Roses, Espana

We arrived in the small fishing village of Roses at about 2pm, found the Hotel and made the drive to El Bulli. It's a narrow, winding mountain road almost 5 miles in length. Somewhere I read it described as scary, I would instead call it thrilling or challenging. Our rental is a Mercedes Benz, C180 kompressor that got over 40 Mpg on the 1.5 hour drive from Barcelona. It is surprisingly zesty for it diminutive engine size. The super charger makes all the difference in the world. After the drive to El Bulli the MPG dropped to 30 -- still pretty good for the flogging I gave it.

Off for a run on the beach, a quick nap and then at 8pm, the dinner at the best resturant in the world....

El Bulli
We arrived at El Bulli a few minutes early of our 8:00pm reservation. We strolled through the tiered garden walkway in front of the restaurant. In one spot, you can look into the El Bulli kitchen. As I peered in, there he was, Ferran Adria. I saw the back of him. He was surrounded by a group of his staff. I still could not believe we were just about to dine in the world's best restaurant.

We were greeted with a warm welcome and were asked, "Would you like to see the kitchen?". "Of course!", we replied. The kitchen looked exactly like what we had seen in the Tony Bourdain documentary, "Decoding Ferran Adria", which we have watched numerous times over the past 4+ months - since our reservations were confirmed.

Ferran was at the end of the counter, looking at the sheets of paper in front of him. He came over and greeted us, shook our hands and thanked us for coming.

We were then seated at our table which was next to the view of the beach alcove.

Our menu:
gin fizz
spherical olives
mango leaf with tagete flower
pine-nut marshmallow
hibiscus-eucalyptus-cassis paper
seaweed waffles
sugar-coated lyo- banane and sesam
walnuts cake
cloud of popcorn
tangerine essence
gold egg
liquid croquette 2006
crab anemone-romana style
"horchata" - truffle
won-ton
fried brioche shanghai
honey/flowers/pistachios
"Quebearn" egg
raisins of PX with anchovy and cardamom brioche
tomate soupe with virtual iberian ham
asparagus in different cooking times
razor clambs in vinager sauce
the sea
zucchini risotto with curry
crab - marrakech
lamb brains with their own juice
pita of iberian ham fat and veal bone marrow
sheep - the cheese and the wool
"piquillo" peppers and banana tatin
charcoal
Morphings...