Adria in L.A.: The closest I'm getting to elBulli for a while

Chef Ferran Adria flanked by his translator and chef Jose Andres

World-famous chef Ferran Adria came straight from a presentation to Google employees last night for a reception at S Bar to introduce his new book A Day at elBulli, hosted by his former employee Jose Andres. He's on a whirlwind U.S. tour -- cooking with the NY Times' Allen Salkin Thursday, a talk with Anthony Bourdain at the New York Wine & Food festival Saturday, a stop in Toronto, and then the Cook's Libary on 3rd St. today. Manager Tim Fischer says the shop has taken reservations for some 200 people for the signing. Chefs including Alain Giraud, Nancy Silverton and an extremely expectant Suzanne Goin were at the reception, as well as the executive chef, pastry chef, general manager and sommelier of the new SLS hotel where Andres is launching Bazaar restaurant on Nov. 7.
A Day at elBulli is a massive 528 pages and about 15 pounds, full of color photos leisurely leading the reader through the preparations and meal at elBulli. It's quite astounding to read through the recipes and try to imagine making some of these creations -- each one has six or eight separate components, and each component calls for ingredients such as calcic, lecite or xantana. Even the non-molecular ingredients could be tricky to find, unless you know of a source for samphire, goose barnacle and cat's claw plant. I suspect, however, that the crunchy snack 3-Ds used in one canape could be replaced by Bugles.