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AlexForbes

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  1. Just had the most amazing dinner at Quique Dacosta in Denia and was very surprised not to find a topic dedicated to the place other than an ancient one that still bears the old name it had, El Poblet. How come?! Has anyone been recently? Comments??
  2. You can always count on the brothers Ferran and Albert Adrià to pull a surprising new move without doing much explaining.... 41 Grados, the funky and avant-garde "bar" which served up until recently the brothers’ Bulli-style “snacks” and iconoclast drinks, is no more. After being open for only a few months, it has ceased to exist in its original form and has quietly “morphed” into a tiny urban El-Bulli-type restaurant, which opened a few days ago (Oct 18 to be exact). This new 41 Grados is not similar to Tickets, the brothers’ contemporary “tapas bar” next door, but much more ambitious in its gastronomic explorations. Diners – a mere 14 lucky few of them – will be served a succession of 41 courses. Albert Adrià has been feverishly working on the menu for several months and is visibly excited to be going back to creating whatever wild stuff comes to his mind. He’s even designed the tableware to match the new “dishes”. Older brother Ferran being too busy touring the world as the face of giant Telefonica as well as attending to several other engagements, such as promotional events for his latest book, Albert is clearly the one running the 41 Grados show. As was customary at El Bulli, reservations for 41 Grados are only taken online, by email (experience@41grados.es). There is, however, an additional hurdle: tables are only available for even numbers of diners (no solo critics allowed, therefore): either two or four. I went there 2 nights ago and all I can say is..... BOOK NOW! Amazing.
  3. This is the end... Just had dinner at El Bulli (May 19) and felt ecstatic and sad at the same time. I made a video of my dinner, as a souvenir and an homage:
  4. Just got back from Barcelona and Spanielking the answer is YES - you need a reservation in both cases, so you can't go to Tickets and then just wanter into 41o. 41o has a street entrance but can also be accessed via Tickets but no matter: you need a booking all the same, as this is a bar where ppl are not allowed to stand, meaning only those w a booked seat are allowed in. I tasted a few bites (amazing) and a few drinks (also amazing) at 41o, then, thanks to a friend who'd snagged a rezy, moved on to Tickets for dinner. More on that as soon as I edit the photos!
  5. So Jason Atherton is opening his Pollen Street Social in London. It'll be right behind the Apple store on Regent Street, on, obviously, Pollen Street. Sounds like he's trying to do something very different than what he became known for while working for Ramsay. Does anyone have details? Seems like the opening has been delayed to mid-April, although they're taking table reservations starting March 31... Here, the location on Google Maps. And here, the chef's official website.
  6. Here is the news, in Spanish, in EL PAIS newspaper. I still don't get what caused the death. And at such a young age!
  7. I really need to find out if La Montée still offers a large variety of cheeses as it did in the beginning. I know the focus is not on cheese anymore but... has anyone eaten there recently? Can anyone tell me if they still offer a solid cheese board with at least 5 cheeses? Thanks!
  8. Ochowie, I also tried Dos Cielos, and I was also very impressed. What a restaurant! I loved that the twin chefs were both in the kitchen - they even took my order!! - and I loved that all the amazing breads are baked in-house. I went for lunch with two fellow foodies and had the tasting menu, which was faultless from beginning to end. Very interesting wine pairings, too. The full report with dish-by-dish photos is on my blog (here's the link). Although it's in Portuguese, you can just have a look at the amuses, dishes, cheese cart and breads, and it's pretty clear that the Torres brothers aren't messing about... I fully recommend Dos Cielos, despite the odd location, in a business district away from the more touristed areas.
  9. O.K., so.... I can finally say I've had dinner at El Bulli. While I was there, I almost had to pinch myself at times to make sure I wasn't dreaming! I've come away from the experience changed, in a way. That's how much it impacted me. I tried to transmit what I saw, tasted and felt during the 5-hour long dinner in a video, which I've posted on this link. I really hope it will transport you to that wondrous night, in that wondrous place. And I also spoke to Ferran at length after dinner, about the huge changes that are in the plans (last service EVER will be on July 31, 2011). I've got a video of that, too, but the chef is speaking in a mix of French and Spanish....
  10. Just had a (5-hour long!) lunch at Can Roca and all I can say is WOW WOW WOW. One of the best meals of my life. Will post a full report as soon as I have time, but for now, the dish-by-dish post is on my blog, w names and pics of all the dishes... Amazing! Can Roca report
  11. Hi Chris, the location is Paral lel (near the subway station with that same name) but I don't know the street name or anything. Albert told a common friend that they'll first open a cocktail bar, as early as Oct or Nov, and then the actual "tapas bar" in January 2011.... I was at El Bulli recently and spoke to Ferran about it and he told me he and Albert are at this very moment very busy brainstorming what they'll have on the menu, doing tests, etc. They will be more involved now, before the place opens, than afterwards, since they won't actually run the place themselves, only supervise.
  12. UPDATE! After talking to Albert Adrià himself, and also Ferran, I found out the opening has been postponed until January 2011. Their "avant-garde tapas" place will be in the Paral-lel area of Barcelona.
  13. A few hours and two dozen websites later, an "a-ha moment": e-gullet's own John Talbot has also written a few lines about Yam Tcha, posted on his site back in early 09 (meaningful in case of a new restaurant). I love his economy w words: "tea pairings (...) are delivered with a mini-lecture by Chiwah Chan, the husband of the chef – one Adeline Grattard who worked at the Aleno-era Scribe + l’Astrance under Barbot. I’d asked several friends/critics/etc if this was Asian or fusion or world food and been told it was Asian-inspired and it is." A lesson in apt summarizing!
  14. Meg, I clicked on the link to your Paris by Mouth collaborative site and.... WOW! What a genius idea, and what great content and look! Congrats! The only thing I missed was a search that would allow me simply to type in Yam Tcha... Boston, thanks for the feedback. The Hong Kong link, if I'm not mistaken, is that chef Grattard's husband is from there. Now, back to YamTcha: yes, I know it is a pain to book a table there for my own experience, as well as several Brazilian friends'. But hey, that never hurt a restaurant, right? Maybe even adds to the "I want to see this for myself" factor. Through the Paris by Mouth site I ended up finding an excellent dish-by-dish report with photos, but it's in French. here's the link.
  15. Last weekend, the last tapas were served at Barcelona’s Bar Inopia, co-owned by Albert Adrià – but he’s been too busy working on another project to mourn over the closing (the place will soon reopen under a new name, Lolita). Albert is opening with brother Ferran Adrià a restaurant, also in Barcelona. According to Pau Arenós, one of Spain’s top restaurant critics, wrote in Friday’s El Periodico newspaper: “Albert in October will cut the ribbon of the new business, in association with Ferran and the Iglesias brothers, Pedro, Borja and Juan Carlos, owners of Rías de Galicia. He says “It’s in the Paral-lel district and still does not have a name. It will measure 300 square meters and have four bars. One will serve fried foods, shellfish and ham. Another, montaditos. The third will be a parrilla and there’s also one for desserts, very important”". Arenós, always one to coin new terms, says Albert plans to devote half a year of intensive work to the “hipertapería”. Click here to read the full article, in Spanish.
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