Hear the word “Rioja” and the first thing that comes to mind is wine — high-quality, fruit-forward red wine.
But there’s another side to this small region in northeastern Spain: family-run restaurants in quiet villages atop craggy mountains or surrounded by farmland. You won’t see signs boasting Michelin stars; instead, you’ll find a constellation of flavorful, rustic dishes and extremely affordable and drinkable wine that you can rarely find outside of the region. It’s served by people who treat diners like out-of-town family friends who just happened to pop in for a three-hour lunch. Driving there is half of the fun, as roads snake through rolling, vineyard-clad hills and alongside verdant mountains.
Here are five restaurants that will give you a rich taste of La Rioja.
La Cueva del Chato
In Spanish, “chato” refers to someone with a flat nose and the chato in question here is the chef César Torrecilla, who doesn’t have a particularly flat nose. “That was my father,” he said. “I’m el chatito,” he added, using the diminutive. Located in the tiny village of Canillas de Río Tuerto (population 42), about 25 miles west of Logroño, the capital of La Rioja, the restaurant is run by Mr. Torrecilla and his wife, María Isabel Hermosilla, who works the front of the room.
I came here with my Logroño-born wife, Ivana, and her family — six of us in all — and by the end of the meal, Ms. Hermosilla had memorized our names.