el Bulli

[tan319]

hello chef.

Thank you for doing this Q&A!

It's fascinating and informative.

My question is:

When you did your stage at el Bulli, did you cook a lot or did you observe mainly?

How long were you there for?

Thank you

I can't wait to eat at TRIO!

[chefg]

Tan319:

I stayed at el Bulli for only one week. It was an intensive week however, conversing with cooks form all over, France, Holland, US, Italy, and of course Spain. That was one very inspiring thing about the el Bulli experience, it linked so many cultrues together in the name of cuisine. We would sit and talk about food, a French guy translating Spainish to the guy from Denmark so he could tell the guy from New York what he said. Amazing sense of reverance for the food and what was being created there, everyone knew it was special.

In my case I was able to perform a large number of tasks that most short term stages would not have been able to, although that could be wrong. What I am saying is I was surprized how much they let stages do in the way of cooking. The day the started at 9 am and ended at 1 am. At the time I was there they were serving lunch as well. It was a packed day. 2 Americans were seasonal stages, meaning they planned on staying the full season. I have not heard of them in the US yet, I staged there in 2000. I hope they surface here, bringing the new cuisine with them.

[tan319]

Thanks for the reply, chef!

I wish you all the best in the future.

[Bux]

I had lunch at El Bulli in May of 2000. Driving back to Roses after lunch we picked up a young couple walking back to town. He had just eaten there and she was staging there, for what I thought was the season, but could be mistaken. They had worked together in NY and were on their way as a couple to work in Vancouver that fall. It was exciting to sense their excitement and that was our clue to how important Adria would be on this side of the Atlantic. Adria had left the kitchen by the time we finished lunch, but we spoke with the manager who told us that they looked more to NY and the US than to France for thier ideas, or at least for the inspiration to be creative. Perhaps there was a bit of professional flattery there, but I suspect there was something behind what he said.