No Reservations Hits A Homerun With elBulli Episode

The other day as I was flipping around channels on my TV I decided to stop for a second on No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel.  It's hard to explain how I feel about this show.  I really like Anthony Bourdain as his blending of both the eloquent and profane is something of pure majesty.  I really like shows about travel/food.  I really like the concept of a show that promotes enjoying street food as well as more fine dining offerings.  However, even though No Reservations is about all of those things every episode doesn't necessarily click for me.  Some episodes I just find endlessly boring.  That was not the case with the episode I watched the other night.

In this particular episode Bourdain was in Spain with his friend and celebrated chef, Jose Andres.  The goal was not just to travel the Spanish countryside however.  The goal was to allow Bourdain and Andres to sit down to their final meal at elBulli.  The restaurant, considered by many to be the best in the world, serves incredibly interesting, creative and intricate cuisine typically served in 35-55 small courses.  During this episode Bourdain puts on the chef whites and steps into the kitchen, and we as viewers get an up close look at just a little bit of the crazy stuff they were doing in the kitchen.  It turns out that was just a glimpse into the genius of the restaurant's owner and executive chef, Ferran Adria.

The kitchen at elBulli.  Courtesy of Wikipedia.

As Bourdain and Andres sit down for dinner at the restaurant with Adria the full measure of his brilliance is on display.  Some might call it "molecular gastronomy", but this is much more than just using some liquid nitrogen.  This was food that both looked delicious, and not only stepped outside of the box but destroyed it all together.  Obviously, I didn't get to taste the food so I can't comment too much in that regard, but I can comment about how fascinating it was to watch Adria comment on his own food and way of thinking.  The episode was especially poignant given that the restaurant is now closed.  I think the episode provided a good sendoff.  If you see a rerun on the Travel Channel I implore you to watch.  You'll probably find yourself as engrossed in food you'll never taste and people you'll never meet as I was.