Albert Adrià's search for the perfect formula continues at Enigma: the tasting menu is back, with the great pastry chef once again in the kitchen. "Now I have no doubts: Enigma will be a world reference.”
The news
Few things testify to the turbulence in the hospitality industry like the constant changes at Enigma, the flagship restaurant of Spanish avant-garde icon Albert Adrià. After twenty-seven interminable months of closure due to the COVID19 pandemic and the collapse of the elBarri group, which included two other restaurants owned by Albert Adrià, the Mexican Hoja Santa and the vermouth shop Bodega 1900, Enigma finally reopened last June, with a hybrid formula: at lunchtime restaurant, in the evening drinks and tapas.
@GIORGIO COTRINA
"It saved me from financial losses. When you eat you must drink and when you drink you have to eat. People came to enjoy themselves, but it was too much for the place. We were not ready for double service”. Hence the decision, towards the end of the summer, to change again and open only in the evening for dinner, from 6.30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Friday, offering 35 à la carte dishes.
@ Pep Sau
Now the Enigma, which has recently regained the MICHELIN Star lost through closure, is attempting a new solution: stop with the à la carte and offer only the tasting menu, consisting of 25 dishes at a price of 220 euros, excluding drinks, starting on the 6th of March. “I'm going back to the traditional model, I'm starting to cook again, I'm living a second youth because I'm now working serenely,” he comments. "In the past I tried to sell the restaurant, but it was very difficult. Who would take on such a huge restaurant, with so many uncertainties around? I would not have wanted to stay in the front line, hence all the trial and errors of the recent months.”
@Carlos Baglietto
"The arrival of the Michelin star has been a stimulus for the team. It has given us strength and put us on the map, because fine dining lives on tourism.” One star, however, is enough for him. "Winning stars takes many years of effort and one has to respect those who continue to fight for them" he continues, outlining his real goal: to fill the restaurant with customers. "The guides help, but the important thing is having a kitchen and a foundation behind it. The menu must be digestible, it cannot be heavy, everything must be measured and balanced. It must not upset my stomach, which is delicate.” The numbers, however, remain challenging: in a visionary 700 square metre futuristic space, there are 48 covers for 43 employees, who greet guests as they enter before the kitchen show.
@Sarjoun Faour - Estrella 2017
Source: El Pais
