Ferran Adria in SF

The line

Castro was full of foodies

Restaurant owners, chefs, foodies, writers and everyone who has much love and respect for El Bulli and its food were all gathered at the Castro theater last Monday night to see and hear the world's most influential chef, Ferran Adria. I bet not even half of the people who were there haven't eaten at El Bulli. That's probably the reason why most of us were there since it's the closest thing to experiencing dining there.  You get the book, which is the food that the staff ate there plus you get to be in the same room with Ferran hearing him talk about creativity and conceptualizing. I think it's a great deal.

Got my ticket a month ago for this event and as the day gets closer I get more and more excited. Not only have I dreamt of eating at El Bulli, thanks to Bourdain, but I want to be inspired just like most of the chefs around the world. I want to know what goes in his mind and how he comes up with such creations like the carrot foam, edible floral paper and many more.

The crowd waiting for Chef Adria

It was a sold out event. 1400 people came and listened to this culinary genius. Going to the event itself felt like you are attending an exclusive red carpet event of the food industry. There were sightings of Dominique Crenn, Anthony Strong, Pim Techamuanvivit and many other big names in the food world. Earlier that day, Ferran was spotted at Humphry Slocombe and La Taqueria. People were tweeting and updating their status on Facebook giving this event a lot of buzz and anticipation.

Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn

Ferran started his talk by saying that San Francisco is one of the places he would want to live together with Barcelona and Sydney. He talked a little bit about citrus and that the Arabs introduced it in the western world and that there are about 2,500 different kinds of it. He also said that cuisine itself is subjective. Orange and eggs might be weird for some but in Spain there is a dish made with it.

Then there was the lecture on omelets and the miniskirt. He talked about creativity, conceptualizing and using ingredients as the letters to make a word. The lecture was full of amazing videos and pictures of his greatest creations. It was almost emotional to see him talk about it knowing that El Bulli closed its doors a little more than a couple of months ago. But there is alot more in store on that place. It will be the home of the El Bulli foundation come 2014. He gave us a sneak peak of how it looks like and what the plan is for that center.

People falling in line for the book signing

Overall, it was a great inspirational lecture. A lot of visuals of food that made everyone in the theater hungry. I was actually expecting a little bit more from Chef Adria. I was ready to be moved and be blown away but it didn't quite get there. I understand what he's trying to say but I guess the delivery wasn't there. Probably it's the language barrier and the translator?? Nevertheless, I get to see and hear one of the world's greatest chef, got my cookbook signed and now will try to attempt recreating some of the food from the cookbook! This way, since I didn't have the chance to dine at El Bulli at least I'll get to have an idea what the staff has been eating.

Happy cooking!

The cookbook ready to be used! :)