Spanish restaurants in Chicago are pretty rare. Also, most tend to have the same things: tapas, paella and sangria.
But a new restaurant in River North is focusing on Spain’s Basque region, where the cooking can be wildly different
The dialect is different in Northern Spain, and so is the food. Basque Country has its own traditions, drawing from both the land and the sea. So when one local couple decided to try to replicate those flavors, they went all-in.
Doug Psaltis loves the cooking from the town of San Sebastian so much – the prawns and the razor clams and the tiny boquerones – he and his wife created Asador Bastian, an ode to the food from Northern Spain, located in a historic remodeled home in River North.
“The biggest challenge is, wasn’t really the location in Chicago where we are, but it’s finding the right products,” said Psaltis.
A fun hi-low starter is churros, topped with a mound of caviar. Those boquerones, or anchovies, are shipped in then broken down, and finally, placed on bite-sized toasts.
“We de-bone them all by hand, we cure ‘em in a little white wine vinegar and some seasoning, then hold them in olive oil,” he said.
Rather than focus on cuts of beef, he sources breeds that live for at least two-and-a-half years before slaughter.
“We’re fortunate to work with great French dairy cows – Simmenthals – British ones; Holsteins that are produced here in California, and the Galiciana as well,” said Psaltis. “So we bring in all our sides of beef, mature them in-house; we take liberties from the chuleton – the classic steak of the Basque region – which is a rib steak cut about two inches thick, all of them are cooked on the bone.”
And cooked over intensely hot charcoals that could melt a radiator. But that high heat sears the aged beef, melting fat and caramelizing the crust. Don’t order these anywhere past medium.
There’s also whole fish, including Besugo, or Spotted Bream, flown in from Barcelona. Cooked over the charcoals, it’s butterflied, then topped with some Condila chiles for punch. It’s both meaty and satisfying.
Dessert is Psaltis’ wife’s department. Hsing Chen is one of the city’s most talented pastry chefs; her citrus coupe is both stunning and refreshing.
“So it’s layers of grapefruit, orange, gelee, with fresh citrus, coconut cream on top, a grapefruit granita, topped with some dehydrated clementines and lime zest. Very light, very refreshing, kind of a palate cleanser,” said Chen.
Here’s where you can go:
214 W. Erie St.
312-800-8935
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