Tolosa

08 May 2025

Tolosa sits in the shadow of the A1 Autovia - more like a bobsleigh run than a motorway - elevated on stilts as it threads its way through the low mountains of the Basque region, connecting the capital of Vittoria-Gasteiz with San Sebastián, or Donastia if you have separatist inclinations.

It’s an elegant town like so many of the region and, like many others, this one features an alarmingly expensive, go-to eating destination: Larrabetzu has Azurmendi, Axpe has Extebarri, Getaria has Elkano (more on this later) and Tolosa has Casa Julian.

Since 1951, they have been serving an unchanged menu centred around Assados, the marbled gamy beef of dairy herds that acquires a texture and depth of flavour quite unlike other ‘steak’ after the animals spend a life grazing on the steep pasture of the surrounding hills and meadows.

The simple dining room is a soothing place, blinds at the few windows muting the blinding afternoon sunlight. The walls are white-washed and half-panelled in dark wood with one side forming an enormous wine rack. The menu is blindingly simple: a choice of vegetable to begin with then a cut, measured and priced by the Kilogram, with an ‘optional’ (everybody has it…) side of grilled red peppers in olive oil.

You are not asked how you would like it ‘done’ as they know best. So the yellowed fat is crispy on the outside and the meat raw (yes, raw) in the middle. Surprisingly, it’s all easy to cut and chew and, paired with the peppers, is a transcendental taste moment: multiple textures of the beef and the whiff of charcoal set off by the sweet, sliver of pepper with each bite. Well worth the high-speed morning dash on the thrilling N111, NA129 & 132A from Soria to make the final table at 15:00 as they don’t open in the evening other than Fridays or Saturdays and then, not for long.

It’s one thing when you notice the policemen getting younger, but when the sommelier appears to have been born this century and sometime after my kids, it’s quite another. But this one knows his stuff, and after a couple of glasses of mesmerising Rioja and an ancient local brandy, I’m struggling to think of a better meal as I float back to the hotel.

The same long-time pal and advocate for the N420 once commented when drinking a 1965 Château Rauzan-Gassies in my swimming pool at 02:00 AM (those were the days…) that good wine has a similar effect as quality cannabis. His assertion is it imbues the consumer with a similar, out-of-body, perception-altering consciousness. I can’t comment on this as pot has never been my thing, but food and drink is. Casa Julian’s simple combination of both pulls off the same trick, albeit at a price, €190 for a solo lunch to be precise.