Antonio Bar ★ 4.6
Why locals love it: Centro neighbourhood counter the Old Town queues skip, with the city's best tortilla and a canonical gilda.
Tip: Tortilla finishes by 14:30; arrive earlier on weekends.
History
The gilda was assembled in 1946 at Casa Vallés on Calle Reyes Catolicos by the Vallés family, who named the dish for Rita Hayworth's character in the 1946 Charles Vidor film of the same name, a femme fatale 'salty and slightly piquant' like the skewer itself. The first version stacked one anchovy, one olive and one guindilla pepper. Modern San Sebastian gildas now run to two anchovies and two olives, sometimes a third guindilla. The dish became the structural opener of the Basque pintxo crawl and the canonical first bite in any Donostian bar. Antonio Bar in the Centro and the gilda counters around the Old Town all build on the Valles 1946 template.
Common allergens: Fish
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 12 anchovy fillets in olive oil (Cantabrico if available)
- 12 pitted green Manzanilla olives
- 12 to 18 Ibarra guindilla peppers in vinegar
- Extra virgin olive oil (Arbequina), to drizzle
- 6 cocktail sticks
- Optional: a quartered pickled onion per skewer
Method
- Pat the anchovies and the guindilla peppers dry on kitchen paper to remove excess oil and vinegar.
- Take a cocktail stick. Thread on one folded anchovy, then one olive, then one guindilla.
- Add a second anchovy and a second olive on top; finish with another guindilla.
- Place the six gildas on a small plate. Drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil.
- Serve at room temperature with a glass of Txakoli or a cold cana.
Tip from the editors. Use Cantabrico anchovies and Ibarra guindillas; both are protected origin products and the gilda depends entirely on their quality. The dish should be assembled within an hour of serving.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat gilda
Gilda in San Sebastián
Bar Sport ★ 4.3
Bar Sport on Fermin Calbeton in San Sebastian's Old Town runs the foie-and-txipiron pintxo counter daily until midnight, the late-evening reliable for the post-cinema crowd.
Try: Foie a la plancha and txipiron stuffed with crab
Tip: Counter standing only; weekends from 11:00.
Atari Gastroteka ★ 4.4
Atari Gastroteka on Calle Mayor in San Sebastian's Old Town keeps the pintxos counter and the Txakoli pour going past midnight, with the church-step terrace as the city's late-evening hang.
Try: Pintxos and Txakoli on the church-step terrace
Tip: Counter and terrace open until 02:30 at weekends. No reservations.
More cities are in research. Want gilda covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.