In Bizkaia, a txakoli was not just a wine: it was a place. Farmhouses on the outskirts of Bilbao would open their doors in spring and set tables beneath the vines. People ate whatever the garden had to offer, played bowls and mus, and drank the house wine from earthenware jugs.

There was no formality. Workers and well-off townspeople, groups of friends and Sunday families all shared the same tables. As the city grew, these places gradually disappeared, and the last of them closed around half a century ago.

Here in Portugalete, known as the villa jarrillera — a name that comes from the small jugs traditionally used to drink txakoli — we wanted to bring back that way of gathering around the table. No vines overhead and a different kind of cooking, but the same idea: eating well, taking your time, and without anyone having to dress up.