Hiriartia, the old-fashioned inn that makes you feel good

We’re heading away from the coast this week! Last week, we feasted at L’Impératrice, the Biarritz spot that takes you from morning coffee right through to the evening disco. All summer long, the Basque Country Guide is taking you to discover new places, and today, the road winds its way up into the hinterland. Off to Ahetze!

Hiriartia, the old-fashioned inn that makes you feel good

In Ahetze, in a former 16th-century convent facing the pelota court, Jules Dupouy has revived the spirit of village inns. Far from the conventions of the coast, here you truly feel at home.

We gently leave the coastline without ever truly turning our backs on it. A few bends later, the hills open up and the Basque Country reveals one of its picture-postcard villages: Ahetze. Here, every third Sunday of the month, the flea market attracts lovers of objects laden with history and precious dust.

That Sunday, the square in front of the pelota court in Ahetze vibrated with joyful activity. As soon as Mass ended, the church bells had barely fallen silent when the terrace of the Hiriartia inn was already overflowing with life. Laughter rang out, conversations mingled, and glasses clinked like a familiar little symphony. Simple, sincere reunions, like those that once made the heart of villages beat, when the bar and the café were first and foremost places of connection, havens from everyday life.

Today, Jules Dupouy is reviving this spirit with panache at the Hiriartia inn, "the heart of the village" in Basque, preserving its soul as a village café, continuing the legacy of Guillaume and Ingrid. He was known in Bidart, running the Maison de l'Uhabia with his partner, and before that, behind the embers of Barbaokoa in Biarritz, where he already had a passion for cooking over a wood fire. Now, having settled in the village a year ago, the young resident is opening a new chapter within the walls of this former 16th-century convent, surrounded by Elisa, his loyal partner who has been by his side for five years.

In a very typical setting, furnished with solid wood tables and Basque furniture, the place unfolds into several distinct atmospheres : the terrace facing the pelota court, the bistro inside, and then the restaurant dining room bathed in light behind large bay windows opening onto the garden. In total, nearly a hundred seats invite guests to take a seat.

On the fronton and bistro side, the team works from Wednesday to Sunday, getting up and running at 7:30 am to welcome early risers looking for steaming coffee and pastries. Then, throughout the day, they satisfy appetites with bocadillos, ham, gildas, pâté, cream of asparagus soup, or rillettes. All these comforting and decidedly convivial products embody the spirit of the inns we love.

The restaurant is open from Thursday to Sunday, and at lunchtime, it's a popular spot for a casual bite to eat, offering a set menu of starter, main course, and dessert for €17. This is quite an achievement, as Jules remains true to his principles: he works exclusively with locally sourced produce from farmers he has collaborated with since his early days in the kitchen and with whom he has forged strong bonds of trust. This commitment is fully expressed in the restaurant itself, where the chef sometimes has to adapt and adjust his dishes mid-service, as he may only have a limited quantity of fish or meat available. Already impressive for his knowledge and technique (he makes his own gomasio and manages his own fermentations), he practices a cuisine of the moment, driven by an insatiable curiosity that leads him to explore everything, including products one wouldn't spontaneously think to work with.

This Sunday at lunchtime, in a packed dining room, we were captivated by a raw sea bream with shiso and a vegetable chili oil, followed by beef tongue coated in gribiche sauce and enhanced with grilled peppers. These are choices one wouldn't necessarily make at first, yet he manages to make them undeniably appealing. The menu often features large cuts of meat meant for sharing : veal chop, rib of beef, sea bream, which are placed in the center of the table to be enjoyed together.
We opted for a splendid oven -roasted redfish, incredibly tender, its flesh practically melting in our mouths. It was accompanied by potato pancakes, a perfect complement to the delicate flavor of the fish and the delicious cooking juices, which we eagerly mopped up with the excellent Etxe Goxoan loaf, a name that needs no introduction. A flawless meal that left us just enough room for dessert: a chocolate fondant nestled on a bed of intensely vanilla-scented crème anglaise.

A place like in the old days, far from the trendy vibe of the coast, where you can rediscover the taste for things done right. We also invite you to come and discover, at aperitif time, the terrace facing the pelota court, which will host Basque pelota matches until September.

📍 Hiriartia — 7 Place Mattin Trecu, 64210 Ahetze

➡️ Back on the coast next week with an address that smells of freshly ground coffee and good, well-sourced things.

Article written by Anaïs de Garbure & Xipirons.

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