Situated in the picturesque Praza da Leña, historically a hub for distributing wood for cookers and fireplaces, O Eirado has, over its twenty years of existence, independently earned distinction as an outstanding model in the culinary scene of the city of Pontevedra and the broader region of Galicia.

    At mid-morning, when opening the door of this traditional stone house, the smell of freshly baked bread, the first culinary task undertaken in the kitchen each day, wafts through the air. The dough, which uses different Galician flours, ferments for 48 hours, and is worked by the chef Iñaki Bretal himself.

    The chef leads a team in which he places his utmost trust and which he recognises as the heart that drives this project, with Raquel Fernández as sommelier. With no culinary tradition in the family, he recalls that even as a child he admired what a good and imaginative cook his mother was and how hard the day-to-day life of those who go out to sea was, as his father was a sailor. Raised between the Basque Country and Galicia, it is the Galician maritime resources that inspire him and from which he draws around 80 percent of his gastronomic proposal.

    During the week, Bretal goes several times to the fish market of Santa Uxía de Ribeira, located in the main Spanish inshore port, to choose the fish and seafood he will work with. The direct contact is fundamental for him in order to obtain a product that can be highlighted in his recipes, avoiding accompaniments that mask it, which can be tasted in the Curricán and Longline menus. An advocate of the incomparable richness that the Galician territory offers to chefs and diners alike, this chef misses not being able to have a vegetable garden next to the restaurant. However, he compensates for this absence by relying on the nearby market and some of his father's crops.

    Conversely, its central location favours the arrival of a very diverse clientèle, enriched in recent years by pilgrims travelling along the Portuguese Way. They take advantage of their stopover in Pontevedra to taste, thanks to O Eirado, the high Galician gastronomy that, as Bretal points out, is currently experiencing a well-deserved recognition.