El Bulli

El Bulli
Where: Cala Montjoi, Roses, Spain

Website: http://www.elbulli.com/

A few months ago I said that some religious restaurant experiences were months in the making, and El Bulli was definitely one of these. Something like your first formal which you talk about obsessively months before and after the actual event.

Ferran Adria's marketing machine is genius as the reservation process itself inspires fervour months before the actual event. You have a 3 day window in October every year to apply for a sitting in the following year. The restaurant is only open for 6 months between April and October (as the other 6 months is where they come up with culinary genius at a lab in Barcelona). This means that there are only 8,000 covers a season. With 800,000 hopefuls vying for those spots. The odds are tiny, but nonetheless, 10 of us sent in a letter and prayed. One by one we received polite but regretful letters informing us that we would not be dining there this year ... until ... we had a yes! Anthony won the equivalent of a Willy Wonka golden ticket and kindly chose me, Trish, Chau and Matt to be one of the lucky 5 to dine with him on April 3, 2008.

The location itself is stunning - set in Costa Brava, near Barcelona. Even in early April the sun was out and it felt like summer. The road from Roses to the restaurant had amazing views (and no barriers between you and the bottom of a cliff as a warning to those who are tempted to drive rather than take a taxi - for 25€ I know which option I'd take)

Now for the meal (drumrolls please)

Aperitifs

1. Gin fizz ["gin fizz frozen caliente"]. Described as a welcoming cocktail. The waitress added a layer to a cool gin drink from a silver canister that turned out to be an unexpectedly warm lemon foam. We were given apt advice to drink quickly, and the contrast in temperature (as well as the gin) were absolutely delicious.

2. Spherical olives ["acetunas verdes sfericas"]. These looked exactly like olives, but were in fact spherical balls with an olive skin texture surrounding olive oil that exploded into your mouth.

Snacks

3. LYO fruits ["frutas LYO"]. The texture of this dried pineapple was like Malaysian jackfruit but more aerated. It had a very intense sherbetty pineapple taste with aniseed on one side.

4. Salty catanias ["catanias salatas"]. These looked like chocolate, so we saved them for the end of our "snacks" which had all arrived at once. We were surprised to find that the walnut tasted unexpectedly salty and was surrounded by bitter cocoa.

5. Beetroot and yoghurt meringue ["merenge/profiterol de remolacha y yogur"]. This was akin to a macaroon, with sweet and sour and tart flavours. It was unexpectedly light, and had to be eaten all at once, crumbling instantly in our mouths.

6. Parmesan soufle ["soufle de parmesano"]. This will sound very un-foodie-like, but this tasted a lot like an aerated cheese twist (or Cheezel), albeit with a very intense parmesan flavour.

7. Crunchy rabbit ear ["oreja de conejo frita con hierbas secas aromaticas"]. Psychologically, and even though I've eaten rabbit before, I found this one tough. Nonetheless, it was surprisingly good - crispy and crunchy at the top of the ear, with herby rabbit meat at the bottom. Akin to a "lazy wonton" but so much more.

Mains

8. Peanut and curry bombons ["bombones de cacahuete y curri"]. These were frozen on the outside with a sprinkling of sea salt and curry powder on top, and peanut butter inside. Very smooth, but slightly overpowering.

9. Pistachios sponge cake with acid milk mousse ["bizcocho de pistachos con mousse de leche acida"]. For me, one of the low points of the meal. The pistachio was crumbly with a styrofoam-like texture. Together with the acid milk which was similar to a very light yoghurt, it made for messy eating.

10. Black sesame brioche with miso ["bizcocho de sesamo negro y miso"]. One of my two favourite dishes. Very light and fluffy, sweet with a slightly nutty taste and fascinating texture. Miso paste as the first bite made an interesting transition.

11. Flower paper ["papel de flores"]. Trish's favourite. This was really reminiscent of childhood as it was so similar to fairy floss - but the most interesting part was that each flower had a very unique flavour, some surprisingly strong. The yellow flower was like a dried pressed fruit; the orange like coriander with a lingering szechuan pepper aftertaste; the stalky red was slightly spicy; another red was tart and citrus-like and the purple one was gingery.

12. Pine tree dacqoise ["dacquoise de pino"]. Somewhat theatrical as the waiter brought a large meringue like disc to our table to carve for us. The meringue was light and pineapply and passionfruity, melting in your mouth to reveal a creamy and smooth pinenut paste.

13. Horchata truffle ["horchata / trufa"]. Our first real cutlery (with some elaborate and subtle carvings)! Horchata is a new vegetable, with a texture similar to a raw and fibrous nut. It tasted sweet, nutty and earthy and had a velvety texture which perfectly complemented the black truffle.

14. Steamed brioche with mozarella and roses perfume ["brioche al vapor de mozzarella ai perfume de rosas"]. One of my favourites. Melting mozarella inside a cheesy brioche with rosy foam on top, which Trish described as eating a bun inside a bubble bath. Absolutely delicious.

15. Haricot bean with Joselito's iberian pork fat ["judion con panceta joselito y ajo negro"]. The caramelised black garlic was very mild, and the "beans" had a glutinous texture and were surrounded by a translucent slice of ham in a broth which evoked the essence of pure bean. Our waiter recommended we eat in sequence : garlic - bean - garlic - bean - garlic . Another favourite - the milimetre-thin slice of ham was intense.

16. Caju of polenta with fermented yoghurt ["polenta de caju con yogur fermentado"]. This was an unexpected combination of a roast cashew, yoghurt, limey basil and powdered frozen cashews with a couscous-like consistency. Initially the frozen cashews didn't taste of much, but once you juxtaposed them against the actual cashew nut, you could see how similar they were.

17. Oysters yoghurt with px in tempura ["yogur de ostras con px en tempura"]. The oyster soup that tasted like "sucking juices from an oyster" but with a light and creamy finish. It was served in a very cool Riedel coffee cup with cherry wine tempura that exploded in the mouth.

18. Thai pink grapefruit risotto with coconut and white sesame ["risotto de pomelo rosa thai con coco y sesamo bianco"]. A lovely tribute to Thai flavours with a deconstructed curry and touches of cumin.

19. Tomato cous-cous with oil-olives, basil and parmesan cheese "cous-cous de domate con aceite-aceitunas a la albahac". In contrast, this was an intense tribute to Italy. The tomato cous-cous and basil ice cream were gaspingly intense, "like a bruschetta without the bread" but the most amazing part was the "water" served alongside that tasted and smelled exactly like parmesan cheese.

20. Asparagus in different cooking times ["esparragos en diferents cocciones"]. Reminiscent of poached eggs on asparagus, this was served with miniscule frozen pellets of egg yolk that melted on our plate to look surprisingly like the real thing. Each piece of asparagus had been cooked for a different length of time and matched perfectly to lemony, egg yolk, peanut sauce, white cauliflower and tuna flavours.

21. Begonia leaf with peas and almond oil ["hojas de begonia con guisantes y aceite de almendra"]. The peas were absolutely delicious on the begonia leaf. We found the artichoke chewy, and weren't overly keen on its combination with the salmon roe floss.

22. Gnocchi of polenta with coffee and safran yuba ["noquis de polenta con cafe y yuba al azafran"]. My absolute favourite dish of the evening. As it was plated, the smell of coffee hit us. Each "gnocchi" was creamy polenta surrounded by a skin and perfectly matched with 3 capers, and a saffron-covered lightly-fried egg. Absolutely *amazing*.

23. Razor clam with seaweed ["navaja con alga"]. My least favourite dish of the evening. Very ocean-briny. The different seaweeds looked just like miniature beach flotsam, the razor clams were peeled impeccably and from a presentation point of view, this was perfect. The tastes though, were too strong, and tasted just like "being dumped in the surf".

24. Sea cucumber with mentaiko and rhubarb ["espardenyes con mentaiko y ruibarbo"]. For sea cucumber, this tasted very fresh and unfishy. Similar to shellfish, with the rhubarb neutralising the sea cumcumber taste.

25. Capuchina leaf with eel and veal marrow ["noja de capuchina con anguila y tuetano de ternera"]. This had to be eaten from right to left - starting with very meaty eel with veal marrow on top, to a very minty almondy flower and finally a cucumber that somehow tasted heartburn.

26. Hare juice with apple jelly-cru with black currant marinated ["jugo de liebre con gele-cru manzana al casis"]. The leaf "looked like a leaf, smelled like a leaf, is a leaf but tasted like an oyster". I liked the play on theme here - where fruits are usually an accompaniment to meat (eg apple sauce), here the substance was an apple jelly with a meat sauce. The jelly was really interesting - you didn't expect the centre to be clear with a bright red outer layer - both had different textures. The warm hare jus was truffley and better than eating meat - very willy wonka.

Sweet

27. Hot canarejal with raspberry and kirsch ["canarejal caliente con frambuesa y kirsh"]. The foam was really bitter like "chinese medicine", but luckily, the raspberries were perfectly ripe. Tiny wasabi-like flecks tasted like licorice, and the cheese in the middle was injected onto the plate. Interesting.

28. Gorgonzola shell ["cascara de gorgonzola"]. A nice twist on the waldorf salad concept with an outer layer of frozen blue cheese that sounded like a heartbeat when you tapped it. Inside, there were celery, apple and walnuts.

29. Strawberry ["fresca"]. What a divine finish. The tomato cous-cous felt a little misplaced, but did provide a nice segue through the meal. A strawberry had been split in two, with strawberry sorbet on one side, and strawberry jelly on the other. A small mint sprig replaced the leaf - Adria really evoked the feeling of summer and a perfect strawberry with this one! The combination with an almond amaretto brioche and yoghurt cream was inspired.

30+. Coffees and petit fours. The petit fours were very nice - "raspberry ripe" chocolate, a square marshmallow chocolate on cake and caramelised ginger. But the piece de resistance was Anthony's tea. He asked if they had peppermint, and the waiter replied that he would have to check what they had. We expected them to come back with a box full of tea bags, or perhaps even loose leaf teas, but instead they came back with a box of freshly growing herbs in earth!! These were then cut fresh into boiling water to make an amazing herbal infusion. Wow.

What about the other aspects?

Decor was simple - understated but elegant. I respect that. This is a place to pay homage to food and nothing else. Despite being so unusual, the plates were not distracting and we were surprised to learn that the staff had designed the cutlery themselves! - Every detail counts.

Service was outstanding. At every sitting there are more people working than sitting there. From the very warm welcomes, detailed brochures when we enquired about the cutlery, the personal introduction to Ferran Adria - it was close impeccable (apart from one waitress who kept knocking Matt's shoulder). "

Highlights

- Being able to take before and after photos in the kitchen where you met the chef who showed you the menu, and signed it in front of you.

- Finding out that ferran was in fact a humble person.

- Having water and wine at a constant level throughout the meal.

- Being able to choose between red, green and blue/brown towels in the bathroom.

- Amazing plates and cutlery.

- Excellent service from the beginning with warm welcomes and to the end where we became autograph-hungry.

- The gorgeous coastal windy drive to get there.

- Having a fantastic table with a little window box.

- Seeing the "el bulli" sign for the first time.

- Getting a book signed by ferran adria as well as the maitre d's.

- Being one of the first there and one of the last to leave.

- Sharing all this with friends.

All in all, this was one of the most amazing eating experiences I have ever had in my life. Thanks have to go out to Anthony for writing the winning application, Trish for finding us the amazing Hotel Terazza and Matt and Chau for taking brilliant food photos which I have used on this blog.