“In this house, no meat is taken for granted.
Every week we taste and screen the produce; if a piece does not approach perfection, it is not served.”
— Xabi Ruiz
Our truth
We are a small family house where volume and haste have no place.
We relentlessly seek the finest ingredients, selecting only the top 1% of beef. If it does not meet our standard of excellence, it is not served.
From our beginnings with preserves and txuleta, we have evolved towards seasonal, locally sourced cuisine where local produce, technique and embers come together.
LEGACY AND EVOLUTION
1950 —
The beginning at
Bar Montetxe
Nicolás Ruiz opened the doors of a modest house in Tolosa. In an era defined by simplicity, the offering centred on preserves, wine served in traditional earthenware jugs and meat on brown paper, laying the foundations of respect for the guest and the fire.
1960 —
The house and
the sloping grill
With the move to its current location, Nicolás and Pedro Ruiz perfected the sloping grill technique: a key innovation devised by naval blacksmiths that channels fat away to prevent smoke and protect the purity of the grilling.
Awards
and international milestones
Rigorous selection places the house among the world’s gastronomic elite:
Sol repsol
Distinción a la excelencia de nuestra propuesta.
World's 101 Best Steak
Posicionados en el Puesto nº 37 entre las mejores mecas de la carne a nivel global..
Star Wine List
Reconocimiento internacional a la curaduría y profundidad de nuestra bodega.
Today —
Fine dining and
contemporary embers
Under Xabi Ruiz’s direction, the third generation brings a distinctive personal vision to the house. Devotion to exceptional txuleta now sits alongside refined fine dining dishes, seasonal and locally sourced produce, tasting menus and a collector’s wine cellar.
FROM ORIGIN TO TABLE:
THE RITUAL IN SIX STEPS
01 OBSERVE
Studying the origin. We explore the market, analysing the shape and fat cover of mature beef in search of the top 1%.
02 IDENTIFY
The expert’s screening. We identify loins with the precise balance of fine marbling and flavour potential.
03 SELECT
Uncompromising judgement. We reject volume: if a piece does not approach excellence, we simply do not buy it.
04 AGE
Meticulous ageing. We control the ideal resting time to concentrate juices and tenderness without compromising the animal’s purity.
05 INTERPRET
Mastery of fire. After weekly tastings and trimming away the 55% loss, we adjust the cooking on our sloping grill to the heart of each piece.
06 SERVE
Truth at the table. We serve on paper tablecloths, a tribute to Tolosa’s paper mills, ensuring that mediocre meat is never served.
FROM ORIGIN TO TABLE:
THE RITUAL IN SIX STEPS
01 Observe
02 Identify
03 select
04 age
05 interpret
06 present