Albert Adrià Shows Off His New Playground,
41° and Tickets
Tuesday, January 25, 2011, by Gabe Ulla
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[Photos: Gabe Ulla/Eater.com]
Albert Adrià — the increasingly visible member of the elBulli team — doesn't ever stop moving, talking,
gesticulating, planning, and dreaming. Fortunately, the one-two punch of 41 Degrees and Tickets, the new
projects Adrià and his brother Ferran are opening on Barcelona's Paral-lel, seems the perfect playground
for his rustic energy.
We visited the spots last week, just two days after elBulli had kicked off its final season and one day after
the debut of the cocktail bar 41 Degrees. Due to delays in construction, Tickets, the ambitious but casual
restaurant that adjoins it, will now open at some point in February.
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41 Degrees
With 41 Degrees, the brothers hope to bring mixology to a country that doesn't seem to venture past the gin
tonic (if you employ the "and" in Spain, you're sunk). "There are maybe five cocktail bars in all of Barcelona
that do it right, and we want to change that," Albert said. He wasn't joking; when I ordered a Tom Collins, he
grinned and confided, "Those are good. I didn't know what it was until we decided to open this place."
According to several people involved in the project, the seemingly peculiar name carries some significance.
When they were listing possible names for the bar, one of the many options was to use the coordinates to
the space, which start with "41." Taking into account the fact that plenty of liquor proofs hover around 40,
that Albert turned 41 this year, and that it just sounds right, they went with the first two digits.
For the moment, the bar is offering a roster of classic cocktails, all priced at 12 Euro. But Albert seems
intent on innovating after the place has gotten off the ground. There's already some indication of this on the
menu, which has a blank gin tonic page towards the end that reads, "Coming Soon." Albert plans to develop
ten variations of the drink, but didn't go into specifics. He did, however, mention that one of his preliminary
ideas for the space was to call it Jim and Tonic and to develop two characters à la Tom and Jerry as the
locale's theme.
Also on offer is a short menu of "snacks." Here you'll find oysters, as well as both Andalucian Riofrío caviar
and Siberian "Schrencki" caviar. Understandably, though, the biggest draw on the food side is the list of
twelve tapas culled from the elBulli archive. It includes the famous olive sphere, Mexican chicharrones with
seasoning, and pistachios wrapped in crunchy, acidic yogurt.
Albert, Ferran, and their associates in this venture, the owners of the established Barcelona seafood
restaurant Rías de Galicia, envision the 35-seat bar as a place for patrons of Tickets to come and have a
drink before or after dinner. But judging by the line that had formed outside by 9 PM, it seems a little
unlikely. As was the case with Inopia, the classic tapas bar nearby that Albert closed to make way for this
project, the goal here is to run a business that is more accessible than elBulli. There's no doubt they'll be
able to please more folks, but smart money says not everyone will have a seat at the table — or bar. It
comes with the territory.
Rías de Galicia co-owner Juan Carlos Iglesias explained that he had never experienced anything like it:
"We're getting hundreds of calls at my other restaurant... There's a Galician lady who's worked with us for
years. She doesn't speak English and now has to deal with press requests from Holland. People want to get
into Tickets, and the place hasn't even opened yet."
Both spaces draw inspiration from their location in the city's theater district. 41 doesn't go all-out in this
regard, but the influence is evident in the menu's typefaces, the projected logo, the film reel tables, the
sheep skulls, and the velvet. If you don't look hard enough, you could say that this cocktail bar fits on
Melrose or Sunset. In the end, however, it remains a kitsch though surprisingly pleasant imagining of
Hollywood from a group of talented Spanish guys.
Based on the Tom Collins, they've got the most important part down.
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[Photos: Gabe Ulla/Eater.com]
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Tickets
Tickets is a bit like a theme park attraction — tapeo as James Cameron might do it. The 90-seat space
consists of five main bars, each of which will be dedicated to preparing a different aspect of the
menu. Nostromo 180286 will handle the innovative tapas, the Garage will specialize in grilling and pan
tumaca, La Estrellawill (not surprisingly) handle the booze, La Dolca will do sweets, and La Presumida, or
"vain one," because it is the longest, will do hot mains, seafood, and charcuterie.
Some early reports suggested that Tickets would be a walk-in restaurant. Not so. Ferran, Albert, and the
Rias team are developing an online reservations system for the 90-seat business. Some tables will be set
aside for those without reservations, as well as friends that might need to be squeezed in.
The brothers have a lot on their hands, but faced with the prospect that these two spots will soon be the
only places of theirs with paying customers, Albert doesn't seem worried. "I can do so many things in this
new project...innovating, researching old recipes, exploring the cuisine of the Canary Islands." And it
doesn't stop there: "It won't happen next week, but maybe I'll open an authentic ceviche bar in the
neighborhood, or a taco spot with the lady from El Bajío."
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