The Dream of El Celler de Can Roca, the world's top restaurant

Barcelona (CNA).- El Celler de Can Roca, the world’s number one restaurant with three Michelin stars, has launched a new project called ‘El Somni’ (the Dream).  ‘The Dream’ consists in 12 acts of a banquet, as if it was an opera, except it is about cuisine. Their aim is to bring “a feelings explosion” to the 12 privileged people invited to the unveiling session of this experience on the 6^th May at the Arts Santa Mònica art centre, in Barcelona. The Roca brothers want to convey this experience to twelve other countries. ‘The Dream’ combines cuisine, wine, audiovisual sources in 3D, live music and direct interaction with the diner. Ferran Adrià was one of the first guests who received the invitations just a few days before the experience. All these elements are carefully thought out to bring the diner through 12 different emotional stages. For this reason, the music, the 3D projections, the menu and even the dishes themselves were created exclusively for this experience.

The videoartist Franc Aleu and five years of work is what the Roca brothers have needed to make this project possible. To make this experience last more than just one dinner, the Roca brothers are recording a film about all the process, produced and directed by Franc Aleu, who has worked with La Fura dels Baus, the avant-garde Catalan theatre company, and with Merce Cunningham’s New York Dance Company.

‘The Dream’ starts with some images about spring and romanticism but throughout the 12 acts the dinner guests will travel to the moon or to the sea and they will feel different sensations including carnal desire and even war and death. “Special effects can make Michelangelo’s David statue break down into pieces and splash blood on the tables”, explains creative director Franc Aleu.

Music is also a central element of this big project. The guests will sit at a round table in the center of the room and will be surrounded by giant screens and musicians. The Indian orchestra director, Zubin Mehta, the Catalan composer, Albert Guinovart or the singer Silvia Perez Cruz are some of the artists who are going to play live during the dinner. But there will also be a special string quartet. Four robots led by a computer will also play. These robots are designed by Rolland Olbeter, ex-violinist and mechanic engineer. As Franc Aleu explained, their intention is to create a ‘feelings explosion’ never before conceived in a restaurant. Therefore, the guest’s role is not passive; their movements can turn on sounds or 3D projections, for example.

An international project

Josep Roca, the sommelier of the restaurant, admits that this project aims to explore emotional limits. During the inauguration in Barcelona, neuroscientists and experts in sensory perception will also be present to analyse the guests’ reactions. One of their aims with this project is to take ‘The Dream’ out of Barcelona and bring it to another 12 countries in two years’ time. However, the challenge is to bring this project to the underground room of the El Celler de Can Roca in Girona.