El Bulli: The Death of a DeathbedFood Dream …
Farewell to El Bulli: Yes, That’s a 90-lb. Meringue Bulldog! (ElBulli.com)
I, along with the much of the global Foodie community, am mourning the July 30th closing of El Bulli. While I never got the chance to eat there, I think it’s safe to say that it would have definitely qualified as a DeathbedFood experience.
At the top of my list is The Amateur Gourmet’s post from 2009. Adam Roberts’ cartoon depiction of how he finally got a dinner reservation at the “Greatest Restaurant in the World” is fantastically funny. I love how his mix of cartoon story, photos and videos allow us to journey to the restaurant with him and, vicariously anyway, enjoy all 30 courses.
Twitter was on fire as El Bulli closed as well. I especially liked @Eater’s (Eater.com) touting #ElBulligeddon and sharing live tweeting about the last meal there.
Abert & Ferran Adria (Courtesy: Eater.com)
Last, but not least, Anthony Bourdain’s recent “No Reservations” episode with Chef Jose Andres on El Bulli was spectacular. I love this video, where he summarizes El Bulli’s legacy as the best restaurant in the world for which, as he put it, “there was no doubt it was the most creative, the most unique, the most desired, the most extraordinary”. BTW, Tony, the BLACK TRUFFLES in that clip are definitely DEATHBEDFOOD (IN CAPITAL BOLD LETTERS, NEON LIGHTS) … you’re killing me!
Equally moving is Bourdain’s tribute to El Bulli in his recent blog – sharing with us interesting El Bulli/Bourdain history, including:
- Chef Ferran Adria had invited him to visit in 2001, despite Bourdain’s unflattering portrait of him in Kitchen Confidential
- With Tony’s show about that visit, “Decoding Ferran Adria”, Ferran became the impetus for the “No Reservations” show, now in its 7th year
- El Bulli, despite its reputation, was not “fancy”, or “pretentious” or ” snobby” according to Bourdain who points out that, somehow, tables were made available on a regular basis for fishmongers, bartenders and cooks from the neighboring town.
So, I’m wondering how foodies are coping out there with El Bulli’s closing? It’s definitely the end of my dream to go there. I know Ferran will be creating the El Bulli Foundation, a Think Tank for culinary creativity (as Bourdain shows in this clip about the future of El Bulli), but it’s hard to imagine much payout from that anytime soon. Maybe I’ll have to comfort myself with the upcoming documentary, “El Bulli: Cooking In Progress“? Or maybe we could start EBA (El Bulli Anonymous)? I’m open to ideas!