For my first post, I think it is fitting to start with my thoughts on the documentary El Bulli Cooking in Progress, currently showing at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago until Feb 16, 2012.
It offers incredible insight into the now far from defunct but closed restaurant elBulli, a mainstay on numerous best restaurant lists of years past under head chef and star of the attraction, Ferran Adrià. Located in Roses, Spain in the coastal region of Costa Brava, Adria closed his restaurant for 6 months of the year to work on the menu for the next season with his culinary team (amongst them are Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch) - who to me certainly seemed to do all the hard yards. The team and staff packs up elBulli as the winter sets in and retreats to a kitchen in Barcelona to conduct experiments, all the while meticulously documenting each and every ingredient and amount. Adria pops in and out to sample the results of the day's work. Ok I am sure that he does more than pop in and out in real life. But as the documentary progresses, you cannot help but be in awe of his discerning palate as to what tastes good, out of this world or just rubbish. I really felt for the chefs as their eyes widened in anticipation of what Adrià would say. With the restaurant opening for the current season, you really see the restaurant in action. And for someone like me who never had the chance to visit the restaurant, this is a glimpse well worth the ticket price. I could not help but cringe when the waitstaff asks for the names of the dishes minutes before serving them, only to have a random name thrown at them or when Oriol rushes back from the dining room, absolutely beside himself having served up sparkling water mistakenly in one of their concoctions. Hearing him recount the traumatising experience and his bewilderment when he sees the bubbles as he pours the transparent liquid only reminds me that these people are normal people.
elBulli opened in 1964, Ferran Adrià joined in 1984 and took the restaurant to 2 then 3 Michelin stars, forged a new type of cuisine for the faithful and took gastronomy to new levels. Having closed in July 2011, this movie is one of many homages - through Feb. 3, 2013 you can visit an exhibit dedicated to Adria and elBulli in Barcelona at the Palau Robert “Ferran Adrià and elBulli. Risk, Freedom and Creativity”.
I thoroughly recommend this article in The New York Times on the contenders who cannot help but be pitted against each other to take the spotlight. I hope to read more about Santi Santamaría, who dared to challenge Adrià calling his food 'unhealthy and, far worse in Spain, dishonorable'.
I am currently dreaming about enjoying an aperitif in the beautiful garden at Sant Pau during sunset in my Karen Walker ensemble.
---
As an aside, I read a comment which I thought incredibly funny. Hopefully the tickets for the elBulli season of Next Restaurant also here in Chicago, do not go on sale during a showing of the movie as surely the whole crowd will rush out, smart phones ablazing trying to secure tickets.
No comments:
Post a Comment