Disfrutar

On Monday night, I had the privilege of dining at one of the best restaurants in the world. At some point over a year ago, I stumbled across this Wikipedia page, with the following table:

What stood out to me was how many Spanish flags appeared on this list. And looking a bit deeper, I realized that 2024’s top restaurant was located just a couple metro stops from my apartment, here in Barcelona. Reservations were regularly released a year in advance, and filled up immediately. One day in September 2024, Maria and I saw they had availability, and thought why not, let’s reserve a table for a year from now, we can always cancel later.

Well a year came and went and they called us a few weeks back to confirm our reservation. Their classic tasting menu is €315 per person. With serious apprehension about spending more on one night out that we typically would on a month of eating out, we confirmed. How many chances would we get to eat at the best restaurant in the world? I have to admit, I was scared of leaving the dinner disappointed, feeling like I didn’t get my money's worth.

We arrived at 7:45. A hostess soon greeted us, and started by taking us on a tour through the restaurant, passing through the kitchen and introducing us to two of the three head chefs. The three head chefs all started at El Bulli, a legendary Catalan restaurant that is responsible for a good chunk of the Spanish flags above. The chefs each took a couple moments to shake our hands and welcome us. We then were led to a fairly private table, something I wasn’t expecting. Having already decided on the classic tasting menu over the phone, we first chose a bottle of white wine. We were served by seven different waiters over the course of the evening, one of whom started by asking us to kindly advise them a couple courses in advance if we’d like to use the restroom so they could align on timing. Then, over the course of the next four hours, came 29 courses. Two things stood out to me - the emphasis on telling a story, and the flavor of the food itself. I think I expected the story-telling part of the experience, the funky plating and elaborate explanations. Some of it felt a bit cheesy, including a starting “menu” that was basically a word cloud of the sensations we were to experience, but I suppose some flair is necessary to achieve what they’ve achieved in this prestigious, competitive world. What impressed me more was the food itself. We kept remarking that each course was better than the one before, with rich and varied flavors that just hung around in your mouth in the most satisfying way for minutes after your last bite. Many of the dishes were hyper-modern reinventions of traditional Catalan and Spanish dishes, including a gilda, gazpacho, and suquet de peix. I think for my own enjoyment and reflection I'll probably do a full ranking of each course and attach it to this article. Here's a picture of our menu from the night:

For now, I'll try to give more of an overview, with a couple of highlights. An early highlight was three consecutive mushroom themed courses, one of which was my favorite dish of the night. The flavor of the mushroom leaf (pictured below) was just so perfect. Such an intense, rich mushroom flavor that grew more powerful the more you sat with it. It was warm and slightly crunchy and drizzled with a mushroom butter and just delicious.

There were bells and whistles as well. There was a golden egg that wasn't an egg, but a spicy, thai-inspired yolk imitation. There was an olive that we were told to consume in one bite that wasn't an olive but a shell that exploded in our mouths with an enhanced bitter olive juice. Upon the arrival of one dish, we were asked to keep our backs flat against our chairs, and were asked to reach behind a two way mirror to retrieve what appeared to be our food, but was actually just empty space. It ended up being a delicious corn-topped foie pate, and we were told that the ruse was intended to play on the way we begin to salivate with the expectation of flavors to come before we actually consume.

It would be easy enough to cynically scoff at these cheesy gimmicks, and while I don't think they added a ton, I understand the intention to create a fuller experience.

There were a couple of drinks mixed in throughout, including a delicious truffle vodka, a false fish-based "cappuccino", a liquid cucumber/tomato salad, and a warm apple cider. Of the larger dishes, a fish stew that I couldn't stop calling "perfect" and an eel/pancetta/pesto/parmesan dish stood out as favorites.

We left the restaurant around midnight. In addition to the food and the story, the details stood out. The restaurant was absolutely beautiful, with colors inspired by Miro and beams and bars inspired by Barcelona markets. The kitchens were absolutely bustling, packed with stations dedicated to deserts, meat, vegetables, etc. At every step around the restaurant there was someone from the staff attending to our needs. The bathrooms were equipped with toothbrush kits, lotion and cologne, along with an attendant that offered to show us their impressive bodega. When we returned to our tables we always had fresh napkins. Food was always served synchronously, by two waiters, with plates hitting the table simultaneously. They gave us beautifully enveloped menus to remember the evening, showing the year of invention of each dish. I think realizing the years invested into this perfect menu and the years of growth before rising to the number one spot in the world helped to emphasize how special the evening had been. Every single detail was done right, and I definitely didn’t walk out disappointed. I may never spend that much on a single meal again, but I don’t regret my night at Disfrutar.

Thanks for reading! I also want to quickly note the EXTREME privilege I have to be able to spend that absurd amount on one night of food. Taking the metro back home, seeing the poverty present in the city around me, and thinking about how far that money could go if used differently is jarring and shameful. I'm crazy lucky to get to enjoy a night like this.