Overview
Sebestien Pourrat brought the Basque Country to San Francisco at Turntable in December 2021. He wants you to discover the flavors of Basque Country, the place where he grew up. Since then, he has called several cities home, spending ten years cooking in his own restaurant in the Marais District in Paris, followed by another decade in New York City at his highly lauded Cocotte. A few months ago, he traded coasts for Los Angeles where he plans to open Basqueria in 2022 while he launches a multi-channel business around Basque cuisine. In some sense, it’s the closest to home he has been in a while.
Take a map of France and place it over one of the United States and you will quickly realize that Pourrat is once again living in the south west, with the mountains, the sun, the surf and the sea to keep him company. Pourrat grew up on his grandparents farm. They raised animals, grew vegetables, and even made their own wine and Armagnac. It was ‘A-Z’ farming, and they lived completely self-sufficiently. It is that concept of building a life around food that Pourrat intends to create at Basqueria, much like he did at Cocotte.
Pourrat’s philosophy is simple: quality ingredients cooked consistently will sing on a plate accented with bold Basque flavors. “It is in my nature to work with authenticity and sincerity,” he shared. “My food is soul food. I want to connect with people in their hearts and in their bellies, not in their minds. This is not intellectual food. I want it to move you the same way your grandmother’s cooking does.”
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