Basque Market, Bar Gernika founder to open new 3-in-1 Boise restaurant in ‘great spot’

Dan Ansotegui knows a bit about restaurants.

As the founder of downtown Boise staples Bar Gernika and the Basque Market, he’s learned that if you want to succeed, you have to be ready to adapt. With the coronavirus changing diners’ behavior, that’s more important than ever, he figures.

So it comes as no surprise that Ansotegui’s latest venture, Ansots Basque Chorizos, won’t follow a traditional restaurant path when it opens next month at 560 W. Main St.

Part bistro, part caterer, part wholesaler, “it’s different than any restaurant that I’ve done before,” Ansotegui says.

Chorizos on the menu

He’s partnering in the project with his wife, Tamara, and daughter, Ellie. They hope to open by July 15 in the former Jenny’s Lunch Line space in the Pioneer Tent Building. “It’s a great spot,” Ansotegui says.

Drawing on years of Basque cooking experience, he’s planning to sell four versions of chorizos, along with pancetta, solomo and bacon. “We’re working with local pig farmers, so I think we’ll be buying whole pigs, and then we will break them down there at the place,” he says.

Ansots will supply local restaurants and grocers with tasty meat products, but also sell in bulk to in-store customers.

Catering also will be a primary focus. Ansotegui’s paella-making and lamb-roasting skills are near-legendary in Boise.

But the face of Ansots will be a bistro at the front of the roughly 1,300-square-foot space. It will offer a modest, tempting menu of mostly housemade Basque cuisine.

Eight small plates will anchor the menu. The Chorizo, pancetta and jamon plate will be $10. Fried calamari with spicy sauce also will be $10. Spicy bacalao croquetas — house-salted cod — will go for $8. Or get Mila’s chorizo-filled buns for $6.

Mini bocadillos, or chorizo and solomo sandwiches, will be $5 (small) or $9 (regular). Ansots also will offer two $5 salad options. And customers will be able to grab a dessert such as gateau Basque for $5.

“We’ll have beer and wine by the glass,” Ansotegui adds. “... We’re going to be doing mostly lunch and early evening.”

Ansots also will sell prepared meals for two to take home, he says.

The hours will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. But customers might adjust those to slightly later — or earlier. “We’ll have espresso,” Ansotegui explains.

Gernika ... to Txikiteo

Ansotegui opened Bar Gernika in 1991; the Basque Market followed 10 years later. He sold each of them more than a decade ago, and they continue to operate on the Basque Block. After that, he returned to teaching junior high and elementary school. Until six weeks ago, Ansotegui was the evening manager at nearby Txikiteo wine and tapas bar, which opened in 2018. “My adult life has been either teaching or restaurants,” he says.

Many Boiseans know him as a Basque musician. In 2019, he was named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow.

Ansotegui sounds excited about the latest chapter in his life — especially since the Ansots plan is a forward-thinking, hybrid approach.

“To me, you kind of need to open our focus a little bit,” he says. “... and say what role does our restaurant end of it play, what role does the catering play, what role does the wholesale production of items play? And that’s kind of where our business model is.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 3:42 PM.