El Bulli

Cala Montjoi . Ap. 30 17480 . Roses.
Girona (Spain)
www.elbulli.com

We re sitting in Carcasone, south of France in a 13th century castle when we start talking about chefs and restaurants. As per normal Ferran Adria and the infamous El Bulli come into the conversation. After some great food and a lot of talk (and the fact that we are only 150 km from the Mecca) we decide to go to El Bulli and try and get in or at the very least try and see the place.

As a chef for over 23 years I have had some food obsessions and dining at El Bulli in Rosa Spain with my source of culinary inspiration these past 8 years Adria Ferran, has been at the top of the list!

The key flaw in our idea is that we don’t have a reservation. I have tried sporadically over 8 years to get a reservation when it would be somewhat reasonable that I could be in the neighbor hood. I have ramped up my efforts the past 3 years to emailing once a month. It is rumored ( which I recently confirmed with the reservations manager) that el Bulli receives over 400,000 requests for reservations a year which is an incredible number considering they only serve about 8000 people a year.

I ve never been one to let minor details worry me so off we go to Rosa in the morning. An easy drive and we are in some of the most beautiful coast line in the world. The “Costa Brava”!It’s spectacular. After a few fake starts we finally find the right road winding up into the mountains by the coast line. Only 6 km from the town that drives like 20 we see the sign and gate. My heart drops a bit when I try to unsuccessfully gain entrance. Everything is locked and gated like a politician’s house in an unstable country! I see a few staff cars in a lower parking area by the garbage dumpster and talk Diana into sneaking in that way.

The restaurant manager seemed a bit surprised to see us in the entrance way but graciously brought us inside. I asked to see the kitchen once we were told in no uncertain terms the restaurant was booked until 2008! I had a brief tour a couple pictures, a new book and a t shirt and I was on my way. Although I had prepared myself for the inevitable I was still a bit down about it. I had a left the chef (who was away on business) a salt collection and a salt plate which made me feel good about the visit.

Not 10 minutes away the phone rang and the reservations manager asked if I could be at the restaurant at 8pm for dinner that night! Apparently the Chef Du Cuisine had looked at my Salts of the World collection and pushed to fit me in.

I couldn’t believe my luck. I was ecstatic. I spent a relaxing afternoon contemplating about what the evening had in store.

We arrive at 755 sharp. When we enter we are welcomed like old friends and the staff are almost congratulating us on our good fortune of getting the opportunity to eat there. It was a bit like winning the Chefs lotto! After a more detailed tour of the kitchen we are brought to our table where almost at once food and drinks start to appear. I count 16 courses in the first 20 minutes. El Bulli “snacks’ to be precise. All designed to stimulate our senses and prepare us for the “meal”

I have tried to detail out the meals some 33 courses with an incredible 200 individual pieces of food served in the next few paragraphs but in no way do I feel I can write it in such a way the reader will gain the true feeling of what level of perfection and creativity are offered at El Bulli!

We start with a cocktail. The cocktail is created by the chefs as well and is the only drink offered before dinner. It is prepared in a vacuum to achieve incredible tastes. It is a blend of melon, strawberry, campari and gin. The strawberries are served beside it which are now saturated with Campari flavor. The campari foam is dried into a crystalline structure a little like a very light meringue with a violet hue. It’s amazing.

Next there is an array of “snacks” served with a sudden flourish. These are an incredible array of tastes and textures. One in particular stands out; we are presented what looks like marinated olives in a mason jar. I think ok these must be really good olives. I am surprised and excited upon eating them to discover that they are infact olive liquid in a solid form (using sodium alginate in a great olive oil and bathed in a calcium chloride solution.) this is just a hint of the level of expertise present in the kitchen.

In the kitchen there are 33 cooks on the line! Only 7 of those are actual paid staff the rest are chefs signed on for “stages” for the summer!

We are served a dizzying array of hot and cold, crisp and soft, rich and fresh.

At one point we are served frozen parmesan air. A stryo cooler is presented to us in a very very cold state. Inside it looks a bit like parmesan ice-cream. When eating it it simply disappears in the mouth. It’s basically air with a mouth feel of fat in it.

For the meat course we are served a perfect “yolk” of meat reduction with bone marrow! For the poultry course a crispy deboned chickens foot!

Every piece of food, every moment in the restaurant was an example of just how good food and service can be. This restaurant is a place every young aspiring and especially cocky chefs should visit. I have traveled the world and have not seen better.

I cant wait to try it again someday soon.

Visit the el Bulli web site for more info. Do your self a favor and buy one of his books at least!

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