El Bulli 2005 Dining

[Luis Gutiérrez]

Hmmmm... Three dishes featuring cheese.

[Chloroplastik]

Hmmmm... Three dishes featuring cheese.

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Well, the marshmallows and the pop corn were just to start the meal and there were together on the table with the "pistachulines de yogur" and the "arlette iberico".

The marshmallows were a kind of yogurt foam with parmesan outside. The "palomita de queso" was pop corn with a thin but crunchy net of parmesan.

The "pan de queso" was an incredibly light and aired parmesan ice with some dry raspberries, chips and nuts to put on it before eating.

As yogurt, parmesan is very used by Ferran Adria but in many different ways. And I'm french so cheese is not a problem for me even it's an italian one

Edited April 11, 2005 by Chloroplastik (log)

[docsconz]

It is interesting that the cheese Adria chooses to feature in so many ways is Parmigiano.

[Revallo]

If you have any questions on the ingrediants or procedures in any of these dishes I will try and help. I have just begun my stage at elBulli and will be here untill October. The dishes at my station that night were the ravioli de mantequilla, esparragos blancos al aceite de oliva, and sesos de cordero con erizo de uva de mar, (there are more but everyone that eats there gets a different menu, even on the same night).

Most of the dishes (about 60%) come from the pastry side of the kitchen and I am not completely familiar with all of these dishes yet.

[FoodMan]

Thank you very much for sharing. It looks very exciting, and I am glad to hear you had a great time. I actually will try -hard as that may be- not to check on this thread too much. Sort of like avoiding movie reviews of a movie that you really want to see . Maybe it is just me, but I want my experience to be as unexpected as possible next month.

Elie

[Bux]

(there are more but everyone that eats there gets a different menu, even on the same night).

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My experience, limited to two meals, is that the entire table got the same menu, with the exception of those with alergies. Has that changed, or do you mean that each table gets a different menu?

[Chloroplastik]

Hello Revallo,

Really nice to see a member of the Adria's team here.

Your dishes were among most astonishing.

Of course I want to know more about all, but first I would be pleased to have some light of one of my wife's favorite: "esparragos blancos al aceite de oliva"; and especially about the gnocchi and the orange sauce (yolk?).

(there was three sprinkles'head, each one was beside a kind of ravioli-gnocchi full of olive oil, there was also a orange sauce . We were supposed to eat the gnocchi and and the sprinkle together. The contrast of textures and their becoming in mouth were surprising, the flavours were very long and intense).

Thanks for this moment Revallo.

[Revallo]

Bux,

Yes each table gets the same menu, but if it is your first visit to elBulli you will get about 5 more courses than a table that has visited the restaurant in the past few years, Chefs and cooks will also get a few more courses. When Rafa comes in the end of the season he get about 50 courses. And we keep the fish alive untill he is at the table.

Chloroplastik,

Esparragos blancos al aceite de oliva is one of my favorites as well, The esparragos itself is arrives every two days, it is one of the most prized products in the kitchen. The gnocchi is made with the same technique as the melon caviar, (the seaweed gelatin and calcium chloride). When you eat these two together the gnocchi "pops" and releases the olive oil to mix with the egg yolk and esparragos. For me, this is a fantastic dish and it is so simple.

What did you think about the omelette surprise 2003? this week I had to go in 4 hours earlier every day to make the "yuba" it is the skin that forms on top of the milk after it is heated to 65C. Then it is filled with the yougurt foam and finished with carmilized sugar.

[merlin]

Last evening the Canadian FoodTV Network aired Anthony Bourdain's one hour show featuring Ferran Adria and El Bulli.

The credits indicated that it was completed last year but I do not know whether it has already been broadcasted in the U.S.

It began with a sampling of jamon in Barcelona continued with the chef's team at work researching in their "workshop" and then went on to dinner at El Bulli.

I was stunned. Great "theatre" and captivating dishes. Oh to have been at that table to sample what Bourdain was obviously enjoying.

I envy those of you who have already eaten at or are anticipating eating at El Bulli.

I do not mean to be crass...ok, ok I do mean to be crass ...what is the approximate cost of a meal at El Bulli? I appreciate that this falls into the likely realm of "if you have to ask, you cannot afford it" but to put the entire picture into context I would appreciate this information.

I went to the Spanish web-site and noted that they are sold out for 2005. What is the customary wait for a reservation if I were to plan to be in Barcelona and want to visit "foodie heaven"?

El Bulli must have quite the team of sommeliers to pair up wines with so many different and interesting courses.

[dipardoo]

i haven't been but i was shown a 2005 menu by someone who has been recently.

the menu is €155 which is not half as bad as i would have expected. certainly very good by comparison with a €120 five course meal i had recently at Tantris in Munich.

the wine list has wines starting at around the €20 mark. again, surprisingly good value. that €10 i paid for a bottle of water at tantris still smarts

[merlin]

Much obliged dipardoo

[Bux]

. . . .

I do not mean to be crass...ok, ok I do mean to be crass  ...what is the approximate cost of a meal at El Bulli?  I appreciate that this falls into the likely realm of "if you have to ask, you cannot afford it" but to put the entire picture into context I would appreciate this information. 

I went to the Spanish web-site and noted that they are sold out for 2005.  What is the customary wait for a reservation if I were to plan to be in Barcelona and want to visit "foodie heaven"?

El Bulli must have quite the team of sommeliers to pair up wines with so many different and interesting courses.

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As dipardoo has just mentioned, the cost is not nearly as much as one might expect. It's been rising from the super bargain price it used to be, but it's not nearly reaching what the market will bear. Part of the price of keeping the food within democratic reach is paid by the many willing unpaid stagiaires.

It's not so much a question of reserving in advance as it is reserving immediately after the lines open. The day they would begin taking reservations for the 2005 season (remember, they are only open for about six months each year -- April thru September or October) was announced in this forum, as well as other places, and within a day or two they had many more requests than they could accommodate for the whole season. It was a very rough job for Luis García who handles the task of assigning reservations. See this thread.

As far as pairing wines, I'm not sure they do a pairing if you meant pairing wines with each course. The difficulty of paring wines with this sort of meal has also been discussed before. There are just too many little courses to have a specific wine with each and, to be honest, some of the dishes are not the most wine friendly. It often seems best to enjoy a cava or sherry and perhaps move to a white and then a red you like. Courses are often so small that much of your wine will be consumed between courses.

[Bux]

Wines and restaurant prices are rising in Spain, but I don't think they've quite become what they are in France or the UK. The decline of the dollar isn't helping Americans at all however. Wines, especially in restaurants below the very top, are a real bargain in Spain.

[merlin]

Bux:

Thank you for the detailed reply.

I was not so much thinking of pairing a wine with each course but just in very general terms finding a wine ...assuming a bottle of red, a bottle of white, some sparkling over the evening...suitable given...as you have pointed out...the varying nature of the courses and some that might not be wine friendly.

The suggestion of Cava and perhaps a still wine or sherry is a good one which I would not have thought of before reading the other comments here. I know, I do have to get out of "fortress North America" and experience Spain [smile].

Seems "strange" but a welcomed phenonmenon that wine does not become the overwhelming factor in such a gastronomic experience. No question in North America a "second mortgage" would be required for the wine pairing and such a feast especially given the prices charged for the former.

Coming from Western Canada our experience with Spanish food is at best limited and unfortunately, at least partly as a result, our knowledge of sherry and its suitability similarly constrained.

Thanks again.

[Chloroplastik]

to Revallo:

Thank you for your explanation.

The gnocchi was only oil and agar-agar...but it was nearly white outside and inside...?

Omelette surprise 2003 looks really weird but in the mouth there was something very classical but the texture. It was my first "yuba"... ;)

Of course I will have more questions.

[silverbrow]

Here is a link to a review of a meal at El Bulli last week, that was printed in The Times in the UK.

[Revallo]

Chloroplastik, yes the ravioli is extra virgin olive oil with a small amount of the seaweed gelatin, not agar-agar but a different variety. The main reason it is white is because after it is put in the siphon it turns it in to more a less a foam. The tiny air bubbles that you can´t see are what make it the white opaque shade.

Edited April 27, 2005 by Revallo (log)

[tan319]

Here is a link to a review of a meal at El Bulli last week, that was printed in The Times in the UK.

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Too bad it's subscription only...

[Hector]

Here is the menu:

april 7th

-ninfa de algodon thaï

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What's a "Thai Cotton Nymph"? this sounds very interesting.. hmmm....

[Pweaver1984]

Revallo

How did you manage to secure a stage at El Bulli then?

Where were you workin before?

Is there any one from the UK in the Kitchens?

Regards

Paul

[SamanthaF]

Dinner here at the weekend was probably one of the most interesting meals of my life.

Super service and some very nice food.

I like this restaurant.

[Bux]

Dinner here at the weekend was probably one of the most interesting meals of my life.

Possibly an understatment as well.

Super service and some very nice food.

One of the remarkable things about elBulli, as I understand is currently the preferred spelling, is that for all its reputation as serving innovative and even outrageous food, (I don't think it's outrageous) it's a very professionally run three Michelin star restaurant with the polished service one should expect from the best restaurant in any country. Okay, they don't have a footstool for your handbag and they don't have a lovely young lady accompany you to the men's room and turn the door know for you. Yes most of the food is thoroughly enjoyable on all levels.

I like this restaurant.

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What's not to like.

[pam claughton]

I'm hungry, and was checking my favorite food blogs, and had to share this. If you go to this link, which as of now is the newest post on Chez Pim's blog, you can click on the photo of El Bulli and it will bring up a slideshow of photos. Amazing pictures of each fascinating dish. In a coming post she promises to describe the meal.

http://chezpim.typepad.com/blogs/2005/05/e...andy_el_bu.html

Pam

Edited May 7, 2005 by pam claughton (log)

[glossyp]

The photos are fascinating but I want to hear about the food - same as the thread on Alinea - photos but no descriptions of how the food actually tasted. Though, in truth, we have a number of reports on El Bulli food previously. I await more info from Pim as this will be the first report I've seen of this season at El Bulli.

Edited May 7, 2005 by glossyp (log)

[pam claughton]

I know, me too. I was dying of curiosity as I saw the pictures. I'm sure she'll have the info up soon, she said she'd be posting it soon. I imagine, given the amount of dishes, that it might take a bit of time to write what is sure to be a very long post.

:) Pam