Epicurean Experiences in Spain

Madrid & Surroundings

Make your dinner in Madrid special! Owner of Michelin starred Zaranda, chef Fernando Pérez Arellano creates a special tastings menu specially for clients of Madrid & Beyond. Your dishes will be accompanied by wines selected by Fernando’s wife Itziar, who meticulously supervises the smallest details and ensures a class act beyond the kitchen. At the end of the dinner, chat with Fernando over coffee. Prepare yourselves for a sumptuous culinary experience.

A Cooking Class with a Top Gourmet Chef in Her Private Home

A Tapas Tour in Madrid

In a nutshell, tapas in Madrid means tradition, and this includes the atmosphere, not just the food. In charming small bars in the heart of Madrid’s charismatic historic area, sample all kinds of delectable tapas, washed down with choice Spanish wines. Amidst the joyous hullabaloo of the welcoming Madrileños, who better than a local resident to introduce you into the world of Spanish cuisine and tapeo? 

An Epicurean Insiders Tour of Madrid

Customized to suit your particular preferences, our local epicurean tours encompass delis, local markets, chocolate heavens, boutique wine stores with tastings, specialist cheese and olive oil stores, and can even detour to include delicious nuns homemade cakes at a hidden convent. Madrid has emerged in the last few years as a worth gastronomy center. Enjoy it with an expert guide.

Wine & Dine

We’ll book the restaurant and whilst you dine, our Madrid based wine expert, Esteban, gives an informal, relaxed and highly original insight into Spanish wines. Which wine with which dish? Best starter wines? Best dessert wines? Informative and fun on the night and, your dinner parties at home will reap the rewards of this experience!

Private Wine Tasting

Sample the nectar of the gods, with Spain’s finest wine educator… Daughter of a US diplomat, she has over 14 years of professional study and job experience in the wine sector, and is a member the Union Española de Catadores (Spanish Association of Wine tasters), the Circulo de Vino Matritense and of the American Society of Wine Educators. She been teaching wine classes for five years in Madrid… A fun experience, as the Madrid & Beyond team knows only too well!

Northern Spain

Private winery tours in the Rioja wine region

A customized day of winery visits that combines the tradition and family values of old historic wineries with the contemporary and innovative wine-making approach of an increasing number of Riojan winery owners. From labyrinths of underground caves excavated in the rock, home to thousands of oak barrels to avant guard wineries grabbing international headlines as much for their architectonics as for the wines… enjoy a day of fine hospitality and, of course, tastings.

A Special Gastronomy Experience in San Sebastian

Today you will explore Basque cuisine, in a venue usually closed to outsiders. Traditionally, Basques gather at sociedades gastronómicas to cook, eat, drink, sing, and socialize. These clubs have nurtured the Basque culinary tradition, resulting in the current proliferation of outstanding restaurants in and around San Sebastian. Madrid & Beyond has arranged private access to the most prestigious gastronomic society of them all. Savor an informal cooking class in a venue which few have access to.

To every resident of San Sebastian, the terms “pintxos” conjures up images of mouth watering delicacies, from simple eats to highly elaborate haute cuisine creations. With almost one hundred bas to choose from, knowing where to go and what to order only comes with experience and local knowledge. Your host for the evening has plenty of both, and together you can enjoy an evening of fine food and good company. It’s a must-do experience in San Sebastian.

A foray into the authentically Asturian world of cheese & cider

Visit a typical Asturian rural village and its cheese cave, where you will learn the basics of the maturing process of Cabrales cheese. Later, to quench the thirst, partake in the cider making process with a private visit to an apple orchard and, finally, a “llagar” a cider press, where you are treated to a hearty and typical lunch (Espicha).

The Seafood Collectors of Galicia

Witness and experience traditional methods of collecting seafood. At a spectacularly indented coastline of the Rías Baixas see at firsthand how seafood is collected by the Cofradía de Santo Tomé, during the three hours of low tide of the Ria de Arouse and later cleaned. The Cofradía consists of over 200 women and to see them working during the low tide is a reminder that old traditions still persist. One of the collectors herself will provide an insight into their working lives and how they live.

Andalucía

Private Wineries Tour in Jeréz de la Frontera.

One of our favorite epicurean excursions… Taste 30-year old wines and feast all of your senses in one of the most picturesque areas of Spain. Visit at least two prestigious wineries, including a well-known bodega which traditionally sweeps the awards each year. Experts in sherry-making will show you around. Of course, you will enjoy tastings as you go…

The World of Iberian Ham – Insiders Access

Visit the Sierra of Aracena, a mountainous area north-west of Seville where the finest hams in the world are made from the Iberian pig. Considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Spanish gastronomy, jamón iberico is a major delicacy, however very few get to experience an Insiders Visit of the best ham producers and a private visit to a farm to see how the pigs are reared… Savor a very unique experience in this fascinating insight into the world of Spanish ham.

A Culinary Experience in Sevilla

Madrid & Beyond has teamed up with one of Seville’s most prestigious chefs, who offers his services as a cookery teacher to Madrid & Beyond clients. The chef, trained in Spain and Paris, runs one of Seville’s top restaurants, where his creative Andalusian cooking has brought him accolades from around the world. This is a wonderful opportunity for “foodies” to benefit from taking a class with a true professional who is at the forefront of the revolution in Spanish cuisine, but at the same time firmly rooted in the cooking traditions of the country.

An Insiders Tapas Tour in Sevilla

Seville is possibly the best city in Spain for tapas. It is after all, the home of the tapas and has the largest number of bars per inhabitant anywhere, offering an amazing range of food. There’s something for everybody, whether it be meat, seafood, vegetables, olives, cheese etc. You name it, somebody is sure to have used it in a tapa. Tapear in Sevilla is a fun and recommendable alternative to the full-blown sit down meal and who better than a local resident and epicurean expert to host you.

Olive Oil – tradition and modernity

Old and New. See how modern and traditional olive mills produce Spain’s most important culinary ingredient. Visit a spectacular white village in Andalucia and wallow in the surroundings of an olive oil mill dating back from 1755. Whatever your culinary passions, we like to think we can satisfy the most discerning of palates! Buen provecho!

Barcelona & Surroundings

A Cooking Class in Barcelona

Enjoy a hands-on introduction to Spanish cuisine during a private cooking lesson. Your instructor is an accomplished amateur chef whose family has owned several restaurants. Start with a walking tour around the famous Boqueria market, continue with the cooking experience and finish the adventure enjoying the menu prepared in a friendly and casual atmosphere.

An Excursion to the Wine Region of Penedes

Catalunya's premiere wine region Penedes producing a range of excellent still wines ranging from delicate whites to beefy reds, as well as the flagship Cava, is less than an hour south of Barcelona. Visit the big names in the region, with visits to the vineyards and explanations of the different winemaking techniques used.  Tastings too!

Valencia and Islas Baleares

The World of Paella

Enjoy a rural experience close to Valencia and learn about the art of paella making in an 18th century farmstead, which also boasts gardens, former stables , a church and museum. In the main patio of the farmstead, discover the main steps for successful preparation of paella. Then it’s your turn and you will start to make your own paella under the supervision of the chef. Informal, fun and a great recipe to take home with you.

Gourmet Cuisine in Mallorca

A wine and art experience finishing at the chef’s table in the Michelin starred restaurant Read’s. A deluxe and customized gourmet day. Please consult for more details.