40 years in 7 hours

Forty years of an incredible culinary adventure resumed in a mere seven hours! That is what exactly happened in early February in Copenhagen. For the lucky few that had a chance to attend, a very special dining experience titled SINERGIA took place just for three consequent days on Feb. 2-4th. At his holistic cuisine restaurant Alchemist, Danish chef Rasmus Munk hosted his idols, the Spanish groundbreaking chef brothers Albert and Ferran Adrià, staging an unforgettable meeting pushing the boundaries of creativity. Repeated for three days only, the gastronomic experience recreated a selection of iconic dishes from the past of menus of both Alchemist and Albert Adrià’s Enigma, as well as a selection of historical dishes from different periods of the legendary El Bulli’s 25-year history. Due to the high demand, a ticket lottery was organized, on condition that the participant paid the ticket price of 1500 euros. The dinner was divided into scenes, like an hours-long ancient Greek tragedy, with a prologue, five acts and a closing epilogue. During the seven-hour-long performance, 40 plus courses were served, each with a story to tell, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first opening of El Bulli.

This union of influential chefs has another story within. We have to wind back to the past. Ferran Adrià started working at El Bulli in 1983 and was joined by his brother Albert in 1985. Rasmus Munk was not even born then. At El Bulli Adrià brothers started to create a totally new language of food, playing with textures and tastes, they played with their food, getting the most from the knowledge science. It is interesting that though Rasmus Munk’s carrier was totally shaped around the influence of El Bulli, he never had a chance to eat there.

Last year in San Sebastian, on the 25th anniversary of the Gastronomika conference, I was astonished to hear about this fact listening to Munk on stage. Actually, it was not only him that was owed much to Spanish culinary revolution. Also, René Redzepi, who today influences the world of gastronomy and inspires young chefs with completely different approaches and projects. They both talked about how they he was influenced by Spanish chefs decades ago, especially El Bulli founded by Ferran Adrià, and how they took as a role-model Albert and Ferran Adrià's boundary-pushing culinary creativity. Rasmus Munk in particular openly admitted that the thing he regrets most is that he has never eaten at El Bulli. This is normal because Rasmus Munk was born in 1991 and El Bulli opened in 1983. Unfortunately, in 2011, the year he graduated from culinary college, Ferran Adrià announced his decision to close the restaurant. However, once fascinated by the restaurant's creativity, inventiveness, scientific approach and the impeccable use of technique, the young chef continued to follow in its footsteps. He became obsessed. “Thirteen years ago, I was an inexperienced eighteen-year-old trainee chef, that discovered a restaurant called El Bulli through the news that they were closing their doors. I read everything I could get my hands on about them, and I remember painstakingly translating the recipes and techniques from Spanish and Catalan back in 2010” he says. Even if he never once ate at El Bulli, he traced the dishes at the famous flagship restaurant Enigma where Albert Adrià carried on the El Bulli legacy, with the same mindset, and techniques, developing them even further. He also visited similar Barcelona restaurants that had the same DNA. With these influences, he founded Alchemist in Copenhagen, which is more of a holistic culinary experience, offering a gastronomic experience for the brain and thought.

Obsessed with the Adrià brothers, Rasmus, despite his young age, never gave up his dream of having a special event with them and finally came up with the idea of SINERGA, which reflects their influences. “I was very nervous when I approached Ferran and Albert about the idea. They had both been to Alchemist and were positive about the experience, but still, they are the closest you can get to ‘culinary royalty’ in this business. I was, of course, over the moon when they said yes. I am also delighted that they have generously agreed to be a part of our open symposium, where both the restaurant industry, the public, and restaurant students will have a chance to participate,” says Rasmus Munk.

Eventually the Alchemist team went to Roses, north of Barcelona, to visit the site of El Bull together with his research team. The restaurant, five times voted the best in the world, has been transformed into a museum, showcasing both its history and the results of the far-reaching culinary research of the El Bulli Foundation that has been Ferran Adrià’s biggest project since the closure of El Bulli.

The project came to life with the synergy that emerged from the common philosophy and values of both teams: passion, effort, freedom, respect, sharing, honesty and gratitude. Ferran Adrià was also excited to collaborate and said about the event: “Undoubtedly, Alchemist represents these values at their best. I am sure this synergy will be unique. Rasmus embodies creativity in its purest form and a way of understanding the gastronomic experience like never seen before.” Apparently, it was an event not to miss, well I have to admit that I missed it due to personal issues that did not allow me to leave home. But I feel like I’ve been there, having listened to both Rasmus on several conferences, and Ferran back in 2000 at Premio Slow Food event in Italy, I’ve been a dedicated listener but regrettably not a taster to both. I can feel their approach to cuisine. What I regret more however, was the symposium just before the dinners, titled “Beyond the Plate 2024,” which featured all three chefs explaining their cuisines and also hosting influential author Harold McGee, the uncrowned king of all chefs around the globe, who has been an ultimate guide with his books on science and food. He has witnessed this culinary revolution of El Bulli since its early days. The symposium featured Ferran Adrià’s talk on creative evolution, Harold McGee's nosedive into the world of the osmocosm and Albert Adrià's approach to “atemporal cuisine,” and surely their talks will be influential for years to come, especially to the lucky culinary students among the crowd audience.

The aftermath of this event will be talked about in years to come. I remember back in 2000, Ferran Adrià likened his cuisine to the architecture of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. I could not agree more, I said to myself then, it cannot be replicated, you will end up being Gaudíesque. Actually, I was both right and wrong, the creations were plagiarized several times by many other chefs in the world, but I was wrong, that his revolutionary approach would pave the way to further revolutions to come.

Rasmus Munk later wrote in his Instagram: “I’m completely mind-blown and grateful. It has taken me some days to digest what just happened last week, and I don’t believe that I have just yet. When I was 18 years old back in Jutland, I would have never, in my wildest dreams believed that one day I would have my own restaurant, where I would be allowed the honor of celebrating the legacy of El Bulli - not only with food, but also in shape of performances, music, art installations, and visuals in our planetarium dome. It has been unbelievable to stand side by side Ferran and Albert Adrià and serve over 150 guests from all around the world,” showcasing once again that creativity is contagious, and you never know where one’s influence would go “beyond the plate!”