Ezcaray
A day, or a night if you are eating seriously. Reserve ahead — the kitchens here are why people drive an hour for dinner.
The best village for eating in La Rioja, in a mountain valley that empties out completely beyond the town.
At a Glance
Ezcaray sits at 800 metres in the Sierra de la Demanda, its streets of stone and timber built around the church of Santa María la Mayor. The town holds a surprising concentration of good restaurants, and the Valdezcaray ski area starts on the slopes above it. The Oja valley road carries on up into beech woods and the Demanda peaks.
How it got here
The village grew under the protection of the monarchs of Castile who granted the town fueros or legal charters to encourage settlement in the thirteenth century. It flourished as a center of wool production and weaving through the Royal Textile Factory established under the Bourbon monarchy in the eighteenth century. This industrial period brought grand stone houses and arcaded squares to the village center. The influence of these labor guilds shaped the layout of the streets around the church of Santa María la Mayor. Today the sturdy architecture of the merchants and the proximity to the mountain passes define the village character.
Where it sits
The village sits at the head of the Oja valley where the Sierra de la Demanda rises in steep slopes of beech and oak. Cold air drains down from the high peaks of San Lorenzo throughout the year. The landscape turns to heavy snow in winter months and retains a sharp chill during summer evenings. Roads climb from the plains of La Rioja through narrow river corridors to reach the village. Cattle graze the high meadows and the valley floor remains quiet until the arrival of seasonal crowds seeking the cooler mountain climate.
What to eat and drink
The cuisine centers on the harvests of the Ebro valley and the livestock of the mountains. Rioja red wine is the staple drink paired with dishes built on local vegetables. Pochas, white beans stewed fresh in the pod, appear on tables with chorizo and peppers. Hunters provide venison and wild boar during the autumn months. Cod prepared with peppers is a standard dish brought up from the trade routes of the river valley. Sweet pastries filled with local nuts and butter finish a meal, echoing the long history of the village as a stop for travelers.
La Rioja: the whole region
One product, done better here than anywhere else in Spain: a wine region that fits inside a valley, vineyards running from the Ebro plain up into the Sierra de Cantabria, and every town on the road between Haro and Logroño involved in it.…
Minimum 3 days · better 4-5 days · deep 7 days
In La Rioja
In La Rioja
In La Rioja
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