I was recently in Spain for Madrid Fusion, one of Spain's biggest gastro-festivals that included a “who’s who” of culinary heavyweights from Spain and elsewhere, including Ferran Adrià (who announced his two-year sabbatical from his famed El Bulli restaurant), Sergi Arola, Grant Achatz, Alain Ducasse, Cheong Liew and Mark Best.
While there, I enjoyed an extravagant lunch at the 2 Michelin star rated Sergi Arola Gastro (www.sergiarola.es), a top restaurant in Madrid and probably one of my best dining experiences in Spain. It is presided over by avant garde chef Sergi Arola, who enjoys a unique culinary pedigree. A disciple of Ferrán Adrià (who has redefined culinary techniques with over-the-top creations like freeze-dried foie gras, atomized martinis and edible hibiscus paper) Arola trained in Adrià’s kitchen laboratory in Barcelona, working alongside the master chef for 8 years.
The 3-star Michelin restaurant Mugaritz (rated 3rd in the Top Fifty
Restaurants of the World) is high up in hills of Errenteria, Spain
twenty minutes outside of San Sebastian. It is surprisingly easy to get
to if you are an expert in Himalayan climbs, hairpin turns, and fluent
in the basque language called Euskara. After you arrive at this
culinary mecca, you remove your crampons, ice axe, and Formula One
racing helmet, and are ushered into their gorgeous kitchen sanctum. A
sparkling cava (Copa Cava Opus Evolutium Ad Private) is given to you to
sip. A discussion is then held between you and the various friendly
alchemists who will be cooking your meal regarding the philosophical
underpinnings of that evening's dishes.
I have been a news junkie since I was a child, probably because we only
had one TV with rabbit ears. Every night after supper, I sat with my
dad and watched the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.
