Joxe Mari Mitxelena and Elena Aizpurua took over this Basque classic restaurant in 2003 and built it into a dining destination in Zarautz. The menu on any given day depends on what’s in the market, and the couple emphasizes seasonal dishes that employ garden vegetables. Even basics like oven-roasted crab, for example, are served with a salad of frisée wrapped in paper-thin slices of zucchini and carrot. The fish are purchased daily at the docks of several villages along the coast, and the couple buys their nicely marbled beef by entire sides. Like so many coastal cooks, Mitxelena works with charcoal and open wood fires to cook most meat and fish. The wine cellar has an excellent selection of the bright, slightly tart local Txacolina wines made in the nearby hills.