El Bulli I have no idea?

[Chris Cognac]

So what would go into a foodie burrito from El Bulli?....Would it have foam instead of sauce?

[jhlurie]

So what would go into a foodie burrito from El Bulli?....Would it have foam instead of sauce?

Heh. Methinks someone protests their ignorance about El Bulli a bit too much. Obviously you've thought this all out.

[Janedujour]

Actually, I heard that Adria is experimenting with a burrito foam.  I don't think he's got all the kinks out yet, though.

So to speak.

How about ,

Burrito progression:

On a large round plate, eat clockwise:

Burrito water in cylinder glass(warm chicken consomme with smoky paprika dust)

Four smashed steamed pinto beans topped with tiny onion dice, red pepper flakes, with garlic sorbet dollop

Crispy fried manchego cheese round garnished with avocado and lemon mousse Eat like chips and dip

Tiny flour tortilla rolls(2) with piped in beef tartare blended with ripe olives, lime and sea salt

Texas Pete's Hot Sauce Sorbet on a spoon. Eat while viewing a picture of a Taco Bell USA

Ice Chips

Edited December 26, 2003 by Janedujour (log)

[jhlurie]

One wonders what he'd do with Tamales.

[Nick]

Actually, I heard that Adria is experimenting with a burrito foam.  I don't think he's got all the kinks out yet, though.

So to speak.

How about ,

Burrito progression:

On a large round plate, eat clockwise:

Burrito water in cylinder glass(warm chicken consomme with smoky paprika dust)

Four smashed steamed pinto beans topped with tiny onion dice, red pepper flakes, with garlic sorbet dollop

Crispy fried manchego cheese round garnished with avocado and lemon mousse Eat like chips and dip

Tiny flour tortilla rolls(2) with piped in beef tartare blended with ripe olives, lime and sea salt

Texas Pete's Hot Saucee Sorbet on a spoon. Eat while viewing a picture of a Taco Bell USA

Ice Chips

When are you opening El Bulli West?

[Janedujour]

Actually, I heard that Adria is experimenting with a burrito foam.  I don't think he's got all the kinks out yet, though.

So to speak.

How about ,

Burrito progression:

On a large round plate, eat clockwise:

Burrito water in cylinder glass(warm chicken consomme with smoky paprika dust)

Four smashed steamed pinto beans topped with tiny onion dice, red pepper flakes, with garlic sorbet dollop

Crispy fried manchego cheese round garnished with avocado and lemon mousse Eat like chips and dip

Tiny flour tortilla rolls(2) with piped in beef tartare blended with ripe olives, lime and sea salt

Texas Pete's Hot Saucee Sorbet on a spoon. Eat while viewing a picture of a Taco Bell USA

Ice Chips

When are you opening El Bulli West?

Ha ha. I love this whole way of eating. It's sounds so fun but is serious about tastes and flavors too.

I have nothing but respect for Adria and chefs like him.

I watched a show featuring Grant Achatz of Trio in Chicago and it was amazing. He keeps his staff up late after each closing to go over the next eve. menu and is also really into the "aromas" thing.

But I always think of Hawkeye from Mash who's perfectly driest martini was to drink straight gin (or vodka?) while staring at a picture of the guy who invented Vermouth!

Once I got on a "nostalgia" theme in my head and I thought of deep fried "Mike and Ike"! I wonder if you could coat them in batter?...

[Louisa Chu]

He also says that "by far, China is the most important culinary nation, and it's in constant evolution, not immobile as some believe."

Victor, where did Adria - I mean, Chef - say this? Thanks very much.

[vserna]

To the Terra web site (also saying such things as "I go a couple of times every year to McDonald's to have a burger"). It's in Spanish though...

http://www.terra.es/alimentacion/articulo/html/ali5929.htm

[bloviatrix]

Once I got on a "nostalgia" theme in my head and I thought of deep fried "Mike and Ike"! I wonder if you could coat them in batter?...

If one can deep-fry batter coated Mars bars, I see no reason why you can't do it with Mike & Ike's.

I nominate you to do an experiment and write about it.

[Nick]

I'd like to try the -

Four smashed steamed pinto beans topped with tiny onion dice, red pepper flakes, with garlic sorbet dollop

Crispy fried manchego cheese round garnished with avocado and lemon mousse Eat like chips and dip

Tiny flour tortilla rolls(2) with piped in beef tartare blended with ripe olives, lime and sea salt

[Louisa Chu]

To the Terra web site (also saying such things as "I go a couple of times every year to McDonald's to have a burger"). It's in Spanish though...

http://www.terra.es/alimentacion/articulo/html/ali5929.htm

Victor, gracias - and gives me a chance to practice reading something other than textbooks in Spanish.

[pedro]

In the same interview, Adrià says he has had "four or five magical meals" in his life, one at Michel Bras' restaurant (modern Spanish cooks should erect a monument to Bras, who was long their spiritual leader...), one of Kaiseki imperial cuisine in Japan, and "two in the United States". He doesn't say where, but I'm pretty certain one of the two was at Charlie Trotter's.

If I recall properly one of its articles that he wrote some three years ago in El País, the other magical meal he had in the Status would be at The French Laundry. And one of the 1 or 2 left, at Tetsuya Wakuda's (again, if i recall properly another of its articles).

Edited December 27, 2003 by pedro (log)

[Janedujour]

Once I got on a "nostalgia" theme in my head and I thought of deep fried "Mike and Ike"!  I wonder if you could coat them in batter?...

If one can deep-fry batter coated Mars bars, I see no reason why you can't do it with Mike & Ike's.

I nominate you to do an experiment and write about it.

How about "Good 'n Plenty" in a nest of roasted fennel?

Maybe I'll try the mike and ike with tempura batter. It'll probably just be a gooey mess!

[herbacidal]

But I always think of Hawkeye from Mash who's perfectly driest martini was to drink straight gin (or vodka?) while staring at a picture of the guy who invented Vermouth! 

Once I got on a "nostalgia" theme in my head and I thought of deep fried "Mike and Ike"!  I wonder if you could coat them in batter?...

probably could.

but to me mars bar would just taste better fried than mike and ike would, though.

[Scott]

It may be comforting to Chris to know that in the eyes of at least one prestigious journal, UK's Restaurant Magazine, El Bulli lost its place as best restaurant in the world in 2002 to The French Laundry in 2003. That'll save him a little on the airfare.

oh I don't know about the prestigious thing, if you read the rest of the top ten, ludicrous might be a better term.

[Pan]

What are the rest of the top 10?

[vserna]

The recurring theme of The French Laundry as "best restaurant in the world" never ceases to amaze me. IMHO, it reveals amazing degrees of parochialism and disinformation on the reality of the world's great restaurants.

[Pan]

Victor, have you eaten at the French Laundry and found it wanting?

Which restaurant, if any, would you consider the "best in the world"?

[vserna]

Indeed I've eaten in Yountville, otherwise I wouldn't have an opinion. I find Thomas Keller's cuisine refined and satisfactory, but hugely dependent on (very thinly disguised) classic French techniques, and as such less original and less modern than what many other chefs throughout the world (including the US) are doing today. I believe that its middling level of sheer creativity would, by itself, exclude The French Laundry from a list of 'best in the world' wannabes.

I don't have a single candidate for 'best restaurant in the world'. That's preposterous IMHO - just like a 'best wine in the world' would be. (Or 'best painter in the world' - although I personally have a weakness for Vermeer, I couldn't reasonably protest if someone else prefers Velázquez...) Too many variables, too many incomparable qualities that make such rankings absurd. Not to mention the fact that I don't even know all the Michelin three-stars in Europe. There is of course a group atop the rankings, where I would put El Bulli, Michel Bras and Arpège, but someone else would add or subtract names. I sincerely don't think The French Laundry quite has what it takes to be ranked in that lofty company. Just a notch below.

Edited December 29, 2003 by vserna (log)

[Pan]

I've never eaten at the French Laundry, but I would tend to agree that a concept of #1 in areas of life where there are no clear winners and losers (as there are in sports competitions, for example) is a bit silly.

[John Whiting]

. . . areas of life where there are no clear winners and losers (as there are in sports competitions, for example) . . .

Exactly. We now take our models of evaluation from those areas where there are indeed clear winners, such as competitive sport, law, gambling, gunfights, first-past-the-post elections and takeover bids. (The Coalition of the Willing have demonstrated to this generation that war no longer falls into that category.)

Edited December 29, 2003 by John Whiting (log)

[Bux]

That UK publication was heavily weighted towards famous restaurants rather than restaurants respected for their gastronomic heights. The jury was composed of a variety of celebrities, some chefs, some unconnected to the world of fine food. The clientele of the restaurants up for nomination as well as the prejudices of the panel seemed to play a large role in the rankings. The whole process was no more serious than the original post of this thread from a Claifornian, which supposed that El Bulli was a fit topic for the New York forum.

I've eaten at the French Laundry. It strikes me as reasonable that Ferran Adria was impressed enough with his meal to call it magical. It's also reasonable for Victor not to want to place it in the uppermost echelon of restaurants. His reasoning is sound although I've eaten in some rather uncreative restaurants where the finesse of traditional cooking is brought to such new heights that I'm inclined to have a higher regard for the chef than I have for many other chefs known for their creativity. What seems obvious to me is that it's unreasonable to rank all the restaurants in the world in numerical order. Equally obvious is that publications will continue to do so because it sells books and magazines. A restaurant is no better than what the diner can get out of the meal.

[Boris_A]

where there are indeed clear winners

In his very interesting foreword of "La cuisine, c'est beaucoup plus que des recettes", Alain Chapel tells how he didn't like the customers saying: "I'v been at Bocuse yesterday, but your menu was better" à la "Troisgros beats Chapel 1:0, Loiseau beats Bocuse 1:0." Of course, as the title says Chapel was a context adherent.

[vserna]

Actually, now that no one is watching or listening and that Alain has been dead for far too long - Bocuse could never beat him in his wildest dreams!