Martin Beacham: something more than wine
By Olwen Mears. Martin Beacham, the Englishman behind Martin’s Bodega, the shop of unusual Rioja wines recently opened in the old part of Vitoria-Gasteiz, has been resident in the Basque capital since 1997: In twelve years he has returned to England only once.
His wife Txaro is the first to salute his integration into the Basque Country: ‘It’s been amazing to watch Martin go from being “the Englishman who came to Bilbao” to becoming a fully-fledged member of Vitoria-Gasteiz’s community,’ she says. ‘The only thing that marks him out is his accent – and his name obviously!’
Born in Bath, Martin was brought up on a farm in the South West of England. Curiously his first job also involved the delicate business of bringing a certain bottled substance to people’s tables, though it was still a long way from wine: ‘I was looking after 240 dairy cows,” he explains.
Before providing the accompaniment, for fourteen years Martin was in the business of supplying the meal, working restaurants in England and the Basque Country – as well as on the stretch of sea in-between: ‘Around 1994 I was working at Butlins in Bogner Regis when someone asked me if I’d thought of working on the ferries.’
Martin’s first venture into the Basque Country began on the ‘Pride of Bilbao’ ferry, which connects the Biscay capital with Portsmouth. He started off in the restaurants washing plates, eventually working his way up to chef. He began taking regular holidays in Vitoria-Gasteiz when he met Txaro, who is now his wife.
New pastures
Determined to make a permanent move to the Basque Country and armed only with an extensive catering CV, in 1997 Martin decided to take advantage of the ‘Pride’s’ annual three-week sabbatical and find a job, literally walking the streets of Vitoria-Gasteiz with his curriculum. His first break came when he was offered a job in the café of the city’s newly-opening Technopark in Miñano. That was followed by a stint as cook in his own local bar, something which took this Englishman into territory even more unexpected than a wine shop: ‘The manager of the bar had a Sidrería (Basque Cidery which serves a traditional menu of cod and flame-grilled beef chops or txuleta). He was looking for a chef and asked me to do it. I said “you know I’m English?”’ The manager remained adamant; ‘I said I’d give it a try!
‘I was cooking a typical Cidery menu, with quite a good response: People would say, “that txuleta’s come out nicely, who’s the chef?”’ Surprise and disbelief frequently ensued…
Martin’s wife acknowledges that ‘to be an English chef in a land of gourmets takes courage!’ Even so, following on from his success in the Cidery, Martin decided to open his own restaurant in Vitoria-Gasteiz called La Txabola: ‘I did a sort of mix of Basque-type food with some of my own stuff. It worked well, but after fourteen years in restaurants I needed a break.’
He then spent some time driving lorries around Europe – ‘Interesting, I’d never travelled much; I’ve never even been to Scotland!’ – but had to leave due to Spain’s regulated redundancy programme (implemented in times of crisis) once again leading Martin to a cross-roads…
And so to Martin’s Bodega…
Martin and his wife Txaro spend frequent breaks in Lapuebla de Labarca in La Rioja Alavesa, where over twelve years Martin has developed a passion for the town’s many lesser-known wines produced by small family-run bodegas: ‘Last year one of the bodegeros I’ve known for years asked me to act as a distributor of his wines in Vitoria. But Txaro and I had the idea of talking to the other bodegas in the area and setting up a wine shop.’ And that’s what they did.
Martin has shown purpose since his arrival in the Basque Country, perhaps because he is resolved to stay? ‘The life here is extremely better than in England,’ he says. His wife assures us, however: ‘one thing will never change – he still loves Marmite!’
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