Posted by The New York Post on November 11, 2008 at 19:41:33:
Dining with Ferran Adrià: A Meal Fit For a Culinary King
When Ferran Adria, the messiah of molecular gastronomy, visited New York last month, his American followers came to worship at a 10-course dinner held in his honor. Let us give thanks.
By Kirsten Matthew
In wd~50's kitchen, a dozen young chefs are hard at work, sweating over plates, gadgets and stainless-steel counters. In the midst of it all Wylie Dufresne, owner of the acclaimed Lower East Site boîte, is hovering, anxiously looking on. It's not every day that a chef prepares to break bread with his messiah—a culinary last supper. "We're excited to have these very, very esteemed chefs in our own house," the long-haired, bespectacled cook, dressed in whites and a blue pin-stripe apron, says nervously. "I hope everyone enjoys it." The guest of honor today is Ferran Adrià, the Holy Father of molecular gastronomy, inventor of food served as foam and head chef of the kitchen at elBulli, a three Michelin-star restaurant in Roses, Spain. Gourmet magazine dubbed Ferran "the Salvador Dalí of the kitchen," and Joël Robuchon, who has the most Michelin stars of any cook on the planet, calls him "the best chef in the world." Countless other foodies who have made the pilgrimage to elBulli would simply describe the experience as, well, heavenly.
Molecular gastronomy—cooking that applies scientific principles, machinery and just a bit of divine intervention to change the way food looks and tastes—has become a religion to chefs like Ferran and Wylie. And in one hour, a 10-course tasting menu will be presented to Ferran, who will be seated at a table with the country's most celebrated cooks. In New York to promote his new book, A Day at elBulli, it's not the first time the Spanish chef has visited our humble shores. "New York is a very special city for me. I am at home here," Ferran enthuses. "The problem with New York is that there is never enough time. Every year, I come, I have 20 new places to try, 50 old places to visit and many friends to see!"
Wylie has been planning this welcome lunch for months. Over that period the meal has been reworked and refined and, finally, come alive. Some dishes are brand-new, a few have been tested in the restaurant over the past weeks, but all of them are a testament to the New Yorker's respect for Ferran. "I feel extremely fortunate to have a relationship with him that goes deeper than two chefs. We've spent some time together. I've been to Spain and spent time in his kitchen. We're part of a fraternity."
Ferran, the "Salvador Dalí of the kitchen," toasts his friend Wylie; Wylie points out the secret ingredient—palm seeds—in his beef tongue with cherry miso.
As the first guests—Iron Chef America star Masaharu Morimoto, Jean Georges pastry whiz Johnny Iuzzini and Tailor chef Sam Mason—arrive, Wylie ducks into the kitchen to put the final touches on his offerings. "We're highly inspired by Ferran, and we've been friends with Wylie for a long time," explains Sam, who was once a cook at wd~50. "It's humbling to be here because it's quite a crowd Wylie's put together."
Fellow wise men include Alain Ducasse (owner of New York's Benoit), Daniel Boulud (chef and owner of DB Bistro Moderne and the newly redesigned Daniel) and Lee Schrager, founder of the New York City Wine & Food Festival. The young apostles of avant garde cooking are represented by Johnny and Sam, as well as Momofuku Ko's David Chang and Dave Arnold, the culinary technology director at the French Culinary Institute.
When Ferran makes his entrance with friend and fellow Spanish chef José Andrés, the entire group quickly retreats to their most sacred spot—the kitchen. Handshakes and bear hugs are exchanged with surprisingly little formality, given the importance of the meal at hand. "We're all more comfortable in the back," Wylie explains. "Otherwise we'd be in jobs out the front." Ferran greets each of the guests effusively—"I know almost everyone here. They are wonderful people," he exclaims—before making a point of introducing himself to all of the men and women working in Wylie's brigade.
Masaharu and his pen drawings of the dishes on the tasting menu; the foie gras is adorned with wafers of brioche.
Wylie's master mixologist, Tona Palomino, could probably turn water into wine, but today, he's gone above and beyond, turning sake into sparkling wine, which is passed around as the men return to the dining room and sit down. Then it is time for their communion. Ferran and his disciples fall silent as the first dish is delivered to the table: bite-size crackers made of reconfigured beef tenderloin and cod tripe. "They're puff snacks," says Wylie. "We cook them, dry them, then fry them so that they soufflé."
A chestnut and horseradish soup that has the consistency of sour cream is next. The foie gras dish that follows looks like a piece of sea sponge topped with slices of toast. But the subsequent taste, the "everything bagel," looks just as it sounds: a tiny bagel with poppy and sesame seeds.
The next course, eggs Benedict, comes with small, sinfully deep-fried cubes of hollandaise, orange egg yolks and slivers of bacon. Ferran eats the dish with his hands, his napkin spread across his belly. "Something like this can change the way you think," he says as he makes a note on his menu about the creation. "That was great," says Johnny, smacking his lips. "I'm a huge fan of Wylie's, the way he combines flavors and textures."
The guests eat quickly and obediently, taking sips of the wines served with each course. Every time a dish is wiped clean they go back to talking about Michelin stars, cookbooks—"It's important to write down everything about what you are doing," Daniel tells David Chang—and how to manage staff. Masaharu, dapper in a tweed suit and suede oxfords, draws a sketch of every dish once he's eaten it; it's his way of remembering each course for eternity.
After a plate of crab tail with soybean noodles is devoured, the last savory dish—beef tongue with quinoa and cherry miso—arrives. But it's the next course that elicits the biggest response. Simply called ricotta, capers and frozen honey, it was concocted by Wylie's pastry chef, Alex Stupak. The ricotta is treated with liquid nitrogen and froths as it comes to the table, decorated with candied capers and frozen honey. Ferran tastes it and nods as if to anoint it with his blessing. "I get inspiration every minute," he says. "To live is to create and if you don't enjoy life, you cannot have creativity. To have your creativity sparked by other chefs is even better."
Two more dessert courses follow and as the petit fours, including a Concord grape sorbet, warm gianduja chocolate and cocoa packets, are placed on the table, the men prepare to depart. After all, they have services of their own to prepare for this afternoon. "I need to take a nap," Daniel says as he puts on his leather jacket. "That was the most intense meal!" Lee exclaims as he digs his BlackBerry out of his pocket.
Ferran rises from the table slowly. "Before I think of someone as a cocinero—a cook—I am interested in who they are as a person," he says, looking at his acolyte Wylie. "Wylie's a great boy and one of the cocineros in America who is creating a movement in cooking." He pauses to grab one last cocoa treat from the table. "When friends cook for you, it's the best, because cooking is love. When my friends do things like this, dinner or something special, I feel like I did something right. It makes me feel good as a human." Or, perhaps, a god.
Holy Gastronomy!
WYLIE DUFRESNE'S 10-COURSE MENU FOR FERRAN ADRIà
Wylie presented the menu in English, Spanish, French and Japanese for his international guests.
Surf & turf: beef tendon, BBQ sauce, cod tripe, aïoli
Chestnut-horseradish soup, smoked mackerel, verjuice
Aerated foie gras, brioche, tamarillo molasses
Everything bagel, salmon threads, crispy cream cheese
Eggs Benedict
Crab tail, soybean noodles, cinnamon dashi
Beef tongue, cherry miso, fried quinoa, palm seeds
Ricotta, capers, frozen honey
Grapefruit curd, pine nut, meringue, nasturtium ice cream
Melted chocolate, maraschino, almond kernel, cherry
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