ElBulli revives for three days in Copenhagen

From air ham in 2003, frozen Parmesan cheese in 2004 or pitted olives in 2005, to fried eggs – crispy on the outside – with caviar and mozzarella soufflé in 2023. This is how the history of modern global gastronomy is written, linked to… A surname that is already a legend and that corresponds to two brothers who, just as they have different personalities, today also carry out various professions: Ferran Adrià Dedicated to studying, analyzing and sharing knowledge – he has given some 700 lectures in the nearly thirteen years since lockdown Bully As a restaurant on July 30, 2011-; Meanwhile, his brother Albert gave a new twist to Enigma, his only existing restaurant in Spain – specifically in Barcelona – after being closed for 27 months during the pandemic, testing different concepts, and finally deciding on a Pollini model for the avant-garde. – Tasting menu.

“It's not easy to see the two brothers together,” he warned. Ferran Adrià Last Thursday, from tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen theme park, transformed for a day into a symposium on creativity beyond the canvas. Literally, the Beyond the Plate event, attended by 700 people from the gastronomic sector – including more than 300 students from Danish culinary schools – became a forum for discussing creativity in the culinary art, although in reality it was an appetizer for a historic event: a Poly honor dinner Summoned by Rasmus Munk To cook with Albert Adrià in his space at Alchemist, his space in Refshaleøen, one of the most active areas of the Danish capital.

Listing for 2000 euros

With name Synergy – Celebrating the legacy of poly, From last night until tomorrow, this restaurant has become the scene of a rare event, resulting in a tasting menu of nearly 50 dishes, sold at 15,000 DKK (about 2,000 euros, at exchange rate), with drinks included, making it one of the most expensive dinners. In the history of gastronomy.

Did Alboli come back to life for three days in Copenhagen? Partially, yes, since then Monk And the youngest members of the Adrià family combined their dishes in homage to elBulli, which meant – above all, in the case of the Enigma owner – the re-cooking of some signature recipes from the Cala Montjoi space, which were served again at last night's table for around fifty distinguished people. “Having one of the most important restaurants in the world tell us that they want to honor ElBulli is something that had never occurred to me,” admits Ferran Adrià.

This is the alchemist

Why do you have this opinion? The Alchemist? Or rather, who is Rasmus Munch and what is an alchemist? The 33-year-old chef, who grew up in a rural area in southern Denmark and studied cooking by chance, opened his own business only ten years ago, as a small place where his cuisine is far from the Nordic style – which he had as a leader. Rene Redzepi, owner of NomaFive times the best restaurant in the world, the same as Al Bouli Restaurant. In 2019, a few months before the pandemic, Monk opened the new Alchemist, in a stunning 2,200 square meter space, spread over three floors, with a central dome 18 meters in diameter made of 200 tons of aluminium, on which he displays photographs of themselves accompanying their dishes – Also with music and performances – in a style that Memphis defines as “holistic cuisine”. For this major project, he has a key support: businessman Lars Sjaer Christensen, one of Denmark's greatest fortunes and also a partner in Geranium – the best restaurant in the world 2022 – is his financial partner. A few months after the opening, Ferran Adrià visited the chemist, which he described as “one of the most important experiments of the last 20 years.”

This became an essential support in Monk's career, and he in turn realized this Bully It becomes an obsession when I don't know him. “When I was finishing my culinary studies in 2010, I found out that a restaurant called elBulli was closing. [en 2011] “I asked myself why the most decisive restaurant in history decided to do something like this.” Until this ambitious and creative young man found himself competing with the greats of the global culinary scene: he ranks fifth on the list. top 50 restaurants in the world, Therefore, the main contender to compete for the top spot in the world is the Spanish team Enjoy, DiverXO and Etxebarri, who are in second, third and fourth place.

This apparently made no difference at Synergia's emotional and historic dinner Albert Adrià and Monk They've been working for months. “Ferrán Adrià will never cook again at a party honoring El Bolelli, because it is not a tribute to me,” said the commander who received El Bolelli for a few hours, without missing a word for the authors of the dinner. “I have been saying for 25 years that Albert Adrià is the most creative chef in the world; he is my companion on a philosophical level at elBulli.” And your monk? “In my opinion, the only development that exists now is the overall concept of Rasmus. I have been doing this for 42 years, I am 61 and I do not have to praise anyone, but if I get excited when he says: 'There is someone like Rasmus,' I say so. “The Alchemist is a paradigm shift.”

If the market is measured by the top 50, we will have to wait until June 5 to find out its score in the form of the 2024 list.