random anecdotes, juicy cultural morsels…none of which sounds like a history class, I might add…Barcelona street sense…” George will also join us for lunch.


For lunch, we will go to a seafood-and-paella specialty restaurant in the port area of La Barceloneta, whose owner is a long-time friend of Gerry Dawes.  We have lunch on a terrace that looks out on the beach.

The afternoon and evening will be free to explore, shop or take an optional cultural tour of the Barcelona, etc. 

 Hotel Duquesa de Cardona (or comparable), Barcelona.


Touring the Old Quarters of Barcelona with George Semler, Gerry Dawes's friend for decades.

Enric Suárez, owner of Can Majó in La Barceloneta and a long-time friend of Gerry Dawes, with one of the restaurant seafood paellas.


 
Dry Martini at Javier de la Muelas Dry Martini Bar, Barcelona.


 
Antoni Guadí´s Casa Mila, La Pedrera, Barcelona.
  
Day 06 Tuesday, May 26 Barcelona (B, L, D)

In the morning, we will visit the famous la Boquería market and have lunch with Cava (Spanish Champagne) at one of the top market bars, whose chef-owner is a great friend of Gerry Dawes and where you will be amazed at the food his cooks turn out from market kitchens.

In the afternoon, there will be free time to shop, take an optional cultural tour of the Barcelona, etc.

We will have a dinner at a superb traditional Catalan cuisine restaurant run by Albert Adrià, Ferran Adrià´s brother and José André’s partner in Mercado Little Spain in New York.   


After dinner, those still game will have the option of going to one of the best cocktail bars in the city.  

Hotel Duquesa de Cardona (or comparable), Barcelona.

  
Quim Márquez, Quim de la Boquería, La Boquería Market, Barcelona with his costillas de ternera (veal ribs) with potatoes, Maldon salt and black Chinese garlic.

Albert Adrià, Ferran Adrià´s brother and José André’s partner in Mercado Little Spain in New York.



Day 07 Wednesday, May 27 Barcelona - Valencia (B, L, D) 


We will leave Barcelona early and drive to Valencia, where we will see some of Santiago Calatrava’s famous City of Arts and Sciences, visit Valencia’s Mercat Central (Central Market), then take a short excursion south of the city to see the picturesque Albufera lagoon and rice fields and get a hands-on class in paella making, then have paellas for lunch.

After lunch, weather permitting, we may take a short boat ride on the Albufera lagoon, then return to Valencia to relax, shop, visit some of Valencia´s many attractions or just stroll around the city.

In the evening, with the owner, we will have a great tapas dinner at the ambience-filled Bodega Casa Montaña, originally founded in the 19th Century.

Hotel Valencia Palace (or comparable).


 Valencia Mercat Central, paella pans and botas (wineskins).

 
Antonio Catalan spice shop, Valencia’s Mercat Central (Central Market).


Helping to make a paella at La Matandeta in La Abufera south of Valencia.


Emiliano García, owner of the Valencia classic Bodega Casa Montaña and a long-time friend of Gerry Dawes.


Day 08 Thursday, May 28 Valencia - Alicante  (B, L, D)  

In the morning, we will leave Valencia and drive just over an hour to visit a saffron processing facility, then visit the cooking school of the great chocolatero, Paco Torreblanca, voted the Best Pastry & Desserts Chef in Europe.   Paco Torreblanca is a friend of Gerry Dawes and either he or his son, Jacob, voted the top Pastry & Desserts Chef in Spain, will take us on a tour of his amazing chocolate and fancy pastries facility.

After visiting Paco Torreblanca, we will take a short tour of an Alicante winery, then drive to a family restaurant in a nearby village, where we will have a paella with wild rabbit and snails, cooked over grape vine cuttings, along with other regional specialties and special wines from the region. 

After lunch, we will return to Alicante and have the rest of the afternoon free to explore this lovely Mediterranean city.

Dinner will be at a tapas restaurant run by a woman chef who was awarded a Michelin star in her modern cuisine restaurant, but whose traditional tapas restaurant focusing on stellar Spanish products was recently voted the Best Tapas Bar in Spain.

We will stay in a hotel near the port, the beach and Alicante’s palm tree-lined Explanada.
 

Gerry Dawes and Maestro Paco Torreblanco at Paco's Baking School near Alicante.


 An Alicante winery.


 Paella with wild rabbit and snails, cooked over grape vine cuttings.

 Paella with wild rabbit and snails.


Alicante Chef María José San Román, Chef-owner of Michelin-starred Monastrell and La Taberna del Gourmet, one of the best tapas restaurants in Spain.

Day 09 Friday, May 29 Alicante – Chinchón - Madrid  (B, L, T)

Don Quixote country, where we will stop to see some of the storybook windmills of La Mancha.

This morning, we will head to Madrid, passing through Don Quixote country, stopping to see some of the storybook windmills of La Mancha along the way, arriving in the storybook town of Chinchón in time for lunch at a charming restaurant specializing in classic Castilian cuisine and overlooking the Plaza Mayor, one of the most enchanting plazas in Spain.  

After lunch, a 45-minute ride will bring us to Madrid, where we will check into our hotel, then have the rest of the afternoon free to explore Madrid, shop, relax, etc.

In the evening, we will take a stroll through the literary quarter and the Plaza Mayor.  Near the Plaza Mayor, we will visit the renovated Mercado de San Miguel, a combination market-food court-wine bar.  We will divide into small groups and, coached by Gerry Dawes, each group will have the option to sample different tapas, moving from counter to counter.  There are shellfish, cheese, Ibérico hams and desserts counters; a sushi bar; an oyster bar and a wine bar.



 
 The storybook town of Chinchón.

 Mural at the entrance to La Balconada Restaurant in Chinchón.


Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid.

Day 10 Saturday, May 30 Madrid (B, D) 


In the morning, there will be a guided tour of Madrid’s Prado Museum and the option of visiting other museums in the Triangulo del Arte, including the Reina Sofia, which houses Picasso’s Guernica, and the Thyssen-Bornemizsa, which is based on the remarkable private art collection of the late Baron Thyssen-Bornemizsa. 

At lunchtime, we will stroll through Retiro Park to a top Madrid restaurant, famous for exceptional seafood tapas, but also offering a variety of dishes such as fried artichokes, superb jamón Ibérico and other specialty dishes.

After lunch, our tour members will have free time until dinner.

In the evening, we will have our farewell dinner in a colorful traditional Madrid restaurant, famous for roast suckling pig, lamb and Castilian specialties, all of which will be accompanied by plenty of vino. 

After dinner, our travelers will have the option of attending a performance at one of Madrid’s top Flamenco clubs.


Diego Velásquez, La Meninas, Prado Museum, Madrid.


Cochinillo asado, brick-oven roasted suckling pig, at Casa Botín, Madrid.


A performance at one of Madrid’s top Flamenco clubs.

Day 11 Sunday, May 31 Madrid (B)
   
Tour members will take taxis or shuttle buses to Madrid airport their flights to USA. 



* * * * *
  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?
 
Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,
in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.
 ____________________________________________________________________________________
 Gastronomy Blogs

In 2019, again ranked in the Top 50 Gastronomy Blogs and Websites for Gastronomists & Gastronomes in 2019 by Feedspot. (Last Updated Oct 23, 2019) 

"The Best Gastronomy blogs selected from thousands of Food blogs, Culture blogs and Food Science blogs in our index using search and social metrics. We’ve carefully selected these websites because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high-quality information."  

36. Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel


 
About Gerry Dawes

My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019


Gerry Dawes is the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)

Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 


". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 
 
Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Gerry Dawes & Janet Cam Taste of Spain Tour 2020: Madrid, Ribera del Duero, Burgos, La Rioja, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Navarra, Barcelona, Valencia, Toledo & Chinchón


* * * * * 
Gerry Dawes &  Janet Cam Taste of Spain Tour 2020
 Madrid, Ribera del Duero, Burgos, La Rioja, Bilbao, San Sebastián,  
Navarra, Barcelona, Valencia, Toledo & Chinchón

Wednesday, June 17 – Monday, June 29, 2020
(12 Days, 11 Nights)
 
A Customized Itinerary for Washington, D. C. Restaurant Consultant Janet Cam & Friends

Tour Designed and Guided by Gerry Dawes
Premio Nacional de Gastronómía 2003
(Spanish National Gastronomy Award)

$5,250 per person; $6,250 single supplement
(without airfare*) 


A complete prospectus and trip contract will be sent to each interested party. Travel insurance is recommended. Check with your credit card provider or personal insurance company. 

 (*Airfare not included. For credit cards, please add costs for credit card company fees and processing of 3.9% + .30 to each payment. *Example $5250.00 = $5455.05.  Minimum of $1000 deposit required upon reservation. Full payment due 90 days before departure.  Important, see Tour Terms & Conditions sheet for payment instructions.)


About Gerry Dawes and Janet Cam


Gerry Dawes and His Unique Experiences in Spain


"But, for Gerry, Spain is more than just the Adriàs and (Juan Mari and Elena) Arzaks. He has connected with all manner of people working at every level and in every corner of Spain. I’m always amazed at this reach. You can step into a restaurant in the smallest town in Spain, and it turns out they know Gerry somehow. I remember one rainy night in Madrid during the 2003 Madrid Fusión congress. I wanted to go to my favorite place for patatas bravas, but Gerry had another place in mind, and I didn’t know about it. But Gerry is always right. The potatoes at his place were amazing.” - - Chef-restaurateur José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019; Chef-partner of ThinkFoodGroup and Mercado Little Spain, Hudson Yards, New York. 

Gerry Dawes received Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003.  He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish gastronomy, wine and cultural themes leads customized gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain.  He has shown Spain to many top American chefs and culinary personalities, such as Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Michael Lomonaco, Michael Chiarello, Mark Kiffin, Norman Van Aken, Ryan McIlwraith, Michael Whiteman, Rozanne Gold, and many others.

Gerry Dawes will lead an exceptional, intensive, insider’s food, wine and cultural of the Basque Country’s Atlantic food and wine regions, with an excursion into la Rioja and Navarra and on to Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante’s contrasting Mediterranean interpretations of food and wine, before ending the trip in Spain’s capital city, Madrid.

In all our travels, we will be dining in restaurants specially selected by Gerry Dawes for their authenticity, quality and uniqueness and our meals will be accompanied by wines chosen by Gerry to reflect the best aspects of each locale.  Although the emphasis will be on food and wine, there will be cultural activities and some spectacular countryside to see and photograph as well.  Participants on this trip will meet and interact with Spanish chefs and wine personalities, with whom Gerry Dawes is very well acquainted, see spectacular coastal and mountain scenery; and relax and enjoy the company and camaraderie of our fellow travelers.

About Janet Cam

Janet Cam, best known as co-proprietor of the elegant LePavillon restaurant in the nation’s capital, the first Nouvelle Cuisine restaurant in America, winner of The Wine Spectator’s grand award, included in Who’s Who in America’s Restaurants.  Paired with Chef Yannick Cam’s dazzling gastronomic abilities, the restaurant became one of the few dining experiences comparable to a Michelin three star restaurant in Paris.

Lutèce, the legendary French restaurant was in need of revamping and revitalization following the retirement of the former owners, Simone and André Soltner. The dining rooms were renovated with renowned architect Hugh Hardy, the wine cellar expanded, and new as well as old customers of the New York landmark saw it come to life again under Janet’s direction.

Janet Cam has appeared in W, GQ, The New York Times, Washingtonian Magazine, Washington Woman, Food Arts, Washington Post and numerous other publications, as well as Television appearances on CBS, PBS and others. 

Born and educated in California, Janet Cam holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles and UCLA Professional Degree in Fashion Design. Ms. Cam has served on the board of American Institute of Wine & Food and Les Dames d’Escoffier (Washington, DC).

Gerry Dawes & Janet Cam A Taste of Spain Tour 2020 

Itinerary (All photographs by Gerry Dawes©2020)



(B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, T=Tapas, D=Dinner)
   
Day 00 Wednesday, June 17 U.S. to Madrid

Each traveler or group of travelers will arrange their air transportation from their departure city to Madrid, Spain.  Many airlines such as American or Iberia have special pricing to cities in Spain via Madrid.  Flights should be booked U.S. to Madrid and return from Madrid to U.S. 

Terminal IV, Madrid Airport.

Day 01 Thursday, June 18 Madrid (T, D)

For early arrivals or those who arrive the night before*, the morning will be free to enjoy Madrid, visit museums, shop, etc.  (For day before arrivals, please inquire about hotel arrangements.)

We will meet in our hotel by 2 p.m. and where we will have an orientation session and family style tapas luncheon nearby at a colorful, typical typical Castilian restaurant. 

The rest of the afternoon will be free to explore Madrid, shop, relax, etc. 

In the evening, Gerry Dawes will lead us through Madrid’s Literary Quarter and down into old Madrid and the Plaza Mayor and on to Cava Baja, we will have dinner at one of Madrid’s emblematic tabernas.

Hotel NH Collection Madrid Paseo del Prado (or comparable).

 Tapas and gourmet shop, Literary Quarter, Madrid.



Day 02 Friday, June 19 Madrid  (B, L, T)

Guided Tour of the Prado Museum in the morning.  Tour guide. 

After the Prado Museum, we will stroll through Retiro Park and visit a couple of the best tapas restaurants for lunch in the most vibrant area for tapas in Madrid. 

After lunch, we will have free time to visit more art museums, shop or relax and take a siesta.

In the early evening, we will walk to nearby Palacio de Cibeles, one of the most emblematic buildings in Madrid and have drinks and dinner in the sixth-floor bar & restaurant with spectacular views over Cibeles fountain and downtown Madrid.  

Optional visit to one of the top Flamenco clubs in Madrid.   

Hotel NH Collection Madrid Paseo del Prado (or comparable).


 Plaza Mayor, Madrid.


View of downtown Madrid from the Palacio de Cibeles.

Dancer at one of the top Flamenco clubs in Madrid.

Day 03 Saturday, June 20 Madrid – Roa de Duero – Burgos – La Rioja (B, L, D) 

 
Our Esteban Rivas company bus and driver. 

In the morning, in our comfortable, well-equipped bus, we will ride north through the Guadarrama Mountains to Aranda de Duero, where we will stop for a wine tasting and tapas with the winery owner and winemaker, then move on farther into the Ribera del Duero wine region. We will stop to visit a winery, then to nearby Roa de Duero, where will have lunch in a spectacular restaurant with superb views of the Ribera del Duero and have roast lamb and other Castilian specialties prepared by a musical chef who sometimes plays for his customers.

After lunch, we will ride less than an hour to the great Castilian capital of Burgos, hometown of El Cid, and take a walking tour of the historic old quarter, then ride east for an hour to La Rioja, where will check into our hotel, then visit Bodegas Lecea, a nearby charming family winery which still makes wine in cement tanks in hand-hewn underground caves. 

For dinner, in winery’s rustic dining room we will have salad, Spanish tortilla de patatas, baby lamb chops and chorizo cooked in the dining room fireplace over grape vine cuttings and enjoy the winery’s unique wines with dinner.

Hotel Parador de Turismo de Santo Domingo de la Calzada (or comparable).

 Castillo de Peñafiel, Ribera del Duero.


Roast suckling lamb, Roa de Duero.

 Gerry Dawes with a bottle of rosado at an outdoor cafe in Burgos.

 The great Gothic Cathedral of Burgos.



Meals are cooked over grapevine cuttings in the chimney at Bodegas Lecea, La Rioja.

Day 04 Sunday, June 21 La Rioja – Bilbao – San Sebastián(B, L, T)

In the morning, we will visit the Marqués de Riscal winery and Frank Gehry-designed hotel, stroll the nearby Basque walled hilltop town of LaGuardia (no vehicular traffic), then go on to Bilbao, where we will visit the Guggenheim Museum, then have lunch in a colorful sidrería, a cider-house that specializes in great steaks, salads, roasted red peppers and plenty of Rioja Alavesa tinto joven red wine and cider poured into wide-mouth glasses from bottles held high above the pourer’s head. 

After lunch, we will ride an hour to San Sebastián and check into our charming hotel next to Ondarreta beach. 

The rest of the afternoon will be free to stroll the beach and relax.  In the early evening, we will gather in our hotel lobby and stroll the Paseo de la Concha to the old quarter of San Sebastián and sample tapas in one of the area’s best pintxos bars. 

Hotel Galeria (or comparable), San Sebastián.


 Frank Gehry-designed hotel at Bodegas Marqués de Riscal, El Ciego, la Rioja Alavesa.

The dramatic walled town of Laguardia in la Rioja Alavesa.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao.


Bar de pintxos (tapas), San Sebastián.


Paseo de la Concha, San Sebastián.

 
Gintonics maestro Juanjo, Bar Dickens, San Sebastián.

Day 05 Monday, June 22 San Sebastián (B, L, D)
 
This morning will be free for strolling, relaxing, shopping and enjoying this wonderful city. At 1 p.m., we will make a short excursion via bus and a five-minute charming ferry ride to Pasaia Donibane, a beautiful, one-street Basque village where Victor Hugo lived for a year.   We will stroll the town, then have lunch at a memorable restaurant that overlooks the Pasaia estuary, where we usually see teams of Basque rowers passing by.

After lunch, we will return to the city to allow our tour members time to stroll the La Concha beach, re-visit the old quarter, shop or just relax and enjoy the charms of this unique city. 
In the evening, we will have dinner in a new restaurant headed by one of the Basque Country’s most famous chefs, Michelin three-star Chef Martín Berastegui’s new restaurant, Eme Be Garrote, then have the option of a ending our evening in a classic bar that is credited with starting the Spanish gintonic craze among great chefs, who drank them here after attending one of the legendary gastronomic conferences held in San Sebastián.

Hotel Galeria (or comparable), San Sebastián.


 Ferry to Pasajes de San Juan, a one-street seaside village where Victor Hugo once lived, near San Sebastián.

Day 06 Tuesday, June 23 San Sebastián – Getaria – Olite - Tudela (Navarra) (B, L, D)

After breakfast, we will visit the La Brecha market in San Sebastián’s old quarter, then we will take our medium-sized, maneuverable bus along some of the awesomely beautiful coastal roads west of San Sebastián and to the fishing village of Getaria, hometown of the dress designer Balenciaga, opera singer Plácido Domingo’s mother and birthplace of Juan Sebastián Elkano, the first man to complete the circumnavigation of the world (Magellan was killed in the Philippines and Elkano completed the voyage).

In Getaria, where we will visit the Balenciaga Museum and the fishing port, then have a relatively light lunch in a spectacular restaurant overlooking the port, dining on exceptional, whole, wood-grilled rodaballo (turbot), other dishes such as txangurro (the classic Basque crab dish) and baby squid, all accompanied by special wines from the restaurant’s exceptional cellar.  
Balenciaga Museo entrance fees.  

After lunch, we will ride southeast to Navarra and stop to stroll in the striking Medieval castle village of Olite, have a coffee or refreshment, then ride half an hour south to historic Tudela, the capital the Ribera de Navarra vegetable-growing district, and check in to our hotel and visit the old Jewish quarter and other sites in Tudela.  

In early evening, we drive 20 minutes northwest to visit some D. O. Navarra vineyards, then in the wine town of Corella, we will have dinner with the vineyard-and-winery owner at a superb little-known restaurant that specializes in vegetable-based dishes (a salad of cardoons and pomegranate seeds, great plump pochas beans, asparagus and foie-gras with fried artichoke hearts) from this great vegetable district in Spain.  We will also taste a lineup of white wines, exceptional  garnacha  rosados (rosés), red wines and sweet dessert wines with the winemaker.  

Hotel Cuidad de Tudela, Tudela (or comparable).

Fishing port of Getaria, hometown of Juan Sebastián Elkano, the dress designer Balenciaga and Plácido Domingo's mother.

Getaria´s famous seafood restaurants specialize in fish, like the exquisite grilled rodaballo (turbot) shown here, grilled on open grills outdoors alongside the restaurants.

 
Balenciaga Museum, Getaria.


 
Olite, a striking Medieval castle village in Navarra.

Bodegas Aliaga owner, Carlos Aliaga, Navarra.


Day 07 Wednesday, June 24 Tudela – Barcelona (B, L, D)


This morning, we will leave early from Barcelona, stopping outside Barcelona in San Sadurni d’Anoia, the Cava sparkling wine capital of Spain, where we will visit and taste with a very high-quality artisan Cava producer, then continue 45 minutes northeast to Barcelona and check into our hotel.

After checking in, we will go to in the pleasure port area of La Barceloneta and have lunch at a wonderful seafood and arroz en paella (rice dishes cooked in paella pans) restaurant with a covered aire libre outdoor terrace that looks out on to the beach at La Barceloneta.  The restaurant’s owner is a long-time friend of Gerry Dawes, so we will a very special experience.


After lunch, we will take a walking tour of the old quarters of Barcelona with George Semler, an American author who has lived in Barcelona for many years and has written extensively on his adopted city and will join us for lunch in la Barceloneta.  George says: “I normally give our guests information on architecture, history, gastronomy, random anecdotes, juicy cultural morsels…none of which sounds like a history class, I might add…Barcelona street sense…” George will also join us for lunch.


After our walking tour, we will return to our hotel to relax, before going out to dinner at a restaurant whose Michelin-starred chef is one of the top practitioners of modern Catalan cuisine.

After dinner, our group will have the option of going to one of the best cocktail bars in the city.

Hotel Duquesa de Cardona (or comparable), Barcelona.



Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.



Enric Suárez, owner of Can Majó in La Barceloneta and a long-time friend of Gerry Dawes, with one of the restaurant seafood paellas.

Touring the Old Quarters of Barcelona with George Semler, Gerry Dawes's friend for decades.


 
Dry Martini at Javier de la Muelas Dry Martini Bar, Barcelona.


 
Antoni Guadí´s Casa Mila, La Pedrera, Barcelona.

Day 08 Thursday, June 25 Barcelona (B, L, D)

In the morning, we tour a vanguardia pastry chef’s facilities, then have a jamón Ibérico de bellota cutting session with a professional ham cutter and sample these remarkable hams from pigs that feed free-range on acorns. 

By late morning, we will visit the famous la Boquería market and have a tapas lunch with Cava (Spanish Champagne) at the best market bar, Quím de la Boquería, whose owner is a maestro and very good friend of Gerry Dawes.

The rest of the afternoon will be free to explore Barcelona, shop, relax, etc.

In the evening, we will dine at a restaurant owned by Ferran Adrià’s brother, Albert, one of the world’s greatest chefs and a partner-creator of Mercado Little Spain in New York. 

Hotel Duquesa de Cardona (or comparable), Barcelona.
Quim Márquez, Quim de la Boquería, La Boquería Market, Barcelona with his costillas de ternera (veal ribs) with potatoes, Maldon salt and black Chinese garlic.


Albert Adrià, Ferran Adrià´s brother and José André’s partner in Mercado Little Spain in New York.

Day 09 Friday, June 26 Barcelona – Tarragona – La Albufera – Valencia
(B, L, T)

This morning, we will depart Barcelona and drive southwest, stopping briefly to visit Roman Tarragona, then continue to the magical Albufuera lagoon and rice fields, just a few kilometers south of Valencia.  We will visit a restaurant set in the rice fields and lend a hand in making the paellas we will have for lunch. 

After lunch, we will check into our hotel in Valencia, then we will tour some of the attractions of the city’s remarkable Ciudad de Artes y Sciencias (City of Arts & Sciences). 

In the evening, our tapas dinner will be at Casa Montaña, a marvelous bodega-restaurant founded in the 1830s and owned by one of the best restaurateurs and wine experts in Spain and is a long-time friend of Gerry Dawes. 

Hotel Valencia Palace (or comparable).


Helping to make a paella at La Matandeta in La Abufera south of Valencia.


Emiliano García, owner of the Valencia classic Bodega Casa Montaña and a long-time friend of Gerry Dawes.

Day 10 Saturday, June 27 Valencia – La Mancha – Toledo (B, L, T)

In the morning, we will visit the Mercat Central de Valencia and have the purveyors of the top spice stall there explain their wares to us.  In late morning, we will begin our journey through la Mancha to Toledo, stopping for lunch at Las Pedroñeras, the ajo morado (purple garlic capital of Spain), at a restaurant of one of the top chefs of La Mancha, before continuing through Don Quixote windmill country to the great city of Toledo, the city of El Greco and much more. 

We will check into our hotel in Toledo, then take a guided tour of the city. 

In the evening, we will have a light dinner at one of the best spots in Toledo, a tapas restaurant that in owned by the top chef in Toledo, right in front of the Cathedral. 

Hotel Boutique Adolfo Toledo (or comparable).

 
Antonio Catalan spice shop, Valencia’s Mercat Central (Central Market).

 Valencia Mercat Central, paella pans and botas (wineskins).
 
Windmills in La Mancha, Don Quixote Country.

Toledo from the estate of Chef-restaurateur Adolfo Muñoz.


Day 11 Sunday June 28 Toledo - Chinchón (B, L, D)

We will spend a relaxing Sunday morning in Toledo, visiting this monumental city with its to great restored Jewish synagogue, El Greco home with some of his best-known paintings.

At lunchtime, we take a ten-minute trip to the spectacular estate of Gerry’s chef friend Adolfo Muñoz, whom he calls fondly “The Emperor of Toledo,” because his home, winery, olive groves and catering facility has a view overlooking the city that is fit for an emperor.  We will tour the estate, the vineyards, his winery (they produce an exceptional Syrah), and his olive groves.  We will have a casual outdoor lunch at this special place on a terrace overlooking Toledo.  
 
 Santa María la Blanca, the exquisite 13th-Century former synagogue in Toledo.

El Greco home and museum, Toledo, Burial of the Conde de Orgaz.


Gerry Dawes’s chef friend Adolfo Muñoz, whom he calls fondly “The Emperor of Toledo,” because his home, winery, olive groves and catering facility has a view overlooking the city that is fit for an emperor. 


After lunch, we will ride an hour to Chinchón, one of the most magical towns in Spain.  We will stay in a charming hotel with a lovely Castilian outdoor patio, just steps from the town’s legendary porticoed, balconied, supremely romantic Plaza Mayor. 

We will stroll the town and look in some of its quaint shops, bakeries, bars and restaurants, then have our farewell dinner in a favorite restaurant, whose woman chef-owner will prepare some of her special dishes to go with the area’s unpretentious, but delicioius wines, then we can linger over snifters of the town’s famous licor de anis reminiscing about the high points of our journey.  La Balconada.

Hotel Condesa de Chinchón.

Like a page from of the 16th Century, Chinchón's legendary Plaza Mayor is one of Spain's best restored, loveliest and most romantic plazas.

Day 12, Monday, June 29 Chinchón, Madrid Airport to USA (B)

Leave Chinchón early enough for our tour members to catch their flights to the USA.


* * * * *

  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?
 


Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.
 ____________________________________________________________________________________

 Gastronomy Blogs


In 2019, again ranked in the Top 50 Gastronomy Blogs and Websites for Gastronomists & Gastronomes in 2019 by Feedspot. (Last Updated Oct 23, 2019) 

"The Best Gastronomy blogs selected from thousands of Food blogs, Culture blogs and Food Science blogs in our index using search and social metrics. We’ve carefully selected these websites because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high-quality information."  

36. Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel


 
About Gerry Dawes



My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019





Gerry Dawes is the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)



Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 






". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 


Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

 
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