barmut was all booked up...so we ended back in rambla...for bar canete with charif and anna...gambas and tar tar...very good...the importance of this dinner didn't really manifest itself until a week later when i saw lynn in new york...
“It’s all a question of taste versus texture,” he said. “In France and much of Europe, we’ve always prized beef with character, while the U.S., Australia, perhaps Japan and many other countries are obsessed with tenderness.” - Hugo Desnoyer, Paris Butcher.
RUBIA GALLEGA - the prized cattle from northwest spain is not even in a category of steak as we americans know it. it's another species of protein on the menu. u can't compare it to an A5 melt in your mouth wagyu. u can't compare it to peter lugers dry aged 30 day charred plate of butter glazed beef. u come to spain to enjoy something entirely different. the spaniards age their beef a minimum of 180 days and up to 300 days. the mature beef funk has cheese like aromas that intoxicates your nose the moment you step inside the restaurant. your mouth waters watching a model-esque spaniard smear your plate with beef fat and serving the dark meaty medium rare beef onto your plate. you're instructed to eat the fat and let it coat your mouth. then have some beef. and when the grease accidentally gets on your hand...sniff it first. then lick it off.
sobrassada and chorizo....OMG!!!
gin and tonic....palate cleanser....a lemon sherbert and gin...,the spanish just get it...perfect!
where the steaks grill...what im going to build for the backyard...
"i didnt work with beef before because most of the time beef isn't very interesting. it's just proteins pumped up with very little flavor...." Magnus Nilsson, chefs table "fifty years ago there was like one kind of cow and because of the way we farm in the western world the whole development has split the dual purpose breeds into two lines. one that produces just milk. there is a cow that stands there for 8-10 years consuming vast amounts of grain just producing milk. on the other hand you have beef cattle. which do nothing just stand there also eating vast amounts of grain to grow as quickly as possible to reach a really big size. they are fed to be come these living monsters of meat. it's enourmously effective. i think that was what triggered the idea of using the dairy cow in the restaurant because it just seemed stupid to do the way its done now. the first dairy cow that we bought it had a depth of flavor and things that i didnt find in ordinary beef. that was when it started to turn really interesting. the dairy cow that has mostly eaten grass during its life from a nice farm where they are allowed to pasture you will have much more flavor with much more texture and natural marbling."
"how's it being with a planner?"
"tough...makes me itchy"
when i told my sister the restaurant reservation was made 9 months in advance...she panicked for me. "what if something happens? what if things change? how can you book things so far in advance? how about the flights? what if you want to stay an extra day...what if you don't feel like eating it...what if someone doesn't show up?" and for planners...things just don't change...and if they do...there's a plan in place for that too...
with the entire trip geared for one meal...there's also a plan to prime your palate for the meal the night before. that means going home early to sleep. which means no hangover. which means...im somewhat fiend-ing for more alcohol on the cab ride home friday night....and fomo texting the others at the club..."missing out on the olive oil in the back pocket and club sushi platter"
1pm reservation under ibrahim started with sparkling wine in the courtyard. it was an overcast breezy day in girona and amanda equipped me new breathable stretchy pants to better weather the 20+ courses and small talk that was about to ensue. amanda and i car pooled with robin (a former miss hong kong residing in barcelona the past 20 years). angel, a chef in milan was already waiting at the front taking photos when we arrived. and sergio....the mexican ex noma chef, who stajjed the night before, overslept yet miraculously made it just as we were seated...
'9 month in advance reservation' diners at a 'number one restaurant in the world' are required to clam for photos while exerting every muscle in their bodies to analyze every single motion and item in the restaurant. our motley crew that i met for the first time was no different. el celler de can roca knows that...and welcomes it. we toured the kitchen and walked through the wine cellar. they described the region while they described the food. el celler is a catalan style restaurant located in girona spain, (about an hour drive from barcelona) founded by the roca brothers, joan head chef, josep sommeliar, and jordi dessert.
the whole meal is fancy. its damn fancy. the meal is a narrative. it shows the character of the brothers. it showcases the region. its there to mess with your senses. it's there for your eyes to process something that argues with your tongue all while agreeing with your belly. its uber hyped...but u know what...it's not pretentious. i probably made it more pretentious with my presumption of haute cuisine...but in true spanish dining form, it is there for me to drink and dine. to dine in converse. to shovel food in my mouth. to down glasses of wine. to unleash the inappropriate sarcasm which floods out of my mouth and slowly without realizing it, be engulfed in amazement of food....
the world: thailand - thai, chicken, coriander, cocounut, curry and lime. Japan: miso cream with nyinyonyaki. Chinapickled vegetables with plum cream. peru "causa limena" Korea: panco fried bread, bacon with soya sauce, kimchi and sesame oil.
memories of a bar in the suburbs of girona: breaded squid. kidnyes w sherry, escabeche mussels, salt cod with spinach and pinenuts, campari bonbon
green olive ice cream!!!
starfish!!
coral: ying yang oyster, seabream ceviche
st george mushroom bon bon brioche
st george's mushroom consomme w miso and egg yolk gnocchi
red mullet w kombu - prickly pear foam, sea anemone, salicornia and katsuobushi viegar char grilled red pine mushroom
langousitine w cocoa bean sauce- black mole w late and mantis shrimp cream w cocoa and boletus edulis
peas w liquorices, lemon and iberian pork
Pigeon w fermented rice - rice skin sauce, koji sauce, fermented rice, rice bread w pigeon parfait
my favorite dish of the meal....GAMBAS PALAMOS. this prawn from palamos is to die for. im not sure if they did anything special to dish but it's just gambas in shrimp head sauce...HOLY WOW. - prawn's head sauce, crispy prawn legs, seaweed veloute and phytoplankton
sole w olive oil, fennel, bergamot, orange, pine nuts and green olives
red confit skate w juice of charcoal-grilled pepper and rhubarb
blackspot seabream with "samfaina"
iberian suckling pig with salad of green papaya, thai grapefruit, apple, coriander, chili pepper, lime and cashew
lamb w eggplant and chickpea puree, lamb's trotters and spicy tomato
second favorite dish....a bunch of different chocolates on a plate....jeez...how is it so delicately rich....CUBAN CIGAR BOX - chocolate with milk, vanilla, dried plum, tobacco leaves and cocoa
wine is so affordable in europe. wine is there to be drunk. he wants us to drink the good wine that he plays music for in the cellar...
josep...a mezcal guy...
the aftermath...at this point. we moved to the cigar room for MORE desert and a digestif. i couldn't eat anymore. i wanted to take a nap. and so did other patrons in the vicinity. i declined the deserts on the table. but a gin and tonic....WHY NOT. and it needs to be said that THIS WAS THE BEST GIN AND TONIC I HAVE EVER HAD! its just gin and tonic and ice....how the heck was it the most perfect drink ever?? lemon in the ice? make your own tonic?? add fresh juniper?? OMG....spain gets it. spain really gets it.
