Getting Into elbulli: The Intrepid Culinologist Rachel Zemser on an Encounter in Madrid in January 2011

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 While there (at Madrid Fusión--I was lucky enough to meet the El Famoso writer Gerry Dawes who has been writing about Spain forever and knows practically every single restaurant owner in the entire country!

Me, being the gusty consultant that I am-politely asked Gerry if he knew anyone at El Bulli and perhaps he could see if there were any open tables! I figured .. HEY it never hurts to ask!

Gerry Dawes, Rachel Zemser and Greg Grossman having fun at dinner at Casa Lucio during Madrid Fusion 2011.

 

Gerry made a few calls and the next thing we knew, we were on a train to Barcelona -where we would rent a car and drive to Rosas and eat what would be (although I didn’t know it at the time) the best and worst meal of my entire life!

And so I will continue this story next week where I will tell you all about our Madrid tapas crawl the night before,  my unfortunate encounter with food poisoning and the dinner I hardly got to enjoy.

Its interesting how the random occurances in life lead you down a path that takes you to dinner at the most famous restaurant in the world. -- Rachel Zemser, The Intrepid Culinologist

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“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . .the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” – The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

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"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. Chef Chiarello toured northern Spain with me in October 2011 and was just in Barcelona again in January 2013.  He is preparing to open his new Spanish inspired restaurant, Coqueta, at San Francisco's Pier 5 in April.

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"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

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Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

In 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. 

 ". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts.

 

Mr. Dawes is currently working on a reality television series
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com