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more Michelin stars per kilometer than any piece of bread, Kai explained. In the 1940s,
other city except Kyoto, Japan. But the city legend has it that a regular at a San Se-
rose from humble beginnings as a fishing bastian bar, Casa Valles, skewered pickled
village. Over the centuries, it gained popu- peppers, olives, and anchovies with a
larity with royalty, who brought culinary in- toothpick (or pintxo) to create the now
fluences from other regions of Spain and iconic “Gilda” pintxo. It was named after
France. Farm products joined fresh Rita Hayworth’s character in one of the few
seafood as culinary staples in restaurants Hollywood films to pass the censorship in
where you're just as likely to belly up to the post-Civil War Spain.
bar as dine at a white linen-topped table. After the war, the social tradition of
One of the first questions our group “txikiteo” or bar hopping with friends
posed was: "What exactly is a pintxo and boomed, fueled by pintxos. As time passed,
how is it different from traditional tapas pintxos bars offered more refined and ex-
served around Spain?" clusive pintxos - hot and cold - to their cus-
Pintxos trace their roots from tapas, tomers.
small bites served with drinks, usually on a On our tour, we found pintxos to be de-
28 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2024
