From my once in a lifetime birthday dinner at the now closed El Bulli. The actual dinner took place April, 17th 2008, two days before my 25th birthday.
With over a million people applying yearly for only 8,000 covers a season, I felt really lucky to have experienced such an extraordinary dinner.
Without much further ado, I'll let the photos do the talking.
With over a million people applying yearly for only 8,000 covers a season, I felt really lucky to have experienced such an extraordinary dinner.
Without much further ado, I'll let the photos do the talking.
Nori-Trias
Tomato cookies. These things literally melted in my mouth releasing an intense tomato flavor.
The infamous spherical olives, it's like the flavor or olives intensified.
LYO fruits, freeze dried pineapple sticks, one of my favorite flavors of the night.
Pine kernel and chocolate bonbons.
The most unusual dish of the night for me was
the first dish after our opening nibbles, but I guess it’s a good thing
to get it out of the way. Rabbit ears. I started with the top and the
crispy ear was not too bad, tasted like fried pig skins, but the meaty
part was a little odd and unusual to me. To think I was a vegan for a
week…
Beetroot coral
“coquito” 2008 An interpretation of an eggnog
like beverage with the coconut highlighted. The more solid looking
piece had an interesting texture that melted in my mouth. This is one
of the dishes I can still remember experiencing from the night even
months later.
Black sesame sponge cake with miso. One of the first of a few dishes with a sesame influence.
Flower paper, one of my favorites. The sweetness of the spun sugar punctuated with the various tart flavors of the flowers.
Cream-LYO
This went with the cream-LYO, I believe it was made out of egg yolk, I can't remember what else was in it.
Horchata – truffle. The horchata was more
concentrated and much more bland than the drink of the same name, the
truffle was very strong, blended together the horchata mellowed out the
truffle, a good compliment.
Fried brioche Shanghai. Def. one of my favorites of the night, a bit less experimental and more familiar in flavors.
Haricot bean with Joselito’s Iberian pork fat
and garlic. Iberian pork, the latest trend in fine dining, esp. now
that it's legal to have in the states finally. I have a picture of
Iberian Bollato ham in my 25th birthday album.
Tangerine flower/pumpkin oil with mandarin seeds. I can’t remember much about this dish, but I do remember really enjoying it.
Anchovy and ham yoghurt yuba. For me, the
anchovy was too strong, but anchovy is one of those things, either you
like it or you don’t
Brad Beans
Turnip cous-cous with sea urchin. The turnip
cous-cous was very mild and the leaf on the side tasted like oysters
when you bit into it. The sea urchin was very strong, too strong for my
taste.
Asparagus in different cooking times. This one
was very simple and surprisingly very memorable. The progression from a
crunchy tip to soft was enjoyable along with the different flavors of
each. The first one I bit into had a peanut sauce, but I can’t remember
the rest. The frozen egg pellets melted quickly, to me it didn’t add
anything to the dish.
Peas 2008
Sea anemone 2008
Gnocchi of polenta with coffee and saffron.
Another favorite dish. The polenta had a strong parmesan flavor to it
and I was surprised how well the coffee grinds on top went with it.
Negrito 2008
Game meat canapé. The chocolate biscuit was
very light and fragile, mine broke as I picked it up. The flavor itself
was lightly sweet and the game meat pâté was melt in your mouth.
Hare juice apple jelly-cru with black currant
marinade. I really enjoyed the apple jelly by itself, the combination
with the hare juice did nothing for me.
Gorgonzola moshi with honey. The gorgonzola
was very strong and enjoyable, the moshi itself was rather large for
the intensity of the flavor, but the honey that went with it helped
mellow it out. A theme that was used often, the contrast of two
flavors, one strong and one a bit bland, that when combined creates a
more subtle flavor.
Cypress honey with peach shots and fresh almonds marzipan
Charcoal. Different textures of chocolate.
The Menu
My birthday cake! I was convinced that it
wasn't mentioned to the staff that it was my birthday so I wasn’t
expecting the infamous birthday cake card and throughout the night I’d
periodically bitch about it. Even when I saw the staff bring out the
card, I nudged my dining companion to show him the cake I thought
someone else was getting to celebrate another birthday. It wasn’t until
The staff started walking the cake in our direction did I realize my
companion managed to surprise me once again. Sadly, we were not allowed
to keep the cake. =(
Morphings. A few sweet bits to end our meal.
Chocolate truffle
Donuts, but I can't recall what they were made out of
BonBons
I remember eating this but not the flavor
The Kitchen
Reflections
My view of the night along with our server,
though, I didn't get a shot of the other server who looked like Paul
Reiser and Ben Stiller's love child
The infamous, yet humble, chef!
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