The Spanish village of Garai has 340 inhabitants, is situated on the banks of the Oiz, is a 30-minute drive from the center of Bilbao and is – save to say  – not a village you drive past by chance. Until 2020, people came here for two things: a tree and a restaurant. Since then, there is a third: OAR Cottage. And if you have ever seen this one, you won't forget it, I promise. The converted farmhouse is a hamlet from the early sixteenth century, built on the remains of a medieval timber frame. Carmen Cuesta and Manu Rodríguez lived a few hundred meters away and looked out at it for years before they bought it. Today, it contains nine rooms, spread over two floors, all equally beautiful.

Manu is a contractor, and it shows: old doors he salvaged from a demolition, marble, beams, hand-shaped roof tiles, and floorboards from other centuries-old caseríos. Interior designer Fran Ugarte made lamps, cabinets, chairs, and even kitchenware from them. An old baptismal font stands in the bar area, and in the bathrooms too – a picture-perfect scene. Naturally, you go to Bibao for the food and drink (and for the Guggenheim), so OAR serves only breakfast: seasonal fruit, pastries, charcuterie, farmhouse bread, butter, and jam from chef Daniel García, who makes the jam using, among other things, the pulp left over from orange juicing. Furthermore, there is a honesty A bar with a notebook for keeping track of your own drinks and a cold menu featuring sheep's cheese from the neighboring village of Izurza, anchovies from Ondarroa, and bonito ventresca with piparras. The wine list was curated with Iratxe Azpitarte, AbOIZ's sommelier, and relies on Biscay txakoli, a slightly bubbly white wine. Oh, if you’re not in the mood for Bilbao for a moment: restaurant AbOIZ is situated on the same slope, and Asador Etxebarri is eleven kilometers away. For the latter, the house can arrange transport if desired—a welcome service after an evening at Bittor Arginzoniz.

Just a quick note about that tree people come to Garai for: that was no joke. This famous tree stands at Caserío Etxeita and is a holm oak with a crown nearly twenty meters in diameter, pruned that way by generations of the same family. Urkiola Natural Park (60 km², including the Anboto) is just around the corner. If you ask Manu for a route tip, he will quite often walk it himself.

San Miguel 6, Garai (Bizkaia). Bilbao and the airport are about a half-hour drive away, Guernica about 25 minutes. You can make a reservation here: OAR Cottage in Garai,