pedro

What can I say?. Congratulations!!. (and wish me good luck)

I was last January in PL for lunch, my first and only visit there. Since I was on a business trip, I was alone. My expectations were very high, and the meat was very good, but somehow wasn't the best steak I've ever had. I know that the product itself introduces a non trivial amount of uncertainty, even when you have a well tuned selection process as Mr. Cutlets has documented. But I was wondering if the fact that I was on my own and therefore didn't order the Porterhouse, could have been the main factor affecting the result not excelling. What do you think? The rest of the meal, was very good, with that tempting whipped cream (mit schlag?) to finish...

I don't know if they do the same in their Paris shop, but here in Spain, Lavinia offers you free of charge an introductory course to wine when you join their club, which is also free. Their address in Paris is: Francia - París 3 - 5 Boulevard de la Madeleine Tel: 0033 142 972 020

You're almost right, Bux. That's the proper spelling in Spanish, but in Catalan I believe it's "espardenyes".

Well, at least Adrià himself found that limit. He wrote that during a visit to Japan one of the ultra traditional dishes there was some kind of food (could be fish?) in some state of decomposition. He tasted it, and didn't like it. Definitely, education and cultural background plays an important role here, as he concluded. I still remember the sheer amazement I experienced when confronted to my first Indian meal... a complete different set of tastes and flavors.

I knew I read that somewhere. Nice analogy. Yes, I'd say Can Fabes is the most expensive restaurant I know of in Spain. But it's worth every euro cent you pay.

Now we are chasing that elusive "essence" through the views of someone reviewing a reviewer: "My friend who went to two restaurants that Rachel Cooke disparaged, and he enjoyed both meals." Again, what does this tell us? Does it matter that Rachel Cooke is a novelist, not a restaurant critic, and that Robuchon praised Ferran Adria? I don't think so. No, I was just trying to qualify some information. I wouldn't interpret Rachel Cook's article in the same way knowing that this was her first experience in this kind of restaurant, or knowing that she's a cook who defends traditional cuisine. Just that. And now, how on earth has this evolved to discussing about the existence of the tradition of eating rabbit brain?. . Spain has lots of traditional recipes with casquería (liver, tripes, kidneys, brains, ...), lots of traditional recipes with rabbit, so it's not that shocking to use rabbit brains. I can swear it'd have looked more traditional to my grandfather than any foam or air you could have presented to him. Tocinillo de cielo is the proper name of the dessert described by Bux. I'll try not to post any other innocent question about El Bulli. Unless I'm in the mood for a storm (not necessarily a brainstorm).

Joe, I fully respect your position. I know more than one chef in Spain that also believes El Bulli is a joke. Nevertheless, I'd like to say that brains is used in some very traditional spanish dishes, where it plays the starring role. I visited El Bulli in 1999, and didn't find a disgusting dish in the whole menu. In fact, they asked beforehand if we have any problems with some ingredients, like oysters, foie, barnacles. I refused to have monkfish liver, and my wife skipped the barnacles. I suppose they continue to do that, so there's no need to have rabbit brains if you don't fancy them (although I believe that this year were serving rabbits tongues, not brains). On the whole, I wouldn't define the experience as challenging. It was very pleasant, and sometimes surprising. From all the noise I heard before, I was expecting a much more radical approach, and I found respect for the ingredients. As a summary, when possible, I prefer to form my opinion based on my own experience. So, I'll try to return to El Bulli.

Tan, I've been searching my menu with the dishes I had this summer at Can Roca, which led to a Sunday clean up/reorganization of foodie's items (business cards, menus, magazines). Unfortunately, I haven't found that menu. Nevertheless, I'll try to elaborate on Can Roca, and Roca's desserts specifically. In my visit, I'd the opportunity to exchange some words with Josep Roca, whom takes care of the dining room and the wine. He told me about the origins of the restaurant. One of the things that suprises you about Can Roca is that's not located in "downtown" Girona, but in the outskirts of this small town. Well, the reason for that, according to Josep, lies in the background of the restaurant. The parents of the Roca's brothers, moved to Girona and founded a modest "casa de comidas", now next to Can Roca. This kind of restaurant pertains to a well stablished category in Spain, which starts serving breakfast around six a.m. to workers who are leaving to their factories, serving fixed price menu to them for lunch, and some tapas and beer in the evening for the neighbours. Very hard work, if you ask. This restaurant still operates, and in fact you can find Josep Roca himself there early in the morning when his parents are on holidays. Always interested in the business, around 15 years ago, Joan Roca, the elder brother, decided to stablish by himself, founding Celler de Can Roca. Josep joined El Celler some time later, and so did the youngest brother, Jordi, who has taken charge of the pastry and desserts made at Can Roca. El Celler is a small restaurant, with a capacity of about 40 guests. They have a fairly good occupation level, even in winter, because they've not turned down local clientele raising prices unconsciously. Of course, since they achieved their first star (1999), and furthermore the second one, they attract a large number of foodies from every place. They have started a new business to take care of weddings and the alike (la Torre de Can Roca, if I remember well), which helps them in the investments they make in el Celler. For those who love wine, Can Roca's wine list is a temptation, and Josep Roca, a very knowledgeable person. What I recall about the food, is a very well executed technique, with an interesting use of fruits in many dishes (sorry, but I'd need the menu to elaborate more on that). And now, the desserts. Some of them have gained lots of appreciation here in Spain. One is the "Trip to Havana", which I haven't tasted, but I understand that is made of chocolate and a cigar plays some part in it, being even recreated in shape. Another whole dessert category, is based on decomposing the flavours of perfumes, and reconstructing them using, well, food. Trésor and Miracle from Lancôme, Eternity from Calvin Klein, Polo from Laurent, ... . They give you a small sample of the perfume to compare and play with the dish. The result, from a reproduction perspective, is amazing. Not being a fan of perfumes myself, I wasn't fully convinced of the results from the tasting point of view. And, one of the desserts that has amazed me the most, anarchy. Here, Jordi takes the usual elements of desserts (creams, vanilla and other spices, fruits), other not so usual (herbs and spices not always used in desserts) and combines them with every technique imaginable in small portions, that you see in the picture. Those portions, by themselves, will surprise you. But the idea is that as you eat them, there's no way to avoid being mixed among themselves, resulting in new combinations, almost unique to every person since they depend on the order you chose to start eating. And that was it. Well, at least, by now.

Does any of you have an opinion on how reliable Rachel cook is?. Just by chance, I've found an article from her on El Bulli, El Bulli on The Observer. It looks like she didn't enjoy her meal there.

Paul, I visited the Palafrugell shop this summer, and they sell to individuals. In fact, while I was there, the customers looked like end-customers shopping for their own consume.

There's a quite impressive wine shop in Palafrugell, Vins Grau, that's probably worth the visit. The caveat is that Palafrugell is about a 30'-45' drive from Girona. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe they have another shop in Girona.

The dessert that surprised me the most, wasn't the recreations of different perfumes (Polo from Ralph Laurent, ...), it was one called "Anarchy". Make sure you'll taste this one. If you love wine, you'll love Can Roca. Ask for Josep Roca and his advice.

Not the chef of Espaisucre? It's certainly possible, I confess that I've never been to Espai Sucre (Espai Sucre), so I can't compare Jordi Butron's dishes with the creations of Jordi Roca. Robert qualified his dinner there as "one of the worst in memory", but I believe you enjoyed your dinner. Any others?

If you're specially interestend in pastry and desserts, I would say that Jordi Roca at Can Roca is perhaps the most creative in that area.

Bux, you should be doing both.

Simon, thanks very much for your post. It makes me appreciate even more the effort of the people working in the trenches. The meals I've had at Can Fabes, rank amongst the best meals I've ever had. I'd have a hard time choosing between a meal at Can Fabes or at Berasategui. Perhaps Can Fabes is more balanced, allowing less if any space to errors, which could mean sacrificing some imagination. You really can feel a quest for perfection there. The results of the apparent simplicity of Santamaria's recipes is simply amazing. Having dined there always around summertime, and having read your description about mushrooms (and imagining game and truffles, hmmm), makes me think seriously about going there one of these weekends. Certainly, you've chosen one of the finest places in Spain to work in. I don't have enough knowledge about the cooking scene outside Spain to give you a sound advice about how to complete your cv. However, if you consider staying in Spain, I would suggest you to look to the other side of the force, and try El Bulli or Mugaritz.

Bux, I'm guessing here, but I assume the places you're referring to in Gerry's post are closer to the tapas bars in Donostia than to a more "formal" restaurant. That's why they don't usually appear in the guides you mention. As you have experienced in first person, there's a whole world outside those guides that's worth exploring. Casa Juanito, in Jerez, comes to my mind (ok, this appears in the Guía Campsa, but without any sun) as a place to have superb tapas.

As Robert says, besides El Bulli getting a table is not a daunting task in every restaurant I know of in Spain. The only obstacle that sometimes I've found is the restaurant being closed because of its holidays (since Spain is a touristic destination, restaurants usually choose a time slot during the autumn / winter months, i.e., October - February). Nevertheless, to avoid disappointment, try to secure reservations as soon as you have more or less definite plans. Regards, Pedro PS: When did you send your mail to El Bulli and how long did it take to receive an answer?

Was it on a weekend?. Never been to Las Rejas (yet), but I presume they'll have a hard time balancing service between working days and weekends.

I believe I've seen a wine on the list coming from an obscure D.O. barely known to the human race. Manchuria?!, no, wait a sec, Manchuela!!.

Having lunched today at Tras-os-Montes, a portuguese restaurant lost in a remote neighbourhood in Madrid close to where I happen to work, it's a nice coincidence to find a topic getting devoted to cod fish. Tras-os-Montes, run by Jose Alves, is almost devoted to cod fish in more than fifteen recipes. Today, I just had a red/green pepper salad, with marinated cod fish, good olive oil and some garlic (probably coming from the fried peppers), and a bacalao dorado, wich is cod fish in small crumbs with straw potatoes (relying on my dictionary here) and scrambled eggs. This is one of my favourites recipes. It also has a more than good wine list, with lots of Portos. Today I've just caught a glimpse of a bottle of Poeira, a newcomer which is getting a lot of attention and excellent critics. Hopefully I'll taste it next week, comparing it with Pintas, which shares attention and critics with Poeira. BTW, speaking of fish, cod fish ranks in the top of my favourites list.

Bux, we all knew Martin's food is excellent. We were just tryint to add some suspense to your visit there. PS: Which restaurants have you visited so far?

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to the Julián branch. I don't think Nicolás has any other joint than that of Tolosa. In fact, he commented to me that he was having problems with the neighbours and the city council, and was considering to retire vs to open a new restaurant in a new location (but this requires a lot of money to invest, so he wasn't sure if it was worth the effort).

Well, it's been five years since my previous visit to Roteta, and then it seemed to me a quite good restaurant. It's been recently demoted of its star, so I guess you're right about it. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be fair to draw a conclusion from my last visit, given the conditions around. Victor, how would you compare Nicolás vs Julián, also in Tolosa? is his restaurant in Madrid comparable to the original in Tolosa? I'm firmly determined to go to Mugaritz and Salaberria's Fagollaga next time I visit the area. PS: I couldn't go to Elkano and Kaia in Guetaria. One was closed due to a fire, and the other was fully booked when we tried to secure a reservation. We ended up in Nicolás, which was great.