María Agustina Ostiz

Regarded as Pamplona’s most modern café-bar in the 1930s and ‘40s, Baserri is now a source of innovative pintxos. Hemingway himself would have slumped contentedly over a bar-stool here between bouts of bull-running. Today, the dazzling geometry of the tiled floor and bar is reminiscent of the past, yet subtlety is the mother of invention in the kitchen. Agustina - who has worked in the highly-rated Monasterio de Rocamador in Extremadura, the Hotel Castilla Plaza in Madrid, and the legendary Juan Mari Arzak and Urepel, both hallowed haunts of San Sebastián - offers an authentic taste of the Basque region. ‘Navarra has a long tradition of pintxos and a strong gastronomic culture,’ she says, ‘so everything I make has to be of top quality. Even if the ingredients are basic, the visual aspect stimulates taste. That comes from Navarra’s strong French influence.’ This doesn’t mean Agustina is afraid of innovation, though. ‘Sometimes it’s difficult to break through the traditions - I have to push people to try out new things,’ she says. A range of aromatic oils for selective pintxo drizzling is new to the bar. ‘In the end we must dedicate time, patience and taste,’ she explains. You could say the same about savouring Baserri’s pintxos. Competition is hot between Pamplona’s bars, and the annual pintxos competition has seen Baserri carry off countless prizes.