"I've wanted to open a Basque pintxo bar for about fucking forever," says Bissonnette, referring to venues that serve tiny snacks that pair well with drinks, often a little open-faced sandwich or something on a skewer or toothpick. He fell in love with the region, especially San Sebastián, on a trip over a decade ago-particularly the pintxo-bar-hopping culture-and has returned quite a few times since then. "When I got to the Basque [for the first time], I was like, 'Holy shit, this is where I want to live,' says Bissonnette."
Bissonnette is really pumped about anchovies. White and black anchovies on toast. Cantabrian anchovies skewered with peppers and olives. Plates of boquerones-marinated white anchovies. All the salty, savory, umami-packed anchovies you'll find at Beacon Hill's Zurito, the Basque-inspired restaurant the chef and restaurateur recently opened with his partners Andy Cartin and Babak Bina-collectively BCB3 Restaurant Group, also behind . Bissonnette's no stranger to Spanish restaurants-he's the cofounder and former co-owner of storied South End tapas bar Toro -but now, in his BCB3 era, he's penning a love letter to the pintxo bars of Spanish Basque Country.
Then, the right restaurant space became available. Zurito is located in the Charles Street nook that housed Bin 26 Enoteca for nearly 20 years, a restaurant Bina owned with his sister, Azita Bina-Seibel. She was ready to retire, so Bina posed the idea to Bissonnette and Cartin of doing something else with the space. Bissonnette felt that the neighborhood reminded him of Europe "more than most neighborhoods in Boston," with plenty of foot traffic-ideal conditions for a pintxo bar.
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