elBulli

temp. closed 2011, reopens 2016 as cookery lab-​expo-​eatery. best restaurant in the world years running under Ferran Adrià, home of molecular gastronomy, most influential cuisine of decade and beyond. ate here ’06, res made way in advance by local mates. 40+tapas, 4+hours and the most distance i’ve travelled to eat, ever. living in Paris at the time: 30min cab to Orly Airport, 90min flight to Barcelona, 30min cab to friend’s flat in Eixample district, 2hr drive to Girona, 90min in-​transit time. one way.

Glad I had a chance to eat at this place; hands down the most awesome dining experience in my life.

(Sadly, elBulli closed in July 2011 — this review is of my dinner there in November 2010).
This was perhaps the most interesting meal of my life. Not all of the 38 courses was memorable but the 5 – 6 that were are now indelibly a part of my psyche. I was fortunate enough to strike up an online friendship with Juli Soler, the co-​founder and Maitre’d of elBulli. He is in charge of publishing the elBulli cookbooks — and books are somewhat of an addiction for me. We exchanged a number of emails. In one I expressed sadness that I might never be able to visit elBulli for a meal since reservations are impossible to obtain (millions of requests for only 8000 seats each season). Juli replied: ‘When would you like to come?’ I was thrilled and asked for a table on my birthday. Juli quickly confirmed a reservation close to my birthday — 9 months away.
Fortunately, Coleman Andrews biography about Ferran Adrià appeared about 6 weeks before my reservation. It helped me understand the past of chef Adrià a bit better. I never knew he got his start as a cook in the Spanish navy! Also, friends in Asia heard of my good fortune of securing a reservation — and invited themselves along. No problem, they are good friends and was happy to oblige (I wonder if people have ‘sold’ spaces at their tables…).
The three of us arrived in Roses, the town closest to elBulli, the day of our reservation. We stayed at a remarkable family-​run hotel on the beach — Hotel Terraza. Clean, reasonably priced and with very well appointed rooms. We had lunch at the very cool «Rafa’s,» a small restaurant specializing in amazingly fresh fish. In the evening, we made the short drive (along an unlighted one lane road) to the beach at Caja Montjoi, where elBulli is located, with the help of my Hong Kong friend’s GPS (very helpful). We parked, and walked to the entrance, only to stop and be mesmerized by the large window looking in to elBulli’s kitchen. There a batterie of chefs and cooks were working in a spotless modern room, with Ferran Adrià looking on. The restaurant is situated in a traditional building, very nice but certainly not the elegance of, let’s say, a Parisian restaurant with 3 Michelin stars. The casual nature of the places suited me fine.
Entering, we were welcomed profusely by Juli and taken to meet Ferran Adrià. I had brought the catalogue that Juli and Ferran produced for elBulli’s appearance at Documenta 12 in 2007, the German contemporary arts festival. Ferran signed it and mentioned it was his favorite book (it has a caricature of him by Simpson’s creator, Matt Groening). Several photos were taken. We were then taken to our table in the first dining room — a room with black wooden beams and whitewashed walls. Our waiters brought us a ‘warm caipi-​mojito’ to drink and discussed wine options. Although we had a couple of bottles of excellent Spanish wine later, we opted to try Ferran’s beer — the Estrella Damm Inedit. I had read that he recommended beer with his cuisine. It did work well with the various courses we had that evening.
Then we were brought course after course of smallish things to eat: parmesan ‘porra’, ‘prawn two firings,’ ‘truffle drap’ etc. It was efficient but not rushed. Our waitstaff was very friendly and introduced each course — but we only received a menu at the end of the meal (mine was signed by Ferran). I think I would have preferred to read the menu with each course — and also learn a bit more about the molecular gastronomic technique used in making (‘cooking?’) the item. A minor thing. I thought the ‘gorgonzola globe’ to be tasty — a flash frozen globe of cheese broken at the table and sprinkled with cinnamon. Good with the beer for sure. The ‘prawn two firings’ was also very good — a shrimp that was fried on one end and cooked at the other. My favorite was the ‘tender pistachios’ — raviolis filled with pistachios and a plate next to it with pistachios that were boiled (?) but very firm in texture. The only dish that received a strong negative was the cold sea anemone with barnacles — this dish actually made one of my friends gag (laugh). Not everything might work on the fringe of cuisine…
At the end of the meal, we were brought ‘mini-​donuts’ (chocolate, very tasty), honey ravioli with truffled sugar cane, strawberries carpaccio, and the huge and wildly popular (at our table at least) ‘box.’ The ‘box’ has several levels with drawers offering chocolates of various types to have with espresso. The bill arrived — and I found it quite reasonable for the experience.
Having the opportunity to eat at a restaurant that ultimately has changed the way we look at food was one of the highlights of my life. Meeting Juli and Ferran — two guys who invented a new cuisine (Ferran dislikes the term ‘molecular gastronomy’) — was an amazing event. I thank Juli for his kindness. Truly a 5 star Unilocal experience.

The dining experience of a lifetime.
First of all, I was lucky enough to receive a canceled reservation during the three months I lived in Barcelona. Secondly, the date and time I was granted coincided with a close friend visiting who is also a foodie. El Bulli was truly meant to be.
El Bulli begins with a taxi drive along a dark and windy sea cliff road that leads you to the restaurant overlooking a small cove on the Mediterranean. Majestic. We arrived early only to find out that even the gate to the parking lot does not open until 7:30 p.m.
At 7:30 precisely, we were led down the drive and into the restaurant. We were given a host who led use through the kitchen to see the 40-​plus chefs at work and then shook hands with Ferran Adrià himself! We took pictures too and he was extremely nice!
Our dinner last over four hours as we enjoyed six different servers, 43 plates of experiments, and a lavish dessert box filled with at least 75 chocolates — the box even had drawers! Each item served included directions from our server on how to best eat it — from «Eat it now» to «Take only two bites» to «Smell the truffle bag first, then eat the food, then smell the truffle bag again.» The frozen bloody mary piece was my favorite of all the tries.
We were treated like royalty (you feel like it too with the exclusivity of the restaurant and how only 2,000 people dine a year out of 8 million attempts) and left staring out the back window of the taxi asking ourselves, «Did tonight really happen?»

The Bulli is a lifetime religious experience. Lucky enough I’ve been more than once … I do prefer the unique gambas palamos for everyday … But if u can make it to el Bulli; do
It.

Visited in 2010 for dinner. Décor has a rustic bent but filled with elegantly dressed folks. The drive up is treacherous enough. I didn’t drink and thankfully so since I feel I had a good enough chance of veering off a cliff into the water sober.
Once there, dinner was served outside. Was soon brought inside taking a quick run through the kitchen to shake hands with Ferran Adria on the way in. He looked a little tired.
The food is tough to describe. You will either get it or you won’t. But it is very interesting and keeps you on your toes. What you see is never what you get here. Some were duds but that’s inevitable when you really push the boundaries of how food is manipulated. The final chocolate/​dessert box was almost unfair. I was stuffed and had a huge box of chocolates in front of me with freedom to take however much I wanted. I should have purged and binged. But then again, a $ 410 meal should remain in my bowels for as long as possible so I reconsidered. I had at least one piece of every variety. There were almost 20 different types, probably 5 – 10 pieces each. Do the math.
After 4 hrs or so, it was time to go. Was given a softcover of their book («A Day at elBulli») on the way out with copies of our menu. Can’t read Spanish but I only look at pictures anyway. Too bad the book doesn’t taste like the food (or so I have heard… Ahem…)
The restaurant is to close after this year. It has been well-​hyped and I got caught up in it. I was lucky enough to score a reservation. I have tried minibar in DC and see the resemblance and influence of elBulli (Jose Andres is a direct protégé of Adria). But minibar is not quite the same nor «daring». The final conclusion is that it was a culinary experience that is very different from what I have ever had in the past and will likely have for a long time.

Simply put, the greatest restaurant in the world. Certainly a candidate for the greatest restaurant ever. Situated on the Costa Brava, elBulli is considered the home of molecular gastronomy. Chefs like Heston Blumenthal or Grant Achatz… very talented men in their own right… owe much to Ferran Adrià, the mastermind behind elBulli. For a basic history of the restaurant, I point you to
We spent Sunday night in Roses and had a cab deliver us to elBulli Monday afternoon. There is only one seating per day and on Mondays it’s an afternoon seating. Having done both I have to say I prefer the afternoon seating. It certainly precludes having drive the extremely narrow mountain roads back to Roses in the dark after a bottle of wine. It also seems more leisurely on a quiet afternoon.
The cab delivered us to the gate and we queued up with the rest of the fortunates knowingly about to have a spectacular experience and participate in the end of an era. Upon entrance, we were given a tour of the kitchen. Ballet mechanique. Shown to our table we marveled at the precision of the staff as they seated each diner (a total of about 50 or so patrons). (We were seated across the room from Jean Reno. He was taking photos of his plates much as we did.) I believe the staff may have outnumbered the diners. Ordering began almost immediately after wine. Here is a list of the dishes as described on the menu:
pillow like a cocktail
mojito and apple flute
almond-​fizz with amarena-​LYOnori seaweed with lemon
hibiscus and peanut
pistachio ravioli
parmesan cheese «macaron»
parmesan cheese «porra»
olive oil chip
bloody-​mary
cod fish crust
shrimps «tortilla»
prawn two firings
drunk oil caviar with olive soup
quails with carrot «escabeche»
soya matches
tiramisu
caviar cream with hazelnut caviar
liquid hazelnut «porra»
only truffle
truffle cake
endive in papillote 50%
foie cake
Saint-​Felicien blini
steamed eels
lule «ceviche» and mollusk
Oaxaca taco
«gazpacho» and «ajo blanco»
tomatoe tartar
hare buñuelo
game meat cappuccino
woodcock with guanbana
blackberries risotto with game meat sauce
hare ravioli with «boloñesa» and blood
wild strawberries with hare soup
mimetic chestnuts
pandnag ice cream with coconut water
sugar cube with tea and lime
flowersnem
mini-​donuts
frozen sake
box.
Now…41^st course, «the box» is a lacquer box containing maybe a hundred gorgeous chocolates. It’s sadistic to offer this at the end of forty courses where the normal diner is overstuffed. Nonetheless, we did make a feeble attempt.
There was no single dish as iconic as «the olive.» Comparing it to my visit in 2006 is hard. The first visit is all about astonishment. The second is trying to appreciate and take it all in with appreciation outweighing surprise.
Favorites? «Pillow like a cocktail» was a styrofoam-​like «hot-​dog bun» with a garish green center. Upon eating, it liquified in my mouth to create the perfect piña colada. The olive oil chip was gorgeous/​amazing/​fun. The hare blood, served in a wine glass was playful and shocking. The tomato tartar arrived at the table looking all the world like a perfect tuna tartare. We hadn’t been told it was actually tomato. On first bite I experienced the most delicious tomatoes I’ve ever tasted. It was my favorite dish. It’s always about Ferran playing with our expectations… blowing them away… toying with us… making us question exactly what food is and why we like what we like.
Anthony Bourdain dined here within a couple of days of us. He declared it the best meal of his life.
El Bulli closes this autumn. It will be talked about by generations to come.