AlwaysLearning: José Andrés
The Gluttoness — September 24, 2009
José Andrés at the StarChefs.com International Chefs Congress on Monday.
On back-to-back days, José Andrés showcased his ingenious culinary skills at food events in New York City, but it was his culinary knowledge, inquisitive nature and thirst for betterment that were truly inspiring. At StarChefs.com’s International Chefs Congress on Monday, the first thing he commented on during his presentation, “American Cuisine Through a Spanish Lens,” was that as a native Spaniard he wasn’t the obvious choice to address the event’s theme, “What is American cuisine?” When he first opened Mini Bar in Washington, D.C., his intention was to serve modern interpretations of Spanish dishes, but when his customers didn’t know what gazpacho was, he encountered a problem. How can you make a statement with a modern dish if your customer doesn’t understand its origins? The solution: Andrés began elevating American dishes, like New England Clam Chowder and Philly Cheesesteaks (left), with the techniques he honed at the famed El Bulli.
AlwaysTraveling: El Bulli (Roses, Spain)
Jeff Zalaznick — June 16, 2009
In honor of tonight’s late opening of El Bulli (it usually opens in April) I thought it appropriate to publish my meal of July 24th, last year (above, Sea Anemone 2008). I do not know why it has taken me so long to share this, but for some reason I needed to let it marinate for a bit.
History:
For the unitiated, El Bulli overlooks the Cala Montjoi Bay in Roses on the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, and unbelievably, was founded as a minigolf installation in 1961 by a German couple who named it for their French bulldogs (a breed known colloquially as bulli). The year 1964 saw the restaurant’s first incarnation, which won its first Michelin star in 1976 with Chef Jean-Louis Neichel, and its second (1990) and third (1997) stars with Ferran Adrià, who started there in 1984 and took the helm in 1987. At last count, El Bulli employed more than 40 chefs and is a temple of molecular gastronomy . El Bulli has been judged the world’s best restaurant a record five times (2002 & 2006-2009).
My Thoughts:
1) El Bulli makes you feel better about yourself as a person and proud of yourself as an eater.
At El Bulli, you feel incredible about yourself. You have made it. You are holding court in the king’s castle. The culinary holy grail (above, Razor Clam / Laurencia). It is a totally surreal experience. Euphoria seizes your grip on reality. Finally, you can walk with your head held high amongst the culinary elite. You get to truly savor this feeling because as one of the eight thousand (out of two million) who will get to eat there this summer, there is no rush. I sat down at 7pm and finished well after 1am. We then sat on the terrace (a must) for a few hours— that’s an eight-hour meal. In order to truly appreciate this, one needs to be an experienced eater. It makes all the hard work worth it.
2) The El Bulli team is incredible.
The swagger and exclusivity that you would think would come with the territory is non-existent. Upon arrival, you are greeted graciously by Juli Soler (Chef Ferran Adrià‘s partner in crime) but so casually that you feel as if you made the reservation on OpenTable a few hours before, not as if you had been trying for years of your life (above, Water Lily).
3) I understand why El Bulli is considered the best restaurant in the world.
El Bulli was not the best meal of my life. But it was the most interesting, and food-wise, the most intense. It totally blurred the lines between what was edible and what was art. It humbles dining experts, as it makes you realize that there are still so many gastronomic boundaries to be explored and broken.
Everything at El Bulli is fun. Everything is perfect in its own way. This is exactly what is so impressive: the El Bulli Way is different. In this oversaturated food world, where trends take control and dishes start to seem similar, it is so seldom that we actually find something or someone who is doing it truly in their own way. That is why El Bulli is so special. They do it their way. And, their way is fantastic.
4) You got to have friends.
Losing my El Bulli virginity was a team effort by way of a wonderful marriage between my closest friend Zach Aarons and Camilla Gale. Had Zach not had the foresight to ask Camilla to be his wife, I would have never been asked to Provence for the engagement party. Had I never been asked to Provence, had Zach not had the good fortune to get a reservation and had someone not dropped out, then I would still be living the shameful existence that is never having been to El Bulli. Zach, good choice.
Honestly though, I was truly honored to be a part of this historic meal between the Gale and Aarons families, and I cannot thank both of you enough for including me. Now, the question is, where are we going this summer?
Overview:
Restaurant: Restaurante El Bulli
Address: Cala Montjoi, Ap. 30 17480, Roses, Girona, Spain (view map)
Rating: *** (Michelin)
AlwaysHungry Grade: A+
AlwaysHungry Recommends: Parmesan “Air”, Hot & Cold Pea Soup, Spherical Olives, Sea Anemones, Rabbit Brains – menu changes constantly though so just go with it
Click here to see the entire El Bulli meal, in order, Dish by Dish >>
HungryChefs: Chefs Love Lupa, Mixed on Hot Dogs
The Gluttoness — June 11, 2009
Roasted Pork Shoulder “Gyro” with Pickled Cucumber & Yogurt from Anthos at Street & Savory
Some of the country’s best chefs attended Citymeals-on-Wheels’ Street & Savory Tasting Event. We’ve already brought you pictures of all the dishes and rounded up our favorite plates, but we were also able to speak with the chefs.
Our questions were obvious: What are you AlwaysHungry for? Which New York City restaurant do you crave? And in keeping with the night’s theme: what would you serve if you opened your own street cart? Some chefs took the easy route, promoting dishes they had prepared for the evening, others were quite creative with their responses.
Top 5: Pan con Tomate
June 09, 2009
Ah, Pa amb Tomàquet: bread (toasting is optional) rubbed with garlic and tomato, then finished with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. When you sit down for breakfast in Spain, this Catalan original (known in the rest of Spain as Pan con Tomate) is what they bring you. The Spanish learned early on that these simple ingredients are all it takes to make something delicious. When done the right way, it’s difficult to find something better in life (pairing it with Duck Egg and Mojama may be the only thing). Inspired by a few new recent renditions of this classic snack, we decided it was high time to discover who has New York’s best.
Click here to find out AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Top 5 Pan con Tomate.
Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.
DishDoppelgängers: Cal Pep and Rhong-Tiam
The Gluttoness — June 08, 2009
You know you’ve been caught looking at celebrity look-alike features in tabloids on the supermarket line or when surfing online. Well, we’re applying the concept to well-known dishes and others that resemble them. And why not, for those of us interested in food, Thomas Keller’s Oysters and Pearls dish is just as iconic as Jay Leno’s chin. As soon as a dopplegänger dish emerges, you better believe we’ll spot it.
Cal Pep’s Tortilla Española is reason alone to endure the line (if you didn’t line up fifteen minutes before as advised). This creamy potato and egg omelette is speckled with onion and spicy bits of chorizo and served slightly unset. While the caramelized crust is crisp and golden, the inside is a creamy mixture of cooked and undercooked egg. As if it wasn’t rich enough, a generous coating of garlic aïoli raises the unctuousness to insane levels once unknown to the average egg.
It doesn’t have the height of the Cal Pep’s tortilla, but the gilded coloring, heavily lacquered surface, and pizza-like slices of Rhong Tiam’s Roti with Condensed Milk could cause you to easily confuse them at first glance. Of course, taste is the ultimate distinction, and Rhong Tiam’s dessert is sweet. The crisped Asian roti is a warm, blank canvas for a luscious layer of gooey, condensed milk. Flavor-wise it doesn’t hold a candle to Cal Pep’s tortilla, but it definitely warrants a double-take in the looks department.
AlwaysTraveling: Cal Pep (Barcelona, Spain)
Jeff Zalaznick — June 03, 2009
Cal Pep is synonymous with the great Tapas and seafood of Barcelona, and has been nestled in a small square just north of the Plaça de Palau since 1977. There is no question that its chef and owner, Josep “Pep” Manubens Figueras (now approaching 60), serves Barcelona’s best tapas. Pep is known for his seafood, specifically, Razor Clams and Frito Misto, (one taste will inform you why) and in a way, his prowess is partially responsible for the abundance of those clams that we currently find being served around New York. Yes, I am giving him credit for Razor Clams. The trick to Cal Pep is go for lunch (if you’re a tourist, it’s near the Picasso Museum, which makes for a nice morning), and show up 15 minutes before they open their doors. It’s important to play close attention to the time, because if you show up ten minutes before they open, you’ll be waiting for more than a full turn to be seated. This has now been proven three times— take it for what it is.
The restaurant itself is tiny—you sit at the 20-stool bar and eat what they give you from the open kitchen. It’s also well known for its frying prowess and some fixtures of the seasonal menu not to be missed include the Fried Artichokes and the plate of fried-egg topped, deep-fried, inch-long fish, called Llengeta. In my mind, what they should be most famous for is their Tortilla Tempana. I can say with great confidence that it is the best that I have ever had in my life. It is served warm, which seems obvious but is so rarely done, and is truly a slice of Spanish heaven. When they are done with their work, they encourage you to request more. I was applauded for my last minute addition of Steak and Butifarra, and received a departing hug from Pep himself.
You can go to Cal Pep for dinner, and you can even make a reservation for large parties in the back, but the place you want to be is at the bar for lunch. To continue the seafood extravaganza into dinner, you should try their more formal restaurant nearby, Passadis del Pep, which serves one of the finest seafood meals I have ever ingested.
This is the Mecca. This is where Mario and Joe went to get inspiration for Casa Mono. This is where the tortilla at Mercat is copied from. This is the place.
Restaurant: Cal Pep
Address: Plaça Olles 8, 08003 Barcelona, Spain (view map)
AlwaysHungry Grade: A+
AlwaysHungry Recommends: Tortilla, Butifarra con Foie a l’Oporto, Almejas con Jamón, Fritto Misto
Razor Clams
Foie Gras Butifarra Sausage with White Beans & Port Reduction
AlwaysInformed: Contraband Culatello di Zibello (Breakin’ the Law! Breakin’ the Law!)
GutterGourmet — May 29, 2009
I had just returned from a wonderful meal at Gusto when a mysterious email arrived from an unknown person identified only as, ‘Salumi Monger Extraordinaire.’ It read: “The legendary meat has arrived. Don’t ask how! Don’t ask why! Just bring your wallet, an empty stomach and a love of fine swine.”
About 6 months ago, I had left my business card with a certain purveyor of salumi who had recently opened and to celebrate, offered Culatello di Zibello DOP (Protected Designation of Origin). For the uninitiated, Culatello is the heart and soul of the Prosciutto, made in a tiny area within Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, including a small town named Zibello. Of course, when I arrived it was gone.
Culatello literally means “little ass.” It is cut and cured from the rear-end portion of the pig instead of from the entire leg as is done with the more commonly known prosciutto. The precise conditions under which culatello is cured are closely guarded secrets, but they result in a pear-shaped, beautifully fat-marbled product that rivals the intensity of Jamón Ibérico de Bellota in terms of pure, porcine perfection. Generally, the traditional preparation involves tightly tying it in a pig’s bladder, hanging it in a dank cellar and exposing it to air and moisture (but never refrigeration). Naturally, this isn’t FDA approved. I immediately called the mysterious monger, “Is it the real stuff?”
“Guaranteed,” he said with a thick Italian accent.
Featured Restaurant: Back Forty Calçotada Menu
Arthur Bovino — May 27, 2009
Back Forty recently celebrated Calçotada, the annual Catalan feast that is a rite of spring. It’s a tradition that Peter Hoffman has also celebrated for about eight years at Savoy. The event is centered around eating Calçots, leek-like onions which have been grilled over a vine-fed fire and served blackened by ashes with ground nut and garlic sauces like Salvitxada or Romesco.
In Spain, the event is held between the end of winter and March or April. Back Forty’s May 12th celebration occurred as soon it was appropriate to harvest the calçots. They were courtesy of Guy Jones, who the restaurant said has been planting and harvesting the calçots for them on his Blooming Hill Farm since their annual tradition began at Savoy. The $60, three-course meal (which included wine), featured Grilled Calçots, Grilled Lamb Chops and Crema Catalana.
AlwaysTraveling: Arola (Barcelona, Spain)
The Gluttoness — January 15, 2009
Sergi Arola is like the David Chang of Barcelona. This young, handsome chef achieved rock-star status after being awarded two Michelin Stars for his work at La Broche in Madrid. Catalan-born Arola trained at the famed El Bulli, yet he abandoned the technicality of molecular gastronomy when it came time to break out on his own. Located in the insanely impressive Hotel Arts, Arola’s signature restaurant aims to reinvent Spanish tapas without losing their basic integrity.
After a week of traditional Spanish meals at Cal Pep, Taller de Tapas and Tapac 24, it was amazing to see how Chef Arola has elevated even the simplest small plates into true examples of fine dining at its best. For a most-inventive beginning, crisped bread, roasted grape tomatoes, fresh garlic, olive oil and sea salt are brought to the table for a do-it-yourself Pan con Tomate. Arola’s upscale Patatas Bravas are acclaimed for their rich flavor and nipple-like appearance—hollowed barrels of fried potato are filled with a spicy tomato sauce and topped with an always present garlic aioli.
Served in a modern atmosphere with an in-house DJ playing hip tunes for a beautiful crowd, Arola’s creative cuisine has solidified this hot spot as one of Barcelona’s premiere dining destinations.
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