El Bulli
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El Bulli (as of 2008, the restaurant refers to itself with the orthography elBulli[1]) is a three Michelin starred restaurant run by chef Ferran Adrià.
The small restaurant overlooks the Cala Monjoi bay, in Roses on the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, and has been described as "the most imaginative generator of haute cuisine on the planet"[2] and does a great deal of work on molecular gastronomy.
Restaurant has judged El Bulli the best restaurant in the world a record four times — in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008.[3]
The restaurant has a limited season from June until December; bookings are taken on a single day the previous October. It accommodates only 8,000 diners a season, and gets more than two million requests. The average cost of a meal is €250; the restaurant itself has operated at a loss since 2000, with operating profit coming from El Bulli-related books, and lectures from Adrià.[4][2] As of April 2008 the restaurant employed 42 chefs.[3]
Roger M. Buergel, Director of the Kassel Documenta 12 art show in 2007, designated El Bulli as Pavilion G of Documenta.[5]
Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, and Albert Adrià published A Day at elBulli in 2008. The book describes 24 hours in the life of elBulli in pictures, commentary and recipes. Among the recipes included in the book are melon with ham, pine nut marshmallows, steamed brioche with rose-scented mozzarella, rock mussels with seaweed and fresh herbs, and passion fruit trees.[6]
Anthony Bourdain described Albert Adrià's contributions thusly: “His book is a shockingly beautiful catalog of his latest accomplishments here… Pastry chefs everywhere—when they see this—will gape in fear, and awe, and wonder. I feel for them; like Eric Clapton seeing Jimi Hendrix for the first time, one imagines they will ask themselves ‘What do I do now?’.”[7]
[edit] History
The El Bulli site was founded in 1961 by Dr Hans Schilling, a German, and his wife, who wanted a restaurant for a piece of land he had purchased.[8] The name "El Bulli" came from the French bulldogs the Schillings owned. The first restaurant was opened in 1964. The restaurant won its first Michelin star in 1976 while under French chef Jean-Louis Neichel.[8] Ferran Adrià joined the staff in 1984, and was put in sole charge of the kitchen in 1987. In 1990 the restaurant gained its second Michelin star,[8] and in 1997 its third.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ El Bulli website
- ^ a b If the world's greatest chef cooked for a living, he'd starve, John Carlin, The Guardian, December 11 2006
- ^ a b "World's 50 best restaurants". Restaurant Magazine. 2008-04-21. http://www.theworlds50best.com/restaurants/restaurant_01.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ Who's for a Bulli burger?, Kevin Gould, The Guardian, 3 February 2007
- ^ "Press Release: El Bulli Contribution in Documenta 12" (PDF). Documenta. 2007-06-02. http://www.elbulli.com/documenta/docs/nota_prensa_en.pdf.
- ^ "A Day at El Bulli". Cookbook Review. Gayot. 2008-10-17. http://www.thefoodpaper.com/cookbooks/dayatelbulli.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-18.
- ^ "Spain". Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. Travel Channel. August 18, 2008. No. 17, season 4. ~20 minutes in.
- ^ a b c d "History of El Bulli". ElBulli.com. http://www.elbulli.com/historia/index.php?lang=en.
