docsconz

Great shot! It looks like the cat knows it too.

Henry, to be honest we had wines by the glass offered to us by the wine steward. Although he told us what they were, I unfortunately don't remember them other than they were quite nice with the meal and not too expensive. I did this since it was a Menu Surprise and didn't know what we would be having for lunch. I didn't even look at the wine list - I know, heresy As for the restaurant being a "happening place", it filled up quickly. I know we had a great time. Our meal was a bargain. Ordering ala carte would have been much less of one.

I'm guessing early to mid-October again. Louisa? Revallo? Pedro? VSerna? Some people have photographic memories and don't need photos. Even with photos my memory still suffers They do help keep the experience focused for me and this (eGullet) is a good excuse to write down some of my impressions both to share and refer to later. One of the things so great about El Bulli is how gracious they are with picture taking and how relatively inconspicuous it is at the restaurant.

Keep it coming, Daniel. This is Food-travel porn at its best! Fresh crab may be the best thing to eat in the world. Certainly one of the best.

Context means a lot, especially with wine. It is unusual for even the same vintage of a particular wine to taste exactly the same from one time or even bottle to another. This I find especially true when tried over a larger geographical area. The most important point, I find, however, is that if everything is clicking during a particular dining experience the effect is synergistic and my pleasure in particular aspects is heightened that much more. The converse is also true. The more opportunity I have to carp, the more fault I find even with things I might otherwise praise in other circumstances.

Nice post! I agree that Per Se has no place in the comparison with those other restaurants. While I haven't yet been to minibar, that would be a natural comparison along with possibly manresa in California. These are probably the most cutting edge restaurants in the country today or at least the most successful ones. Minibar and Manresa are the two I haven't yet been to. It is no accident that they are the top two American Restaurants that I haven't yet had the pleasure of dining at that I most want to. The wine dish sounds particularly fascinating.

Ah percebes I had the good fortune of having them last year in Bilbao and then earlier this year at The Inn at Erlowest in Lake George. They are tasty morsels.

That's a good thought too. Do you know if they actually have it? While they are good for a number of Italian items, I have found them spotty in what they carry.

Great report, Adam! This reminds me very much of Sicily. There is not much better than simply prepared grilled fresh fish other than perhaps simply prepared grilled shellfish.

Have you tried DePola's in Little Italy?

Now that is great service!

Yes, thank you for the correction. I should have known better.

Try gustiamo.com.

No. I can't think of the English name, but I believe that it is a Mediterranean fish - perhaps Sea Bream?

Great pix. Molto. As many as I took I didn't get everything. What I didn't you did. Also thanks for supplying me with some of the names that I couldn't place with certainty. I see you don't have the name for the first morphing either!

Very sweet, indeed, LMF. The duck with carrots remind me of a preparation at one of my favorite local restaurants minus the cherries.

Exactly.

My Bergen County experience is by no means extensive, but I have eaten well at La Tour in Ridgewood. It is very good French food competently prepared in nice surroundings. I have to remember to bring my wine next time!

Thanks, David. One of these days I hope to take some photos and do a little tasting at Chez Vous! Actually, there wasn't any special bread with the Parmesan cream. It was a solo act. Of course therre was bread served, though none with a particular indication relating to this amuse.

A love of good food is an important thing to impart to one's children. It sounds as if he succeeded.

All five of us had the tasting menu. The courses were by no means small. The eggs had a jasmine egg nog in them. It was quite tasty. My son also tells me that the spoons contained parmesan cream and the glasses contained radish, cucumbur and yoghurt. Ah, the memory of youth

On our first full day in paris we had lunch at l’Astrance not too far from the Eiffel Tower. It was superb. We were perfectly comfortable there with our three boys including our well behaved 6y/o. He is extremely well behaved in restaurants, especially if he likes the food. Fortunaly at L’Astrance he did – very much. Actually, we all did – very much. This was undoubtedly our best meal in Paris. We had the Menu Dejeuner Surprise. It opened with an amuse of a cream on spoons that I unfortunately do not specifically remember This ws followed by what I initially thought was the avocado with crab. Instead it was a cucumbur based liquid. Good, but the party wasn’t really started yet. The next dish was my single favorite one from our Paris trip. It was langoustine with coulee de peau detomato broth and jus e roquette – Wow! Rouget with mussels andsaveurs de curry, papaye et mangue verte was excellent as well. The mussels with curry sauce was my 6y/o’s favorite. The main course was veal with zucchini flower and vegetables, also excellent. Our desserts came from the yoghurt constellation. These were legion and quite lovely. Unfortunately my photos of an exquisite fruit platter and petit fours did not come out well enough to publish. Lunch came out to a total of 405Euros including wine and drinks for the kids. All in all I would say this was well worth it. The Menu Surprise was considerably less expensive than the ala carte alternatives even though the plates all came from the ala carte menu. There was more than sufficient food for all of us.

Our dinner at El Bulli was a truly remarkable and amazing evening, starting with the weather, which was perfect. We arrived in Barcelona the afternoon prior to our reservation. That afternoon, the 27th of August was overcast and somewhat rainy. We were met by our friends at the Barcelona airport and whisked up to our hotel in Roses, the Almadraba Park. This hotel was nicely situated on the coast with a beautiful pool and beach. We spent a quiet evening at the hotel and then a beautiful day iat the home of Salvador Dali near Cadaques , The Cap de Creus and the pool and beach at the Almadraba before our 8:30 reservation at El Bulli. We arrived early to take in the beauty of the drive from Roses as well as the grounds which are truly spectacular. They have been described in detail previously by others. We checked in and were immediately offered a tour of the kitchen by Luis Garcia. While there we had the opportunity to meet Ferran Adria himself. The place was humming with a quiet intensity. I felt like a kid in a candy store. A party of six, we were led to a perfect table in an alcove set away in a corner. It sounds as if it may have been the same one that Bux described above. It was perfect for privacy as well as taking even flash photos of our meal without disturbing the other diners. Photography was not only tolerated, it seemed to be expected and almost encouraged. This sense was not from any specific statement, just that the staff appeared used to it and appeared happy to oblige my obsession. Previous reports have mentioned starting off with the El Bulli version of a margarita. We were started instead with a “Caipirinha-nitro con concentrado de estragon”. This caipirinha sorbet was simply delightful and quite refreshing on a hot day. I wish I could easily replicate it at home, but then maybe be it is better that I cannot. Rather than write out a blow by blow account, I will post photos of most of our courses. Out of all the preparations that we were served there were zero clunkers. Of course some were appreciated more than others, although only a couple were less than intensely interesting and intensely delicious. Particular highlights included the mozzarella sferica, which tasted just like the mozzarella di bufala I had freshly made in Paestum; sufle/coolant de maiz al maiz, which captured the essence of sweet corn flavor – one that is not commonly found in European cuisine; higado de rape en fondue con kumquat al sesamo, a first for me; and caracoles con necoras en escabeche y amaranto al hinojo. This dish deserves mention as my absolute favorite. The flavor of the crab and its liquid was exactly that of my all-time favorite comfort food dish – my mother’s blue crab tomato sauce. That was a dish that she used to make for my birthday as I was growing up. While I can make a version of this dish based upon her recipe, I can’t duplicate it exactly. What I make is good, but it is not hers. Well the flavor in this dish brought back a flood of memories. It was a perfect likeness of that flavor. I never expected to be able to experience that taste again, but there it was- extraordinary! The rest of the meal could have been terrible (it was most assuredly awesome), this one dish would have made the evening for me. Additional standouts included espardenyes con mentaiko y rubarbo – the espardenyes were another first for me and one I had been hoping to try for quite some time – this set the bar high for future renditions; tortola con medulla de atun, enokis y salicornia – the only non-seafood “meat” of the evening; and amongst the desserts, the marvelous “dessert del desert”. While this cuisine is somewhat difficult to pair with wine, we discovered that nothing is impossible here. Our pairings were superb. As most of our courses involved seafood, most of our wines were white. We started with a 2002 Gran Claustro Brut Nature Reserva Cava from the relatively nearby Castell de Perelada. The 2004 Pazo de Senorans albarino from the Rias Baixas was outstanding. Belondrade y Lurton 2003 verdejo from Rueda was ever reliable and the 2003 Clos d’Agon from Mas Gil in Catalunya excellent as well. Our lone red was the superb 2003 Salanques from Celler Mas Doix of the Priorato. Accompanying our desserts was the perfectly balanced syrup-like Pedro Ximenez PX Fernando de Castilla from Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla from Jerez-Manzanilla de San Lucar. The service from our principal waiter, Felix and others was absolutely impeccable. It mixed absolute attentiveness without being in the least bit stuffy. This aspect of the meal was as remarkable as any other. During dinner we had the pleasure of meeting the charming Juli Soler. After dinner I was able to return to the kitchen, where I was pleased to convey directly to Sr. Adria how astoundingly wonderful his dinner was. I was also pleased to be able to meet and speak with eGullet’s very own Revallo, who is completing his staige at the restaurant. He took me around the kitchen. The evening was culminated with an extended discussion in the kitchen with Oriol Castro . One bit of news that will be music to many an eGullet ear, is that Ferran’s stated hope for a sabbatical year after the 2006 season will not likely come to pass. As of now, it appears that the restaurant will continue its schedule as before. Another bit of interesting information is that the El Bulli team is building an additional Teller at an old monastery near my friends’ hometown of Manresa. To finish I would like to add a few thoughts on the meal. A beautiful looking or clever plate is fine, but is not sufficient to provide an outstanding restaurant experience. The food must deliver where it is not seen as well. That is both in the mouth and in the abdomen. The flavors may be intense and vivid or they may be subtle and muted, but above all they must be delicious or enjoyable. I do very much enjoy an intellectual component to my food, but I am not a masochist – especially at three star restaurant prices. The food may look like Monet, Rembrandt or Pollock put it on the plate, but if it lacks the taste and textural elements of pleasure it falls short. That being said, I don’t mind being challenged to experience new or different sensations. The amazing thing here is that they all worked on every level of enjoyment. The taste and mouthfeel of all of the dishes was at least delicious and pleasurable. A good number of them were sublime. While taste and mouthfeel are of the utmost importance to me, this combined with humor and artistic presentation makes for the ultimate in culinary enjoyment for me. The real miracle to this meal, though was that after all the food we ate, we were all comfortably full and not sickeningly bloated. The meal was choreographed by the Ballantine of chefs. I simply cannot imagine a restaurant experience to surpass this sa it was not just flawless, but incredibly creative and fun through every aspect of the meal. The full menu: Caipirinha-nitro con concentrado de estragon Aceitunas sfericas Barbapapa que se va Marshmallow de pinones Lazos de zanahoria, hierba luisispensiaoa, jengibre y regaliz Oreo de oliva negra con crema doble Macarron de parmegiano-lyo con crema de limon y fresitas-lyo Disco de mango-lyo y aceitunas negraa Melon cru/melon-lyo con hierbas frescas y almendras tiernas a la pimienta Muelle de aceite de oliva virgen Merengue seco de remolacha al kefir y caramelo Fisherman Caramelo de aceite de calabaza Papel passion al roquefort Nube de palomitas Melon con jamon 2005 Mozzarella sferica Salicornia rebozada al azafran con emulsion de ostra Almejas al te de alga Nori, al pomelo y sesamo negro Brioche al vapor Deshielo 2005 Ensala “folie” Espuma de zanahoria/lyo-Marrakesh, espumaire de avellana Nueces tiernas3, te ahumado y wasabi Pequenas torrijas de parmegiano-lyo con grasa de jamon al jugo de cebolla Papillote de tomates al mastic, estragon y sorbete de kumquat Sufle/coulant de maiz al maiz Higado de rape en fondue con kumquat al sesamo Terroso Caracoles con necoras en escabeche y amaranto al hinojo Ventresca de caballa en escabecche de pollo con cebolla Espardenyes con mentaiko y ruibarbo Tortola con medulla de atun, enokis y salicornia Marshmallow de fruta de la passion con menta fresca Liquid de melocoton Dessert del desert Morphings… Although I took a lot of photos, I had some camera battery problems and did not get good photos of all courses especially early in the meal. Around the mid portion of the meal I am having a hard time specifically naming a few courses. Any help identifying these courses will be appreciated. Some photos: Cala Montjoi Menu Kiosk With Ferran Adria in his kitchen at El Bulli Our waiter, Felix, making the caipirinha-nitro tarragon concentrate for the Caipirinha Caipirinha-nitro at the table Aceitunas Sfericas. I had several. Barbapapa que se va Eating th muelle e aceite de oliva virgen Merengue seco de remolacha al kefir y caramelo Fisherman Not the greatest photo, this is the melon con jamon 2005. We were instructed to drink it slowly, but without stopping.I have video of my son drinking this. I also have video of my wife and I eating the incredible, but otherwise here unphotographed nube de palomitas. Mozzarella sferica Salicornia rebozada al azafran con emulsion de ostra. Almejas al te de Alga Nori, al pomelo y sesamo negro Brioche al vapor Deshielo 2005 Ensalada “folie” espuma de zanahoria/lyo-Marrakesh, espumaire de avellana Nueces tiernas3, te ahumado y wasabi I can’t definitiely place this. Any help? Sufle/coulant de maiz al maiz Terroso Papillote de tomates al mastic, estragon y sorbete de kumquat. The sorbet was added to the pouch after the tomatoes were finished. A dish with its very own dessert! higado de rape en fondue con kumquat al sesamo Caracoles con necoras en escabeche y amaranto al hinojo. My favorite dish due to the incredible crab essence. Ventresca de caballa en escabeche de pollo con cebolla Espardenyes con mentaiko y ruibarbo. A very pleasant surprise indeed. I had very much been wanting to ttry espardenyes for quite some time. Tortola con medulla de atun, enokis y salicornia. Tortola is turtle dove. Marshmallow de fruta de la passion con menta fresca Liquid de melocoton Dessert el desert. Awesome! From the teppan-nittro A mock cherry dish. El toro del Bulli In the kitchen with Dana Revallo, Oriol Castro and Eduard Ltruch(sp?)

I sampled two different Ms. Gla-Gla's. I liked them both, though I found the Ispahan too sweet for me. The caramel I thought was outstanding. Curiously, I failed to get photos of them At Berthillon I was disappointed with the fraise du bois. I found it a bit too icy. The extra bitter chocolate was sensational though. The peach was ok, but too sweet.

That would be sad indeed if Abac has slipped. That last year has so far produced the best meal I have ever had in Barcelona and I have eaten well there. I was under the impression at least here on eGullet, that if anyplace has slippe it was Alkimia and not Abac. I had an excellent meal there two years ago, but can't personally offer anything more recent than that . I will have to seek out the chocolates of Enric Rovira next time I am in Barcelona. If one were able to get a lunch reservation and go to Can Roca, that would probably be the better thing to do. I do, however, love Montserrat. It is such a beautiful spot and so representaative of Catalunya, that I have a hard time arguing against it. Of course, being that we are all food obsessed that would be the downside as I don't believe there is anything special to eat right there. A fun alternative might be to take a picnic lunch there. Either way one can't go wrong.