We had some of the best meals of our lives in Barcelona but the “Menu del Dia” there is a long way from El Bulli, the so called best restaurant in the world before it closed a few years ago. It was only open six months out of the year, the other six months were spent in Barcelona creating an ever changing menu. The restaurant took reservations in January for the whole season and would not seat walk-ins even if they had an empty table so as not to set a precedent.
The German documentary, “El Bulli: Cooking in Progress,” played at the Dyden Theater last night and contrary to the blurb on the Eastman House website it was not “the next best thing to dining there.” It was better than dining there. Not that I have ever set foot in the place but how good can a meal be? The brilliant moviemakers stayed in the kitchen and capture the Spaniards finely tuned attention to detail.
Watch the staff carefully place salt crystals on delicate arrangements of tiny servings (thirty five plates in a typical meal) was thrilling. And I’m so happy they didn’t go out to the dining room. It would have deflated the intense focus. Imagine watching De Kooning paint, digging the painting and then cutting to the hedge fund manager who had enough money to buy the thing. My favorite line is Chef Ferran Adrià saying that he wanted to bewilder diners.
Leave a comment