Boise's Bar Gernika ready for Jaialdi 2010 as 20th anniversary nears

Close to celebrating its 20th anniversary, Bar Gernika, a focal gathering point for Boiseans, has something else to celebrate first: Jaialdi 2010, an International Basque cultural festival guaranteed to bring tens of thousands of people to the capital city of Idaho.

The importance of the event, however, does not faze Bar owner Jeff May. It will be his third Jaialdi and, apart from employing more people to keep things running smoothly, he will carry on doing the same things that have made Bar Gernika one of the favorite places for Basques and non-Basques on the Basque Block in downtown Boise. "The food talks for itself, we try not to mask it up so much," Jeff says in an exclusive interview for eitb.com.

Not of Basque heritage but from a lineage of chefs, Jeff undoubtedly learned all he needed to know about Basque food from Dan Ansotegui, who opened Bar Gernika in 1991. Jeff started working for Dan in 1999, taking up the Gernika mantle in 2008. For Jeff, simplicity is the secret of Bar Gernika''s success.

As Jeff explains, non-Basque people that try Basque food for the first time are amazed at how good it is, despite being so simple. "People are really figuring that you have to do a lot of complex things but all the cooking we do is very simple. We use quality ingredients and the strategy is to be as simple as we can."

Visitors from the Basque Country also enjoy the food, although they are always more difficult to impress. "Of course we are not as good as some people’s amumas," he says, using the Basque word for grandmother, who in the Basque Country are the source of wisdom behind all the homemade gastronomy.

''Croquetas'' are the people''s favorite dish, but the solomo sandwich and the lamb grander, hand in hand, are also among the most-served dishes, though not for Jeff: He prefers the spicy lamb grinder. "I like spicy food," he confesses.

Twitter

Apart from being known for its authentic Basque foods, wine and desserts, Bar Gernika is also one of a few bars and restaurants in the Boise Twitter community.

"It seems that is just the way things go. One of our customers showed us about it and we thought it was a good idea," Jeff explains, sure that Jaialdi will help him to increase exponentially the amount of followers and make new friends back in the ''Old Country''.