Ibai, the temple of Basque cuisine

Ibai honored as temple of Basque cooking.

A San Sebastián institution since 1983, Ibai spent decades under chef Alicio Garro as a near-mythical address for honest, product-driven Basque cooking, before closing its doors for four years. In 2024 Paulo Airaudo took up its legacy, reopening the Getaria Kalea dining room alongside chef Nicola Baron — faithful to the house's traditional repertoire of lobster salpicón, hake-cheek kokotxas and the daily catch from the market, refined with contemporary precision.

The recognition followed quickly. In November 2024 Ibai earned its first MICHELIN Star, distinguishing Airaudo as the only non-Basque chef to reach that milestone at the helm of a restaurant of such deep-rooted Basque heritage. In February 2025 the Guía Macarfi named Ibai its opening of the year, awarding the restaurant its Rookie prize.

The result is a kitchen where technique serves the product rather than overshadowing it — a quiet, deliberate evolution of one of Donostia's most cherished tables.