Next: El Bulli is alive!

Husband and I were lucky enough to get seats at the hottest ticket in town last Friday night. And by lucky, I mean we spent the Saturday before stalking Next's Facebook page, and Husband's quick clicking got us into the "waiting room" for tickets. Six hours later, and we had our seats at the revival of El Bulli, the famed Spanish restaurant that closed before we had a chance to get there. Now, thanks to Chef Grant Achatz and the rest of the staff at Next, we not only got to experience one menu at El Bulli, but over 20 years of cuisine. 

The restaurant was set with clean white tablecloths and a single red rose hanging upside down over each table. Armed with my iPhone 4S camera and a mini macro lens, I documented the meal. I'm just going to let my photos speak for themselves on this one, shown with just the dish name and year. I didn't get shots of all the drinks, but there were 11 in total. And the first dish was in itself a drink, the nitro caipirinha with tarragon concentrate (2004).

hot/cold trout roe tempura (2000)

spherical olives (2005)

iberico sandwich (2003)

coca of avocado pear, anchovies, and green onion (1991)

golden egg (2001)

chicken liquid croquettes (1998) (note: better than McBites)

black sesame spongecake and miso (2007)

The cava that we had been drinking was being altered through the first 8-10 courses with vials of liquid, including these two.

smoke foam (1997)

carrot air with coconut milk (2003)

cuddlefish and coconut ravioli with soy, ginger, and mint (1997) (note: Dad, your next challenge is to make this kind of ravioli)

Here is the ever-present rose shadow on our table.

savory tomato ice with oregano and almond milk pudding (1992)

hot crab aspic with mint corn cous-cous (2001)

cauliflower cous-cous with solid aromatic herb sauce (2000)

Marques de Rodil

suquet of prawns (1988)

potato tortilla by marc singla (1998)

trumpet carpaccio (1989)

red mullet gaudi (1987) (note: the glass plate was sitting on a clear plastic bag filled with hot water and shells)

Montgarnatx, 2005

nasturtium with eel, bone marrow, and cucumber (2007)

civet of rabbit with hot apple jelly (2000)

gorgonzola balloon (2009) (note: yes, it was cheese, and yes, it was large. A man at the table next to us quoted the show Dinosaurs when we saw it, "Not the momma!")

Look at this beautiful old label!

foie gras caramel custard (1999)

spice plate (1996) (note: this was given to us in the form of a quiz. I thought that I got every item right, in reality, I got a 40%.)

mint pond (2009)

chocolate in textures (1997)

chocolate donuts (2010) (note: it sometimes scares me when they instruct you to eat something in a "single bite, lips closed.")

creme flute (1993)

puff pastry web (1989)

a little espresso as our last drink

passionfruit marshmallow (2004) (note: one of the silver dishes had marshmallows in it, and they tilted back and forth waving good-bye to us!)

Here's me waving good-bye!

The evening lasted four hours, and it didn't take me quite as long to get this post together, but I'll remember it well for much, much longer. 

Next Restaurant
www.nextrestaurant.com 
953 West Fulton Market
Chicago, IL 60607