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World's best restaurant ever-surprising

What could a meal at el Celler de Can Roca entail? Think distillation of earth (aroma only), served with an oyster.

Joanna Savill

El cellar de Can Roca in Spain.
El cellar de Can Roca in Spain.Supplied

When Jordi Roca visited Australia last year as part of Crave Sydney International Food Festival, the youthful dessert chef proved a huge hit with World Chef Showcase audiences, despite his limited command of English.

His presentation included detailed videos showing the preparation of the elaborate and highly technical dishes he creates for the final courses at el Celler de Can Roca, the 26-year-old restaurant he shares with his older brothers Joan and Josep. These include his intricately beautiful "flower bomb" – a transparent sugar bubble containing rose custard, camomile sorbet, crystallised violets, jelly, honey, lychees and a cloud of purple fairy floss.

El Celler de Can Roca has just been named best restaurant in the World's 50 Best list, knocking Denmark's Noma from its coveted first position.

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Later that weekend last October, after a collaborative dinner with three-hat chef Martin Benn of Sepia, Roca was found at midnight in the Sepia kitchen, once again screening his videos (from his laptop, open on the kitchen bench) to a rapt group of young sous-chefs and apprentices.

This private master class was testament not only to the generosity of the youngest Roca brother, but also to his supreme skill with all things sweet. He has also made desserts inspired by perfumes (and vice versa) and a famously interactive dish that replicated a goal scoring moment by his soccer hero, Lionel Messi of Barcelona – complete with a series of football players, and a goal net, made out of meringue.

It may all sound a bit wacky, but to eat at el Celler is far from challenging. It's essentially a delicious, ever-surprising experience. The restaurant itself is in an unpretentious part of Girona, in Catalonia, not far from the Costa Brava beloved of British and German tourists.

The El Celler de Can Roca team accepting their award at the World's 50 Best, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
The El Celler de Can Roca team accepting their award at the World's 50 Best, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.supplied

Alongside the simple eatery run by the Rocas' mother, brothers Joan and Josep opened el Celler in 1986. In 2007 a new venue – featuring lots of natural wood-glass walls looking out onto a pretty courtyard, and an extraordinary wine cellar – set them firmly on their path.

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The three brothers are widely admired and respected. After the award was announced, elder statesman Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak (also consistently on the top 10 list and this year at number eight) expressed his pleasure and admiration for the trio.

"They have worked so hard and they truly deserve it," said his daughter and chef, Elena Arzak.

Innovative ... A Jordi Roca dessert.
Innovative ... A Jordi Roca dessert.Supplied

I ate at el Celler some years ago now but it stands out – along with Copenhagen's Noma, by the way, as well as Ferran Adria's el Bulli – as one of the most memorable dining experiences of my life. I still recall an almond and cherry gazpacho, with eel, a sandwich of lamb skin and fresh tomato and Jordi's amazing apricot-replica dessert – a crisp, "furry" ball of toffee filled with the most apricot-y ice-cream ever, that looked just like a real apricot fresh from the tree. I also remember visiting the cellar with Josep, who has created a number of experiential rooms, decorated to replicate the flavours of his favourite wine styles.

Joan Roca has assisted in pioneering a number of modern culinary techniques, including the use of sous-vide (vacuum sealing before poaching) as well as distillation – extracting the essence of an ingredient to use it in an altered form. And yes, famously, that includes a distillation of earth (aroma only), served with an oyster in a witty take on "surf and turf".

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The Rocas entered the World's 50 Best list eight years ago and have held the number two spot several times – behind Noma for the past two years, and previously, behind their Catalan neighbour Ferran Adria. On the morning of yesterday's announcements, they held a news conference at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental hotel in London to explain their latest project.

In the kitchen ... Jordi Roca during his visit to Sydney last year.
In the kitchen ... Jordi Roca during his visit to Sydney last year.Marco Del Grande

It's an opera/performance/installation and multi-media experience set around a special dinner table, reserved for just 12 people. The menu and the wines are designed to replicate, provoke and enhance human emotion.

They launch the first of these dinner "happenings", known in Catalan as el Somni (the Dream), in early May in Barcelona. It's an ambitious idea that will cost . . . well, they weren't quite sure of that detail. It probably doesn't matter. Bookings at el Celler – already at a premium – won't be getting easier to secure any time soon.

Joanna Savill was a guest of S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, sponsors of the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards.

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