Jon Warren
Managing Director, Founder

Seven years after one-night stopover here, Jon couldn’t get San Sebastián out of his head. Five years in London finance left him daydreaming about the beautiful town on the Bay of Biscay, and one day he bought a one-way ticket and moved to the city with nothing more than a bike bag and a suitcase.

Jon quickly got involved in the authentic food scene in San Sebastián, cutting jamón by hand, unpaid, as he looked for a real job. With only basic Spanish, his best luck came when he got a job as ‘chico de todo’ at Villa Soro, a boutique hotel. Aside from mowing the hotel lawn and carrying suitcases to rooms, he kept up his growing passion for all things local, especially the food scene and started scribbling business ideas while serving G&Ts in the hotel bar.

Before long, Jon realised that the hotel guests were more taken by his tips on where to eat than the receptionist, guidebooks or the internet. San Sebastián Food was born, which three years later is now based in the heart of San Sebastian's old town, surrounded by some of the world's best gastronomy.

Languages: Native English and Spanish.
Email: jon@sansebastianfood.com

Jenny Siddall
Experience Manager & Wine Specialist

Jenny knows and loves the world of wines. She has spent the last six years working in wineries in the heart of La Rioja, latterly working for two years at Bodegas Baigorri, famous for its modern architecture and ‘gravity-driven’ production system. She joined our team in April 2010 with a total of ten years experience giving food, wine and adventure tours across the world from Ethiopia to Cuba. You’re in good hands with an expert who has tasted thousands of bottles of Spanish wines and has a Master in Viticulture and Oenology.

Languages: Native English, Spanish, Italian, French.
Email: jenny@sansebastianfood.com

Elin Jonsson
Culinary Experiences

Elin is your best companion in a busy pintxos bar. She’s our culinary experience guide and adds her fun character and sense of humor to all she’s involved in. With a Master in Gastronomy and Tourism in her sights, a chef boyfriend, a sister with a restaurant and a love of cider houses, she’s gastro-driven. If you want to know more about Elin, just visit our Trip Advisor page.

Languages: English, Swedish, Spanish.
Email: team@sansebastianfood.com

Alex Barcenilla
Cooking Instructor and Head Chef

Alex is our gregarious cooking instructor with a warm character and 20 years experience including three years at the 3-Michelin star Akelarre in San Sebastian. Alex, who is from San Sebastian, has fantastic knowledge of traditional Basque cuisine coupled with experience at top level gastronomy making him an excellent teacher. He loves to share his passion for fresh, seasonal produce and his enthusiasm is evident from the minute you enter his kitchen.

Languages: Spanish (Accompanied by our translator).
Email: team@sansebastianfood.com

Paddy Woodworth
Cultural Expert

Paddy is our Basque cultural expert, who literally wrote the book on Basque culture, ‘The Basque Country’. He has been writing about the Basque Country since 1978, for publications ranging from the Irish Times to the International Herald Tribune and Vanity Fair, and for broadcasters including the BBC, RTE, and National Public Radio in the US. His first book, ‘Dirty War, Clean Hands’, was described by Franco biographer Paul Preston as “one of the most important books ever published about post-Franco Spain.

Languages: English, Spanish.
Email: team@sansebastianfood.com

Didac
Chauffeur

Didac is our team’s chauffeur. He’s great fun behind the wheel, and he also moonlights as one of Spain’s top snowboarders!

Languages: Spanish, Catalan, English.
Email: team@sansebastianfood.com

Marti Buckley Kilpatrick
Consultant and Culinary Experiences

Chef, journalist, and designer...Marti has her hand in all aspects of gastronomy. She helps us out with our design and other publicity concerns, as well as giving the occasional tour. She also keeps up a blog on Basque gastronomy at www.travelcookeat.com.

Languages: English, Spanish.
Email: marti@sansebastianfood.com