It was billed as a 'unique, incomparable encounter that will never happen again': a dinner of 47 dishes (actually, there were at least 50) accompanied by six rare champagnes, and prepared by 50 chefs for 50 international guests.
That a few of the VIP guests didn't show up didn't matter much to those who did, although it would have been nice to see actress Helen Mirren, her husband, film director Taylor Hackford, and Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon. Actress Heather Graham, necking with her slim-hipped young boyfriend, Jason Silva (described on the VIP list as a 'television personality ... [and] gonzo journalist') was enough to put us off star spotting for at least a little while.
But what enticed the 50 of us to travel to Spain from Hong Kong, Shanghai, the United States and various other countries wasn't the thought of rubbing elbows with celebrities - we came for a meal. It was as 'unique' as the organisers hoped it would be. It will never be repeated because the restaurant is closing in July and, for the first and only time in its history, it was opened one evening earlier this month to invitees of just one winery - Dom Perignon, whose champagnes were served throughout the 50-course meal.
The restaurant was El Bulli, a small (about 50 seats), pretty, whitewashed space at an idyllic spot in a national park on Spain's Costa Brava. It's known primarily for the inventive modernist cuisine of Catalan chef Ferran Adria. The Michelin three-star El Bulli for many years has been voted 'the best restaurant in the world' by chefs, critics (including this one) and other food and beverage professionals for the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best annual list.
Until last year, it was open for only six months a year, making it exceedingly difficult to get a table (there have been estimates that the restaurant receives up to two million e-mail requests for each six-month 'season'). When it was announced last year that the restaurant would close permanently this year to make way for the private, non-profit El Bulli Foundation ('a think tank of gastronomic creativity for chefs and front-of-house professionals' according to the El Bulli website), the quest for a table became frenzied, and the chances of getting one even slimmer.
'El Bulli has never done a dinner like this - Dom Perignon is the only collaboration we've had in the wine business,' says Adria, El Bulli mastermind and co-owner (with business partner Juli Soler), just hours before the event. 'We finally realised we could commit ourselves if it was for a very good cause, such as the El Bulli Foundation. We started talking to some friends who wanted something special, and [since] we've had a long relationship with Dom Perignon, we said OK, let's put together a magic evening.'
