El Bulli Closing?

Reads 3562 • Replies 37 • Started Friday, July 29, 2011 8:42:02 AM CT

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Message NobleSquirrel beers 3437 º places 209 º 12:05 Fri 7/29/2011 Originally posted by cquiroga Originally posted by NobleSquirrel Originally posted by cquiroga I have a friend here in LA who had a reservation for two people last October. He invited me to join him. I tried to pull together the ridiculous plan to make the trek out there, but with two little ones at home (one being a son who was not even 1 year old at the time), I just couldn’t leave the wife hanging for the amount of time that I thought was worthwhile to make it a reasonable trip (like 5-7 days). And I couldn’t justify the expense (ballpark $2000+) for a more scaled-back trip of about 3 days JUST to do El Bulli. So I passed up on the invitation from my friend. Unfortunately, my friend experienced some financial difficulty of his own around the time I told him I wouldn’t be able to join him (I gave him about 3 months’ notice, which was what he asked of me). He had been banking on being able to spread the considerable travel expenses among TWO people instead of just having to pay for everything himself, and he wanted to be able to share the experience with someone else, rather than just going alone. He was (somehow) unable to find anyone who was interested and available (and crazy enough?) to take my place, and my friend had to CANCEL his reservation at El Bulli. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say this whole ordeal is probably one of the biggest regrets of my life. That sucks. It’s strange, I think I’d have had a much easier time rationalizing the expense of flying to Spain to eat at el Bulli than I would of paying the $700 for two people to go a couple miles from my house to Alinea. Funny how those sorts of things work out, ya know? Yeah, I hear ya. I think it’s about the "life experience" that you can have going on an absurd adventure like that, flying thousands of miles and going to a completely different culture, embracing the absurdity as much as possible. Still, as far as the food is concerned, while I’m not suggesting El Bulli was in any way matched by the other experiences I had last fall in its stead, I softened the blow by spending more like $100 to eat some fantastic meals at places in LA like LudoBites, Animal, and The Dining Room at the Langham. Great adventures, each and every time. Yeah, that’s how I feel here in Chicago. So many great places to eat at a fraction of the cost: Longman & Eagle, Owen & Engine, the Bristol, Big Star, Schwa, the list just keeps going...
Message Mortlach beers 4785 º places 10 º 12:25 Fri 7/29/2011 Originally posted by Beer2000 Noma got the highest rating this year. http://www.theworlds50best.com/awards/1-50-winners/noma
Message AcctError62185 places 1 º 18:07 Fri 7/29/2011 my friend had to CANCEL his reservation at El Bulli. Dude, that sucks so much, I seriously think I might have to go puke now out of remorse for your bad luck. I am being totally serious. I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world, in if you get the chance to eat at somewhere in the top ten or so mortgage the fucking house, prostitute the wife sell the children, do whatever the fuck it takes because if you ever eat food prepared by one of the top chefs in the world you will understand why others are willing to do such things.

Message andyhannas 22:12 Mon 8/8/2011 regarding the best restaurant in the world status, Ferran Adria withdrew El Bulli from consideration the past two years. pretty admirable if you ask me
Message NobleSquirrel beers 3437 º places 209 º 07:16 Tue 8/9/2011 Originally posted by Tibeerious my friend had to CANCEL his reservation at El Bulli. Dude, that sucks so much, I seriously think I might have to go puke now out of remorse for your bad luck. I am being totally serious. I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world, in if you get the chance to eat at somewhere in the top ten or so mortgage the fucking house, prostitute the wife sell the children, do whatever the fuck it takes because if you ever eat food prepared by one of the top chefs in the world you will understand why others are willing to do such things. I’ve not been to Alinea, but I have eaten at Next, Grant Achatz other restaurant. Same thing with Momofuku, went to the noodle bar instead and don’t regret either decision as I just don’t have the extra income to go Ko or Alinea right now. The sad thing is, though, that there are hundreds of gems if you know what to look for and understand fine food that get overlooked. Well, not all that sad as I can still go to them, generally with minimal waiting.
Message Sean9689 beers 286 º places 12 º 07:47 Tue 8/9/2011 Alinea is a totally different experience from Next...not even close. I’m not sure how dramatically the menus will change at Next, but my experience at Alinea blew Next out of the water. Not even close. I would have loved to have eaten at El Bulli, but never got the chance...
Message Sean9689 beers 286 º places 12 º 07:50 Tue 8/9/2011 PS - No Reservations had a special episode about the final meal at El Bulli and it was awesome. Check it out if you haven’t already.

Message NobleSquirrel beers 3437 º places 209 º 09:19 Tue 8/9/2011 Originally posted by Sean9689 Alinea is a totally different experience from Next...not even close. I’m not sure how dramatically the menus will change at Next, but my experience at Alinea blew Next out of the water. Not even close. I would have loved to have eaten at El Bulli, but never got the chance... I’m more than aware of the differences, that wasn’t exactly my point. I do ’get’ Alinea, and I’d love to go. I know that it would be fantastic and amazing, but I’ll guarantee that my meals at Schwa are far more satisfying at a 1/3 the cost. I could get into to detail, but again, not exactly my point. More to the effect of the fact that when you have a genius in the kitchen, you get genius food. I love food in all of its forms and fashions, more than virtually anyone I know and spend time with. One of the best meals in my life was sitting at a taco stand in Mexico city, watching the chef (and I mean that term whole-heartedly) chopped my al pastor and flipped the pineapple from the top of the spit into the taco. One of the greatest culinary experiences in my life and it really proved a point. When someone knows what they’re doing in the kitchen or wherever they are preparing their food, it can be the greatest meal in the world. Cost of this meal? $1.50 (well, might have been 15 pesos). To each their own I guess.
Message AcctError62185 places 1 º 09:48 Tue 8/9/2011 Restaurant Million in Charleston SC was one of the greatest dining experiences of my life. Some nameless faceless indian restaurant in Peterborough England was another, and I had some sublimely awesome food at pubs in Sardinia that I’m not even sure the owner remembers the names of. My goal in life, at this point, is to have my coffee shop featured on diners driveinns and dives. I honestly believe I make soups as good as any in america and I know that my meatloaf is the best in Ohio. BTW, I am not a chef, I am a cook, chef’s have training and invent new stuff and are worthy of admiration, I just steal other people’s recipes and am a competent technician. But by God you can get a good dinner for 6.95 at my place, it won’t be new or original or authentic barbecue, but it will taste better than anything else you can get for less than 10 bucks a person
Message GarrettB beers 2459 º places 24 º 16:59 Sat 8/27/2011 Whether or not El Bulli was the best restaurant in the world, it seemed that it collected more wealthy/elite braggadocio than it did folks with genuinely good palates and the writing skills to talk abput the visit. That said, there are probably a lot of restaurants out there that at least touch El Bulli’s innovation and quality.