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El Bulli - Cooking In Progress

Brendan_Lee_56950

I just finished watching this film. The amount of time and detail that goes into planning that menu looks maddening. Nobody in that film looks happy for like an entire year. There are small sly grins when a dish comes together but it seems so crazy-inducing to be in that environment day in and day out.

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matthew.snyder77

That obsession with detail is what separates the great from the geniuses. But it manifests differently from person to person. I've never met any of these exalted chefs (never mind worked with/for any of them), but from what little we can observe there are some who appear to be raving jackholes and others who appear to be having a laugh. Of the ones that come of as..... harsh...... I think of Achatz, Adrià, Dufresne, M. Voltaggio. Of the latter group, I think of José Andrés, Andoni Aduriz, Juan Mari Arzak, Alex Atala, Heston Blumenthal, Bottura. Depending on when you talk to him, David Chang could probably be in either group.

Honestly, I'm in no position to make any judgments or anything. Just going off the admittedly sparse amount of information we can glean from what we see on the picture tube.

But speaking to "Cooking In Motion", my wife and I actually cheered and did a little high five when Adrià tasted Oriol Castro's frozen vinaigrette dish for like the 19th time (I think the day before or the morning of the first service of the season) and his eyes lit up and he said "This is it". You could see genuine excitement on Adrià's face; after so many tries, he finally had something 'magical'.

Brendan_Lee_56950

Yeah for sure, that's about the only time he looked to be genuinely happy with something. I would think that this wore him down though, doing that year after year, nto accepting anything that isn't new and magical is probably why he decided to shut the place down. I would be curious to see if he's a healthier happier guy now.

Chris_Young_80640

It's funny. But I watch something like Cooking in Motion and I kind of miss that time in my life. I can say that, while it's not for everyone, it was a lot of fun being part of the kitchen team at a place like The Fat Duck. The work was hard, the standards of excellence unreal, but you felt like you were doing something that few people ever get to do.

And I know that many of the folks at El Bulli loved being in that kitchen too.

dpietranczyk_49940

@chris Agreed. I worked in restaurants for 7 years as a line cook and a sous chef. I miss the shit out of it, but at the same time there is much I don't miss. Looking back at Tru, Schwa, and Alinea I had some pretty awesome experiences.

matthew.snyder77

I think it's only natural to pine for those memories at least a little. When you're immersed in that kind of environment are you aware of the significance of what you're doing? Or is it more a case of being to totally submerged in the work that you only have a sort of passing understanding of context? I mean, we're talking some pretty rarefied air, here.

dpietranczyk_49940

Hopefully you are aware of everything that you are doing. At the same time, there's never really a chance to stop and take in the moment. All I ever thought was push push push, damn I'm hungry, push, damn I'm tired, push, what day is it, PUSH! I was making really beautiful and thought provoking food. I was also very conscious that I had no life outside of work. Now that I do, I kinda miss those endless days.