1. added the new message boards - check them out - powered by phpbb. the only sad thing is that once again we lost all of our messages and once again you have to register for something else on this stupid site. i know you guys hate me for it. sorry! 2. removed the members thing for the regular site. you'll notice that you no longer have the login navigation at the top of the page. don't worry, you can still add comments to posts without having to register or log in. should make it easier. 3. removed the login / registration from sights section of the site. i wanted to keep the amount of different usernames down, so now the only thing you will have to register for is the boards. everything else is completely open to peruse. hope you like the changes! sorry that you have to register again... :(

El Bulli - 2 April 2004

Thursday marked the opening day of the El Bulli season. For those of you unfamiliar with this restaurant I will fill you in with a brief history. El Bulli has been reputed to be The Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant Magazine and many of the world's greatest chefs. Ferran Adria is the, I dare say, Madman/Scientist/Magician behind El Bulli. I hardly believe that the mere title of Chef embodies enough to describe this visionary gastronomic maestro. The restaurant holds 3 coveted Michelin Stars and is renowned as being one of the hardest reservations in the world to secure. According to some reports, there are approximately 300,000 requests per 6 month season and only 8,000 seats available and reservations are closed the first day that they are taken for the entire season. So you might be asking yourself how the Queen of Nerds secures such a hot ticket on the culinary scene? I have one simple answer for you. That it was pure and coincidental luck. The stars and the Gods aligned on that fateful day and my persistence finally paid off after two years. I happened to fax a request begging to be let in at the exact moment that the Maitre D had received a cancellation. He told me later that he received it at that precise moment so he felt that it was fate that I receive the table despite the huge waiting list. The lovely man even tried to phone me 3 times before I answered my mobile. To think that I almost lost my booking by screening my calls - I would have been devastated!

THE MEAL

Ok, enough about the boring stuff. Let's get on to the stuff that dreams are made of.

The menu at El Bulli is set menu of approximately 25-30 courses and runs for about 4-5 hours. Be sure to take along your favourite friends, although be forewarned that you will have no time for idle chitchat as the food will become the focus of every conversation. Everyone must enter El Bulli with a bit of adventure and optimism. The restaurant is not for the faint-hearted or picky. It must also be understood that at the heart of the El Bulli phenomenon is not that every course is necessarily going to taste great. The soul of what makes El Bulli the "Best Restaurant in the World" is that the chef is testing the boundaries of modern cuisine. Ferran Adria is reinventing and reshaping our perception of food and the artistry that surrounds a dining experience. Food is meant to be appreciated, loved, played with and Ferran is the all masterful Wizard of Oz.

THE COURSES

I have missed out on some translations and not quite completed the descriptions due to laziness, but hopefully you will get the general idea.

Concentrado de estragon con miel y mastic

Served on a spoon with the word ConcentradO (the 0 being the course) Concentrated tarragon with honey. This was interesting, good palette cleanser. My tongue went numb and I could have sworn that it was laced with Novocain!

Patatas con aceite de aceituna negra con acido conrico

Potato chips with black olive oil and citric acid Standard thin chips in different oils and lightly salted. This was about the time that they brought my Cava. Yum, Cava.

Pistachulin de fresas del bosque al t�

A tea that reminded me of hot toddy's when I had a sore throat as a child - minus the brandy that my mom liked.

Mantequilla de coco ahumada con porex al gengibre

Coco butter with ginger pores (sorry the translation is weird on that one) This was one of those tricky courses. I could swear that they brought out a candle and some prawn crackers. Turned out that the candle was actually coco butter! And it was delish on the little air cakes.

Brocheta de corteza de cerdo al mentol con grasa de jamon

Mint pork scratchins. The oddest thing about this course was that my dinner companion and I were having a conversation about 5 minutes earlier about white trash food and our love for pork scratchins. We actually stopped ourselves and joked that only we would talk about pig skins at a 3 star Michelin restaurant. I guess we are a little more avant garde than we'd like to think (or Ferran digs a little big of pig snouts too!). The mint taste was a bit off-putting for a usual bar crowd, but it was still pleasant.

Falsa �espardenya� con sisho, s�samo y yuzu

Fake sea cucumbers Deep fried seaweed and rice cakes. These were really cute little guys.

Nueces frescas con mahonesa de nueces

Walnuts with walnut mayonnaise The walnuts were covered in something white and served with little tweezers to dip them in the mayo. I have discovered that I like to eat with tweezers (and you can pluck those pesky eyebrows in between courses as well).

Espuma-nitro Haston Blumenthal

Stolen for another Digijim on eGullet: A ball of whisky sour frozen on the outside so as to collapse once in the mouth, we were told it had been donated by the English chef.

Bocaddio de iberico

Ham sandwich Yeah, doesn't sound so interesting. But the ham was amazing Iberica ham that melted in your mouth.

Semillas de campari con canicas y concentrado de mandarina

Seeds of cranberry - melon with concentraded manadarine

Caviar de melon

Melon caviar Served up in a caviar tin this looks just like the real thing. Nigel didn't think he could bear the thought of eating this, but those juicy little melony suckers did pop in your mouth menos the fishy aftertaste.

Aire de zanahoria con granizado de sanguina

Carrot foam with blood orange juice and lemon The foam dishes were a bit hard for me to swallow - literally. Something about eating foam reminds me of trying to swallow air. You put an entire spoonful into your mouth and the it disappears and you are left with only a drop of liquid. I think this course could possibly give you gas from swallowing excess air. Again, I still enjoyed it. Made life a little more interesting.

Almendras confitadas con gelle de su corteza

Fresh almonds with jelly of its skin This looked like a bowl of camouflage liquid. The almonds were amazing and burst in your mouth with their own juice. This course was served with a flower stuck in the spoon that you were supposed to smell while you ate. I didn't really experience the full-effect of the flower, but it was cute to look at. or on second thought - the above could be the below course

Musgo de pomelo con alemndras-gelee a la Maria luisa y gelee de yogur Sopa de palomitas

Popcorn dust soup with butter Like eating your popcorn at the movie theater with tons of butter. One bit of advice on this one - don't inhale when you get the dust near you or you will choke on it!

Gnocchis de calabaza con jugo Pumpkin gnocchi with juice Simple, yet delicious course. The gnocchi's were gelatin like and exploded when you ate them.

Ostras con cinta iberica, yuba con flores de boraja

Oysters with Iberican ham fat (?) with milk truffle and flowers I loved this course. The mixture of oysters and the bit of salty ham were fab. We were told not to eat the milk truffle until after the bit of oyster was gone. This was like curdled milk with a silky texture.

Raviolli de guisantses con guisantes a la menta

Raviolli of pea Pea and ham and bacon My fav course. Only because the ravioli was really a ball filled with warm pea soup that burst.

Toro de atun confitado en aceite de at�n

Seared tuna with oil of tuan

Zamburinas con sal de algas

Cinta iberica de buey de mar con cilantro

Ham with king crab and cilantro

Civet de conejo con gelatina caliente de manzana

Rabbit with apple gelatine

2 m. Spaghetto de parmesano

The old faithful. Like eating a piece of plastic, cheese, spaghetti.

Tortilla de leche nueva omeltete sourprise

Deshielo a primavera Ice cream air with vanilla Cappuccino foam Yogurt and strawberry ice

THE SERVICE

El Bulli has a seating of 50 heads per evening, but it is said that the number of wait staff reach about 53. I can easily see how this is possible. Every intricate detail of your meal is observed by the helpful, friendly and somewhat playful staff. You might expect the staff at a Michelin crowned restaurant to have an aire of snobbery, but in El Bulli this is not the case. Everyone that we encountered made us feel welcome and also seemed to be enjoying themselves as well just for having the mere experience of observing the delight of the patrons. I would have to say that watching people eat a meal at El Bulli must be a trip to the psychologist with every emotion registering on people's faces whether it be surprise, intrigue or just plain awe.

THE ARTISTRY

Every course was displayed in a unique and beautiful manner. Whether it be the Melon Caviar in its own little El Bulli tin or the specially made spoon for the Concentrado. The plate is a mere empty canvas to Ferran and he decorates it ever so lovingly. Bright colours, flowers, textures, and utensils help complete each course. Every plate is put in front of your face and you are taken back to a childlike curiosity to push, prod, poke or just stare in admiration. The best part, of course, being when you gather up a spoonful and then discover that although your eyes had told you the course was, your mouth was telling you otherwise. Solids disappear into thin air leaving only a taste on the tip of your tongue. Jelly-like bubbles burst in your mouth exposing a warm liquid. Flowers are edible and actually tasty. It goes on andon. And that is the best part of El Bulli. It is like being a kid and discovering that your Play Doh is fun to mold AND chew on at the same time.

MY HUMBLE OPINION

I suppose that you can surmise from my glowing review that I thoroughly enjoyed my El Bulli experience. I had a fabulous time at El Bulli and I would recommend it to my adventuresome friends to take a trip and experience it for themselves. I must admit that I have read negative reviews from people saying that Ferran was past his time. I, myself, have also wondered if the hype was really necessary or if it was just some pretentious place touting itself as the next new thing. I have to disagree with either of these statements. As a food lover, I think and hope that I went to El Bulli with an open mind. I came away feeling that I had not eaten a meal, but I had had an experience. To me, this is what makes for a great restaurant. It brought me closer to food. And if you have ever seen the movie Big Night, you might remember one particular line in it by the chef. "To be close to food is to be close to God." I suppose that it is up to you to make that call on your own (if you can get a reservation!).

I just arrived home from an exhausting tour of the US for business meetings. It is quite amazing how many different time zones and weather tracks one can experience in a short period of time. The weather in Londona, as always, was cold and rainy. I had a nice Yo! sushi conveyor belt lunch with Jerry and then hit the town with Arlie and Jeff. The next morning I had a flight out of Gatwick at 10 am to Dallas. Thankfully those nice BA people upgraded me to World Traveller and I got a nice cushy seat with no one next to me on either side. Sweet. Arrived into Dallas to warm, but tropical rain and was wisked away to the Hilton Suites across from the Galleria. Hey, it is always nice to be across the street from a shopping mall! Unfortuntely, I was feeling rather ill and ended up passing out at 7 pm so that I would be fresh for my all day meeting the next day. Made it through my meeting and then was back at the airport once again. Landed in LAX around 8.30 PM and went to my hotel which was conviently located on the ocean. Nothing like waking up to the sound of crashing waves in Malibu. Went off to another all day meeting. Thankfully I had a few days of rest and then departed on Sunday. Of course, I did manage to get sick in between and had to be taken to the hospital, but obviously I am still alive. And now I am finally home after another day of layover in London recouperating at Arlie's house. Ahhh, home. Roley is screaming and Benson the Bird is a little freaked. My Sky+ has too many shows so I must go and catch up now.

This list could grow quite extensive after a while I am sure...

Public transportation

Pickles in my hamburgers - they just don't belong there

People "google-ing" me

Rude drivers that won't let me in

Honking horns outside my bedroom window

Pepsi

Doing any kind of housework

Plane farts

Happy couples (unless I am in one)

Email spam bastards

Stupid people that don't realise that I am always right

Cheap people

Tipping people when they don't deserve it

I have been the boringest of the boring recently. Due in part to the bad and cold weather here and also due to laziness. But i guess sitting at home does have its finer points to it, like watching sky television and catching up on The OC, my new fav show. I love this show because it reminds me of the old days living in Newport Beach. They say things that only people from Newport (or Huntington) would truly understand. Gems such as "you are from Riverside". Very classy. Today I had a nice day running around town. Went to see Along Came Polly with Tim. He was so kind as to give me a belated birthday gift of a 120 GIG harddrive. I love nerd presents. He is my favourite person of the day! He also gave me some Belgian cheese which I love so much. Other exciting news. I have purchased the ultimate geek toy. An Audrey. You'll have to see it to believe how nerdy it really is. http://www.audreyhacking.com I will post pictures of all these things later when I bring the bluetooth home and get the photos off of my phone...

the new addition to the robesky family will be going home to fresno in 6 short weeks. please welcome scooby robesky!

after having felt the pain and sadness of september 11th from abroad, it is horrible to have to be here in spain and watch this peaceful and loving country have to live through the same suffering. it is all so senseless. all of this hatred over religion and politics. what is the point of harming innocent people in the name of your war? they still say they don't know who is to blame for this. i have been told by spanish folk that this doesn't look like eta to them. i suppose they would know best having lived through years of attacks by the eta. there is little that i can feel right now except sadness and sympathy for this country and the families and friends of the victims. no one here wanted to go to war with iraq and now the same people that opposed it are paying the price of their lives for their government's stupidity. horrible and tragic are the only two words that come to mind.

here are the notes from the quick jaunt. will post more detail later, but am needing to relax a bit first! friday dinner with ornella and pasta boys - ouvo and dino. yoruba gotsoul party osunlade, jojoflores, wumni saturday breakfast at the pelican with ornella jump n funk - with Rich Medina at the Marlin Bar dinner with ornella at joe's crab shack sunday maw party at the whitelaw hotel dinner with dimitri at joe's crab shack bbe party transport recordings party at goddess with marco monday breakfast at news cafe headed down to maw party dinner with mona and iva no fucking requests ever party at marlin bar large party with marco tuesday breakfast at front porch shopping with ornella

had late dinner reservations on saturday night with alex. i picked pucca this week. the description ala B-Guided was as follows: ********* Pucca, a word which has different meanings in several languages, has been chosen by this establishment for its culinary reference to the fusion of different styles. Thai flavours meld with those of new Mexican or American cuisine for example. Breakfasts, set lunch menus, à la carte menu and cocktails. ********* yeah yeah. sounded like stupid PR bullshit to me, but i kind of like that stupid pr bs so i booked a table. i had also heard of this particular place from vincenzo. the restaurant is located on calle picasso just across from the park. it has a smallish entrance that makes it a little bit difficult to find. alex and i showed up a few minutes late and entered the minimalist restaurant which was packed to the hilt (probably about 35-40 seats). we went to the bar and tried to check in. unfortunately, we were treated like we were invisible. one waiter was really busy talking to 2 blond girls and drooling over them. needless to say, we were annoyed after 10 minutes of not being seated or offered a beverage. i took out my little notebook and started discounting their nerdgirl review points. this seemed to get their attention because they immediately apologised and offered us complimentary cocktails while we waited for our table to be cleaned. the cocktail selection was quite impressive for barcelona. featuring cosmopolitans (hurrah!), margaritas and other nice looking bevies. the cosmopolitan was even good! double hurrah! however, the bar is smallish and no place that you would ever hang out in for a bar merely a waiting area. we were finally seated at our very odd table. it was glass and metal and probably the longest two person table that was ever made. someone clearly screwed up their dimensions (at least I hope). the annoying thing was the metal bar that went smack down the middle of your legs. oh well. we were given our menu in english and then sat for 10 minutes agonising over what to order. everything looked so GOOD! i ended up settling on the following: asparagus and crap soup - served very nicely with the asparagus arranged on the plate and then the broth poured over at the table, real crab and egg dropped in - delicious! baby lamb chops with tea infused rice and cranberries - cooked perfectly and the rice was fantastic, there was also a thick sweet sauce over the rice - perfecto! brownie cheesecake - the first real new york style cheesecake i have had in spain. and brownies all mushed into it! i should be a fat girl! other things to note. the service vastly improved post notebook incident. they were very attentive and even changed alex's wine glass that had a smudge without being asked. the prices were medium. in the range of 8-15 for starters and 15-20 for mains. alex had a filet mignon that was equally as good as my lamb and for dessert a baby pineapple with ice cream that he deemed magnificent. overall, i think we have found a gem in pucca! i was set and ready to hate it, but they completely won me over with the food and improved service.