Spanish Royalty.....

The Bar Inopia napkin ring: the Adria family, back in the day....

Txema and some old guy.......

A quick catch-up for all of y'all with real lives and real responsibilities.....

When I say "Spanish Royalty", I am talking about modern Spanish royalty. Things have changed. In Spain, in the new millenium......Britney does not exist on the horizon. Lindsay Lohan? Not even close. Hillary is not part of their reality. Barak.....yeah, baby....different story.

One is much more likely to find chefs in the gossip columns than rock stars or politicians.

The number one chef in Spain....and in the world, actually....... is Feran Adria.

Well, correct that.....The Spanish claim that one of their soccer teams (Real Madrid) is composed of Galactic quality stars......so on that level, Feran Adria is also a Galactico.

His restaurant, El Bulli, is the most famous restaurant in the world. Hidden away in a cove north of a quiet fishing town called Roses, El Bulli is only open from April to October. Reservations open on Halloween, and a year sells out in fifteen seconds, on line. There are websites you can go to that will help you with your application for a table: who you know might help, what you know might help, your timing might help.....it is a lot like websites that help you win the lottery. And, unlike the lottery.....you will pay $800 each for lunch at El Bulli if you win......

Feran is from a quiet working class family in Barcelona. He still lived in the family house in the off season....well, until his marriage......

Feran has a brother, Albert. Albert is responsible for all the crazy desserts.....sorry, not crazy.....inspired. OK...crazy. Parmesan olive oil ice....sheets of glass stabbed into your chocolate something something that shatter and melt when you touch them....or think about touching them.

Meanwhile, Albert and Feran are still hard-core Barca people. They bought a place on the west side and opened a bar that would serve traditional local food to locals. To help run the place they hired a buddy from the old 'hood, Joan....and a couple of other buddies from the soccer team to help cook.

Part of the Adria mystique.....a major part.....is the connection to Barca and Catalunya and the traditions of the past. I guess the secret we learned a while back is now out....Feran is closing El Bulli and going to open a traditional Catalunyan restaurant.

Well, he already has one: Bar Inopia.

For Americans, Inopia is a weird cross between a sushi bar, a Baskin-Robbins, and a Starbucks. There are few tables, mostly standup things. Everyone sits at the bar, and all the cooking is done behind the bar in plain sight. The food is traditional, local fare....with the emphasis on freshness...and total skill and perfection in the execution.

The chef is our friend, Txema....or Chema. Brendan met Txema at Mugaritz back in the day. They were among the 30 or so young chefs thrown into the snakepit that is a modern Spanish two-star kitchen, and they were among the few that floated to the top. Txema had skills.....at 15 he had already worked in Barca.....and at 17 he had already pulled a spot at El Bulli. This is like pitching for the Yankees at 15.

Albert and Feran believe in farming their guys out to learn new skills.......hence sending Txema to Mugaritz in Errenteria on the other side of Spain from Barca.

Brendan and Txema shared a room in Errenteria with four other chefs...there was almost enough room between the bunks to walk or slide by without waking the other guys up...but it didn't matter since they were only in the room about four or five hours a day. Txema and Brendan saw each other as kindred spirits.....and formed that Band of Brothers bond that used to require actual combat and exposure deadly force. Txema is the kind of friend that corny writers write about.....

When Amanda and I first came to Barcelona, we had long anticipated reservations at Comerc24. It went badly wrong, and Amanda wound up with food poisoning....we were poised to flee the city without seeing Txema. I called him and gave him the news....and he told me to wait five minutes and call back. When I did, he had talked to two guys at the bar, and arranged a comped penthouse suite on the Passeig de Gracia (the Fifth Avenue of Barca)....just because he and his boss did not want us to have a bad impression of their city.

Txema is a baller.....leaps tall buildings at a single bound....Kind, sensitive...an old soul. When Amanda explained the old soul concept to him, he stepped back with a big smile and said: "OK....now I get it! This is why it is so hard....and so easy!"

And he has worked a 100 hour week since he was fourteen. Right now he does a sixteen hour shift at Inopia.....well, there is a two hour break.....five days a week. He is off on Sunday, when he visits his mom and dad. On Mondays he goes in and does a graveyard shift at Escriba.....right now the world's best pastry shop. At Escriba, Txema is a mook....no one talks to him, and he does all the grunt work. He is just there to learn.

This summer Txema has a stage scheduled at Michel Bras.....and in the fall he is due to go to The Fat Duck. Next winter he is already scheduled for The Cachagua Store. He is so excited about that posting that he is already wearing our chef coat at every shift.....at Albert Adria's restaurant. He wore our coat when he did a week stage at El Bulli this summer, and when he did two days with Rafa in Roses.

























Wild mountain honey, and soft ripened sheep cheese.....both from secret sources in villages in the mountains outside Barca. Oh, and melocton (peach) liqueur made in house......





Txema is the man.....