Case Creativity: Ferran Adri1

While there are many exciting chefs throughout Spain, the man who is redefining haute cuisine into alta cocina is a prodigiously talented, self-taught Catalan Ferran Adri. The New York Times Magazine, August 10th 2003 The latest wave in cooking incorporates ingredients from all over the world, in unlikely combinations. The emblem of this movement is Ferran Adri, the chef-owner of elBulli, on the Costa Brava, in Spain.... The New Yorker, May 12th 2003 elBulli, the best restaurant in the world. Restaurant Magazine, 2007

elBulli is happiness, a new way of understanding and practicing haute cuisine that seeks to make diners happy for the duration of the meal. Built on the legacy of the original restaurant founded in Cala Montjoi more than 45 years ago, the evolution of elBulli is the outcome not only of exuberant imagination, but also of hard work and persistence. While Ferran Adri is elBullis most visible face, the restaurant is the creation of a great team and not of a lonely genius: To stay at the top, you need the very best team. What makes us different is that were one big family and we have the best possible team, explains the chef.2 This talented, committed and ebullient family has a nucleus that endures over time and ensures its stability and fringe members that change over the years, allowing for its continuous renewal. The nucleus consists of the restaurants owners, Ferran Adri and Juli Soler, 50% each of elBulli in all respects. They define their relationship as a marriage, and as the chef explains, I take care of creating new dishes, and Juli and I deal equally with financial matters. As for the brothers Ferran and Albert, their creative relationship is a perfect symbiosis: Ferran and I have a great creative relationship, expressed in the connection and harmony that are produced between his creations and mine. This results in a sense of continuity during the meal, explains Albert. 3 Similarly strong is the relationship of Albert Adri and Oriol Castro, the pair that - along with Ferran Adri is at the heart of the creativity workshop. In addition, a series of other first rate chefs who could have opened and successfully run their own elite restaurants carry on working with Ferran in elBulli.

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1

2007 Marcel Planellas y Silviya Svejenova, Professors of the Business Policy Department, ESADE Business School, 60-62 Pedralbes Av., 08034 Barcelona, Spain. This manuscript has been prepared on the basis of the presentation Creativity: Ferran Adri, which took place at ExpoManagement on 24 May 2006 in Madrid. 2 Adri, in Oppenheim, C.H. (2003). La magia de Ferran Adri. Bonvivant. August, p. 31. 3 Albert Adri, in Wright, C (2001). ElBulli: The Science of Desert. Pastry Art & Design, February, p. 46.

THE (HUMBLE) BEGINNINGS OF THE WORLDS BEST RESTAURANT elBulli started out as a modest minigolf course in 1961. Its founders, the German homeopath Hans Schilling and his wife of Czechoslovakian origin, Marketta, named the business elBulli after bulli, as they playfully called their French bulldogs. Two years later, the elBulli golf course became a beach bar frequented by local diving enthusiasts, before being converted in 1964 into a restaurant serving roast chicken and barbecue fish along with other simple dishes. It was in the 1970s that the restaurant began to serve more sophisticated, French dishes including flambed sea bass and fennel and double sirloin steak with barnaise sauce. The French influence became even more pronounced with the arrival of chef Jean-Louis Neichel in 1975. A year later, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star. When the restaurant was closed in the winter, Neichel was sent to work with a distinguished French chef and visited leading European restaurants in search of inspiration. In 1981, however, Neichel announced that he was moving to Barcelona, and Marketta began to seek a new team. This was when she met Juli Soler in a bar. Following an interview with Dr. Schilling, Markettas husband, Juli was hired on December 25th 1981 to manage one of the best restaurants in Catalonia. This is how Juli Soler remembers it:
At that time, a table at elBulli was already different to tables in other restaurants in Spain. Even the cutlery, glassware and china were imported from Germany and drew their inspiration from the great restaurants of the time, belonging to Alain Chapel, Jacques Pic, and so on. The service, consideration in short, the way the restaurant was run, were also based on these models. the Doctor suggested I do two months of intensive travelling, visiting the best restaurants in France, Belgium and Germany. On my return, in the middle of March 1981, I was ready to face my first season as manager. elBulli was an enchanting place, getting there was almost an adventure, but thanks to our clientele and word of mouth, Germans, French and a good many Catalans came to savour a cuisine that, although very different to that of today, was already in the forefront of new European trends. Jean-Paul Vinays menu was very much in the nouvelle cuisine line, with light influences from his home town, Lyon, and from Michel Gurard, as one of the last places he had worked had been in his restaurant; and added to all this was the quality of the best produce from our region: the best home-grown vegetables, succulent fish and shellfish, and so on. And then, of course, there was our philosophy, our interest above all in giving pleasure to the diner, so that he would leave the place a satisfied and happy man. In fact, inspired by unwritten, but everpresent guidelines, we ensured, and still do, that the atmosphere in elBulli was unique.4

Ferran Adri entered elBulli in 1983 on one months leave from his military service in the navy in Cartagena. His previous experience in other restaurants had enabled him to work in the admirals kitchen where he had to serve a new menu every day. This is Adris explanation of what happened in that era:
By chance, at the beginning of that year, another budding young chef, also Catalan, was posted to the kitchen to assist me. He was Ferm Puig, now chef at the prestigious Drolma restaurant in Barcelona. As everyone knows, military
4

Source: History of elBulli (www.elBulli.com).

service has its rules, its hierarchies, its rituals and customs. In that kitchen, the old hand was me, and the new boy, Ferm. Whether it was to win my confidence or to share experiences outside the barracks, the fact was that that spring, he suggested that during our months leave in August, I should do a stint in elBulli, a restaurant on the Costa Brava where he had worked. He told me it was one of the best in Spain, and that it had two Michelin stars. Little did he know that at that time I had no idea what that meant. However, I took note of what he said and perhaps began making plans to spend a pleasant summer at the beach; in fact this is probably what influenced my decision, rather than the idea of going to work in a restaurant during my months leave. Meanwhile, we devoted ourselves to our first culinary experiments, and I made my first foray into nouvelle cuisine guided by chefs such as Michel Gurard and the Troisgros brothers, thanks to the books that Ferm had brought with him. For several months, we copied the dishes from these recipes and served them to the Admiral. This was "act one" of the five acts making up my career in El Bulli, five decisive moments that may be summarised as follows: the summer job in 1983, joining the staff at the end of March 1984, my promotion to chef de cuisine along with Christian Lutaud in October 1984, taking over the kitchen on my own in March 1987 and the setting up of the partnership with Juli in 1990. The most remarkable thing about all this is that chance was what determined my career, except for the last item, which was the only thing consciously planned. Everything else happened as I have related it, it is true, but it could easily have turned out otherwise. The only thing I am sure of is that elBulli changed my life and made me what I am. It only remains for me to thank all those who have done their bit to turn elBulli into something more than just a restaurant: it is a way of understanding life.5

Ferran thoroughly enjoyed his one-month stay at elBulli, and at the end of his military service, he joined the restaurant in March 1984. In October of that year, he and Christian Lutaud became the head chefs, jointly responsible for the modest kitchen of about 50 square metres. Very few people used to come to the restaurant between October and January, so the co-chefs had time to visit the greatest restaurants of French haute cuisine and complete their training with some of their famous chefs. Ferran went to work with Georges Blanc and Jacques Pic, and Christian, with Troisgros and Michel Chavran. In 1985, Albert Adri, Ferrans younger brother, joined the elBulli team, specialising in desserts as time went by. Between 1983 and 1986, the elBulli team conducted a thorough overhaul of its legacy of classical cuisine and nouvelle cuisine, producing its own versions of these recipes. In 1987 Ferran became the restaurants only chef and discovered his growing commitment to the profession. A simple sentence left an indelible stamp on the direction of his career, Creativity means not copying, something he had heard the famous French chef Jacques Maximin say in 1987 in a demonstration he was giving at the Escoffier Foundation in Cannes. These are Adris thoughts:
This simple sentence was what brought about a change in approach in our cooking, and was the cut-off point between "re-creation" and a firm decision to become involved in creativity. After getting back to the restaurant, we were convinced that
5

Source: History of elBulli (www.elBulli.com).

we needed to use major cookery books less and less and try to find an identity of our own. This was the start of our plunge into creativity in elBulli.6

Inspired by Maximin, Adri embarked upon a search for creativity and personal style. By 1996 his commitment to creativity had crystallised and the chef and his team were convinced that creativity, surprise and innovation would be the driving forces in elBulli.7

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THE BIRTH OF A SINGULAR STYLE The passion for creativity that Adri had just discovered unleashed a search for freedom. In 1987, elBulli began to close for five months, a period that was subsequently extended to half a year from October 1st to April 1st. What was originally a necessity imposed by a lack of demand and the massive overheads of keeping the restaurant open, became a basic characteristic of the elBulli business model after a few years: being the only way for the team to keep up the high standards of creativity it was committed to. The spare time gained by closing the restaurant was duly dedicated to learning from two very advanced chefs of that period, Michel Bras and Pierre Gagnaire. Adri explains how they influenced the elBulli approach to cuisine in these terms:
From Gagnaire we learnt something that may be summed up thus: Everything is possible. With Bras we discovered sensitivity, the world of nature, respect for the pronounced flavour of each product, to a level that we had never experienced up to then, a cooking concept based on purity. The enthusiasm they aroused in us began to mark our cuisine, with a combination of a regional-based style, which had been our trademark up to then, and a more avant-garde style that had no roots.

The teams efforts began to pay off. In 1990, elBulli regained the second Michelin star it had had in the previous decade. The Academia Nacional de Gastronoma awarded Juli Soler the distinction of the best matre dhte, and two years later Ferran Adri received the best chef award. But what made 1990 different from any other year in the history of elBulli was the constitution of elBulli, S.L. by Juli Soler and Ferran Adri and their purchase of the restaurant from the Schilling family. This gave them free hand for designing elBullis future. This recently-acquired freedom was applied first to the elBulli facilities, and in 1991 the development of a massive infrastructure was undertaken: the car park and patio were remodelled, but the dining area was left untouched. Nevertheless, the heaviest investment occurred in 1993 in the new kitchen which expanded from its original 50 sq.m. to a spacious area totalling 325 m with the very finest fittings. Inspiration was drawn from French masters such as, for example, the Troisgros brothers of Roanne.
6 7

Source: History of elBulli (www.elBulli.com). Adri, F.A., Soler, J., & Adri, A. (2003). elBulli 94-97, p. 271.

However, Ferran Adri was aware that the new kitchen was not enough if they were to maintain the highest standards of creativity. In 1994 he and his team realised that if their cuisine was to progress, their efforts should be channelled beyond the creation of new recipes and towards the creation of new concepts and techniques:
From then on, the technique-concept search was our main creative pillar, without abandoning other styles and methods, and this gave rise in subsequent years to our foams, new pasta, new ravioli, the frozen savoury world, new caramelisation, and so on. Technique-concept creativity almost certainly marks the most important difference between a cuisine that is merely creative and one that is constantly evolving.

The technical and conceptual creativity that the team embarked upon laid the foundations for the singular elBulli style, which they described in 23 key points that define their approach (see Appendix 1).

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PASSION FOR CREATIVITY Ferran Adris passion for creativity arose in the wake of Maximins emblematic phrase Creativity means not copying, a passion that the chef and his team began to manifest in a variety of ways. In 1992, for example, Adri spent the entire winter with the sculptor (friend and customer) Xavier Medina Campeny in his Palo Alto workshop in the Poblenou district of Barcelona. There Ferran created dishes (without having to cook in the restaurant) whilst Xavier made sculptures. They then ate Ferrans creations and talked about art. This exposed Adri to a creative mind and a hitherto unknown art world with all its possibilities for inspiration and gastronomic innovations that these opened up. This was the seed of the idea for the famous elBulli creativity workshop: a new concept in the profession at that time which gradually spread throughout the haute cuisine world, making increasing demands for on-going creativity. Two years later, in response to the need to professionalise the creative process, a creative team was constituted. The members of the team developed new ideas in their spare time before and after the restaurant opening hours since it was not yet possible to have anyone dedicated fulltime to creativity on the elBullis pay roll. 1995 was another emblematic year in the development of the elBulli creative model. The first creativity workshop prototype emerged in the Talaia restaurant in the Barcelona Olympic Port. This is the tale of elBulli in that period:
the consolidation of our winter closure period gave us a few months to concentrate solely on the creative process without having to worry about daily service in the restaurant. We needed to find a place where we could work in total liberty and tranquility, and the solution came with the opening of the Talaia restaurant in the Olympic Port in Barcelona, for which we were consultants at the

time. So, we often used to go to the Talaias kitchen between 4 and 7pm to conduct our experiments. We did this right through the year, although it was not until 1996 that this activity became consolidated, with the collaboration, through the Talaia, of Marc Singla, Carles Abelln and Sergi Arola. They were two extremely fruitful years, when we made definite strides towards realising our dream, a Workshop devoted exclusively to creativity the year round.

When elBulli received its third Michelin star in 1997, it was increasingly difficult to combine constant creativity with the absorbing demands of the business. The idea of a workshop devoted to creativity, said Adri, occurred the day I realised how difficult it was to combine constant creativity with very little spare time and all the obligations and responsibilities entailed in running a restaurant.8 It was another emblematic French chef, Jol Robuchon, who advised them to separate the creative activity from work in the restaurant:
we gradually came round to the idea of the need to set up a workshop, but we did not know how and where to do so. The first step that occurred to us, and the most reasonable, was to visit a culinary workshop to see how it worked, and on that basis, set up our own tailor-made workshop. But to our surprise, after asking a good many professionals in the sector, we realised that nobody knew of any establishment of this type. So we decided that, rather than taking on too much risk at the start, we would set up our workshop in the premises of our outside catering company in the Barcelona Aquarium. In the beginning, we made use of a corner of the office for our theory work, and a section of the kitchen for our experiments. Albert and Oriol devoted themselves exclusively to the Workshop, while Ferran divided his time between there and his work in elBulli.

In 2000, the workshop moved to permanent, purpose-built facilities in an eighteenthcentury palace on Portaferrissa street in Barcelona. The workshop began to combine the restaurants need for creativity with a string of other activities that the elBulli team had been developing. In 2001, they began to open the restaurant evenings only since the nature of their menus required a great deal of time and work, making it difficult to serve two sittings a day. This made it possible to use the restaurants kitchen facilities to experiment more which in turn increased creative opportunities. elBullitaller was, as the chef liked to call it, a home for pure creativity. Its aim was to provide new ideas for the restaurant each year. Open all year round, it employs twelve professionals organised in four different teams with an annual investment of some 250,000 euros. The latest development was the incorporation of a scientific department into the workshop, for they had realised that the scientific processes involved in cooking were the basis for its evolution. In the workshop, the chef and his team painstakingly recorded every combination made during the experimentation and creation process. Similarly meticulous note-taking occurs when the team goes idea hunting. Adri explains what they do. We jot down everything that catches our eye in a notebook and when we get home, we transfer these notes to a
8

Oppenheim, C.H. (2003). La magia de Ferran Adri. Bonvivant. August, p. 29.

general notebook along with lots more ideas not always related to our travels. When we decide to start work on the following season, this is the database we use. The dishes prepared in elBulli the following year come out of all these notes. Jotting down these ideas helped them at the end of a period, usually a year, to identify the new ideas that have cropped up and to come up with a sort of annual report on creativity. Just like in R&D labs, of the some 5,000 experiments conducted in the workshop, about 125 recipes were finally incorporated into the following years menu (see Appendix 2 for the 2006 season menu).

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THE BUSINESSES
Im not a businessman. In fact, I dont even like business. Ive done this, quite simply, to achieve creative freedom. Ferran Adri

Although the workshop was the source of constant stream of new ideas, it was the business that paid the bills and made the elBulli business model financially sustainable. Revenue was generated mainly through consulting projects and elBullis own businesses. These were a means to an end. As the chef explained, I was never mad about the business side of things. First, it was a search for survival and later, for creative freedom. In this respect, Adri comments, I run a catering business and am gradually incorporating what I have discovered in elBulli. I call it prt--manger. I cant use this name for the company because its already been registered in London, but the concept is perfect: autumn-winter and spring-summer cuisine collections.9 Consulting Projects. In 1999 elBulli started offering consulting service. Their first client was the Borges group, one of the main producers of Mediterranean diet foodstuffs and the owner of everything from agricultural plantations to subsidiaries selling packaged products. Specifically, the elBulli team collaborated with their oil business, developing aromatic oils, vinaigrettes and other products. The consulting services were focused on providing distinguishing features for products and services on the market, mainly in the food, drinks and hotel industry. These activities required certain organisational adjustments that led to the creation of a new space elBullicarmen not far from the chefs creativity workshop, on the other side of the Rambla in Barcelona, near the famous Boquera market at the heart of Barcelona.:
During 2000 and 2001, the Workshop overflowed with activity. On the one hand, we were concerned about creativity for the restaurant, but then there were other projects on the go, like elBullihotel, we acted as consultants for companies (Kaiku, Caprabo, Borges, NH and Lavazza, among others) and wrote up this work. All these interests together represented too much activity, total madness. To ensure that the strict creativity for the restaurant was in no way affected by this expansion of our other activities, we had to devote the Workshop in Carrer Portaferrissa
9

Adri, in Fancelli, A. (1999). Ferran Adri: El mejor cocinero del mundo. El Pas Semanal, p. 22.

exclusively to this purpose. At the same time, we wanted to give a specific space and team to these new activities, and here elBullicarmen came fully into its own. They are two sides of the same coin, two personalities in a single body ...: one focused on creativity for the restaurant, the other was devoted to the businesses, although also creatively.10

Ferran Adri was particularly proud of the collaboration with NH Hotels, a company he and his team had developed two revolutionary concepts for: Nhube and Fast Good. NH Hotels had hired him to modernise their restaurants, and the first thing the great chef suggested was that they close them and then reopen them with a new concept. Nhube was a new, multi-purpose space in NH Hotels designed to act as an all-in-one restaurant, reading room, lounge and cafe-bar. The fare was a range of simple, traditional, homemade Spanish dishes giving the impression of being at home. Another revolutionary concept the chef developed for NH Hotels was Fast Good: reworked fast food that acknowledged the changes in social habits and attempted to deal with them by applying a dignified concept of fast food. In addition to NH Hotels, the chef offered consulting services and developed concepts for multinational food and drink companies such as Lavazza, Nestl, Pepsico and United Biscuits. Collaborations. elBullis relationship with the design world dated back to the mid 1990s when they contacted young designers in Barcelona to help them create new serving dishes that suited their culinary creations. They have also worked in conjunction with CIM (Cermica Industrial Montgatina - Montgatean Industrial Ceramics) to create sets of crockery and ICC (International Cooking Concepts) on the production of cooking utensils such as the famous PacoJet. Items with a marked character and personality have emerged from these collaborations. These partnerships have recently expanded to the launch of new initiatives including: Ferran Adri by Armand Basi, a line of kitchen and home textiles for the Spanish fashion label; Texturas, a new line of emulsifiers, gelling agents and products created by Ferran and Albert Adri to encapsulate food in spheres, produced by Sol Graells; and Faces Ferran Adri, a project in which the chef and a group of leading designers, such as Luki Huber, Claramunt and De Mas, Aza and Molin, and Estudi Arola, have been working together on since spring 2006 to create new objects for the kitchen and the table. Faces had the backing of an industrial partner, Cunill Orfebres, specialised in manufacturing stainless steel products. Own businesses. Over the years, elBulli opened businesses of their own, mostly in catering (elBullicatering) and publishing (elBullibooks). elBullicatering was founded in 1995 to give a wider public access to the restaurants dishes at specific events. elBulli was one of the first restaurants to expand their trade in this way. The concept was transferred from Barcelona to Madrid, where an elBulli catering outlet was set up in the Madrid casino in collaboration with NH Hotels.
10

Adri et al., 2002, p. 431.

Another source of revenue was the courses organised in Cala Montjoi between 1993 and 1999, which were a way of disseminating the restaurants singular philosophy and earning some income whilst the restaurant was closed. Teaching others about elBullis cuisine forced the team to think about its characteristic traits and development, resulting in the birth of elBullibooks. The first book published by elBulli was El Bulli. El sabor del Mediterrneo, published in 1993. Unlike other books of that period, this was not a recipe book. It focused on the philosophy and the methods of its new style of cuisine. So that book embodied our desire to codify our cuisine from a theoretical viewpoint, an approach upheld in the following books. Albert Adri subsequently published another book addressing the concepts and techniques in the world of deserts: Los postres de El Bulli. The books were the outcome of reflection. Adris interest in reflection dated back to the time when all innovation, production and service took place in the restaurant. For example, Carles Abelln, the chef of Comer 24 in Barcelona and a former member of the core elBulli team in that period, explains that Adri made me question everything, rethink everything There was one requirement: the interest to comprehend the why of everything. It was about a very tight collaboration and evolution, which the entire team lived profoundly. It was like an open colloquium We used to spend 24 hours a day together.11 As Albert Adri also explained, Back at the workshop, we start off with different tests. At four oclock, [we] get together and assess what weve done, bringing together all the ideas and sensations that have come up throughout the day.12 The books were a way of disseminating the chefs influence whilst protecting his creations in an industry with no other copyright protection mechanism. The only way we have to combat plagiarism is by publishing our books. In these, we set out our recipes, how each dish is made, etc. Basically, it is like patenting our recipes, said the chef.13 The first part of the elBulli general catalogue was published in 2002. The trilogy was launched in luxury volumes covering the periods between 1983 and 2002: elBulli19982002, elBulli1994-1997 and elBulli1983-1993. The cataloguing carried on, giving rise to the publication of additional volumes: elBulli2003, elBulli2004 and elBulli2005. elBullibooks was founded in the 2000s during the teams search for an editor for the books they had been developing as their cuisine evolved. When they failed to find a publisher for the large, premium-quality volumes they wanted to produce, they decided to take the plunge and create their own publishing house. Once again, driven by necessity, over the years elBullibook acquired a personality of its own and began to become profitable.

11

Abelln, in Moret, X. (2005). Carles Abelln, un cocinero en moto. A Prologue. In Abelln, C. Carles Abelln: Las tapas de Comer 24, Barcelona, Spain: Carton, pp. 33-34. 12 Albert Adri, in Vicente, A. (2003). Albert Adri. Director of the ElBulli workshop. Diario Vasco. February 11th. 13 Adri, in Molina, V. (2005). La suma de dos talentos. Revista Fuera de Serie (Expansin), September, #77, pp. 38-39.

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RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIETY As Adris fame continued to grow (he had become a very famous figure in Spain and also one of the Spanish brands best-known internationally14), he became increasingly concerned about the role of science and gastronomy in the promotion of healthy eating habits amongst present-day and future generations. As a result, and despite his extremely crowded agenda, he enthusiastically embraced the proposal made to him by Adolf Tod. The savings bank Caixa Manresas Director had asked the chef to support and advise ALICIA (an acronym for alimentacin and ciencia, meaning nutrition and science in Spanish), the foundation recently created under the auspices of Caixa Manresa and the Generalitat of Catalonia. The aim of the Foundation, whose new headquarters were to be located in the soon to be refurbished Sant Benet de Bages monastery, was to advance research into nutrition processes, health and gastronomy and to contribute to these social and cultural goals by implementing programmes to improve nutrition and conducting research in order to understand the history of nutrition and gastronomy better. Willing to bring his cuisine closer to a great number of people, in October 2004 Ferran Adri published a DVD collection entitled La cocina fcil de Ferran Adri (Ferran Adris easy cuisine) offering a straightforward, affordable introduction to some of the chefs concepts and techniques that could easily be used in viewers homes to prepare everyday meals. Adri became increasingly involved in research and training with the creation of the Ferran Adri School of Gastronomic Culture and Food Science at the Camilo Jos Cela University in Madrid. Among the subjects covered by this school were: food safety, nutrition, food composition, educating the palate and culinary creativity. Another initiative making the elBulli cuisine accessible to more people was the opening of Albert Adris Inopia Classic Bar at the junction of Rocafort and Tamarit streets in one of Barcelonas modest neighbourhoods. This establishment was a return to the origins of tapas bars, a truly Spanish concept. According to elBulli sources its aim extended beyond financial and business interests. It sought to offer not only food but also food for thought on the eternal dispute between creativity and tradition.

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REACHING FOR THE STARS Ferran Adri is fully aware of the importance of opinion leaders and the media in broadcasting his fame and influence:
It is well known that in life, you are what other people say you are. Having said this, there have been two important moments in my career: the first was when the

14

Exclusive ranking Who are the most profitable walking brands, Actualidad Econmica #2.414, 23 September 2004.

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Gault Millau guide came to Spain and set us on a par with the French, and the second, when the mythical Jol Robuchon said that I was the worlds best chef.

In recent years, Ferran Adri and his team have received countless awards and acknowledgements (see Appendix 3). The earliest symptom of the medias growing interest in the public and private figure of Adri occurred in 1999 with the cover of El Pas Semanal, the Sunday supplement of one of Spains leading national newspapers (see Appendix 4 for selected covers):
The fact that in June 1999 El Pas Semanal made us its cover story, under the title "Ferran Adri, el mejor cocinero del mundo the worlds best chef", meant that for the first time, our restaurant monopolised newsstands all over Spain. To put it another way, this was the first time that were able to "explain" ourselves to the public, in an article in which other chefs also gave their opinion. This not only gave us great satisfaction, it also undeniably marked a great leap forward in our reputation among other professionals and amateur gastronomes.

The cover of The New York Times magazine in 2003, with its emblematic headline, The Nueva Nouvelle Cuisine, and his appearance in 2004 on the cover of Time magazine as one of the one hundred most influential people of the year, catapulted the chefs fame into an entirely different dimension. Adri also appeared on the cover of the Le Monde weekend supplement. And although the French daily broached the matter with a question Ferran Adri, lalchimiste, est-il le plus grand cuisinier du monde? (Is Ferran Adri, the alchemist, the worlds greatest chef?), it undeniably suggested recognition of the chefs creations. Adris cuisine had also been acclaimed by his profession both in Spain and around the globe. Juan Mari Arzak, the father of the new Basque cuisine and also the chef of a Michelin three-star restaurant, commented that Ferran is the most avant-garde person in the history of cuisine. ... He is the most imaginative and creative chef I know... Every year I spend a few days in his lab because his ideas open doors to me that I couldnt even imagine existed. He helps me evolve. As Carme Ruscalleda, the first female Spanish chef to receive a third Michelin star, in 2005, declared, As far as Im concerned, he is the greatest genius, not only here but in the entire world. Youre constantly discovering things in Adris cuisine, it gives you an intellectual shock.15 Joan Roca, the chef of a Michelin two-star restaurant in Spain feels that, Ferran has influenced our entire generation. Despite the occasional sceptical opinion, the profession as a whole acknowledged the creativity and contribution made by Ferran Adri. The chef is also known outside the haute cuisine circles. His work has been included in art expositions and has received recognition by artists and designers alike. In 2005, Ferran Adri took part in an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In the autumn of 2006 he was awarded the Lucky Strike Designer Award, a prestigious recognition granted by the Raymond Loewy Foundation, the first to be given to a Spaniard, which set the chef on a par with names of the stature of Karl Lagerfeld, Donna Karan and Philippe Starck. He is also the first chef ever invited to display his creations at Documenta in 2007, one of the most
15

Ruscalleda, in Jolonch, C. (2005). Carme Ruscalleda. Interview. Magazine, La Vanguardia, December 11, pp. 26-36.

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innovative contemporary art events, held in Kassel (Germany) every five years.

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12

Appendix 1 Synthesis of elBulli cuisine16

In the mid-1990s a new style of cuisine began to be forged. Today, this style has been wholly consolidated and may be defined in the following terms:

1. Cooking is a language through which all the following properties

may be expressed: harmony, creativity, happiness, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humour, provocation and culture.

14. The classical structure of dishes is being broken down: a veritable

revolution is underway in first courses and desserts, closely bound up with the concept of symbiosis between the sweet and savoury world; in main dishes the "product-garnish-sauce" hierarchy is being broken down.

2. The use of top quality products and technical knowledge to

prepare them properly are taken for granted.

15. A new way of serving food is being promoted. The dishes are finished in
the dining room by the serving staff. In other cases the diners themselves participate in this process.

3. All products have the same gastronomic value, regardless of their

price.

16. Regional cuisine as a style is an expression of its own geographical and

cultural context as well as its culinary traditions. Its bond with nature complements and enriches this relationship with its environment.

4. Preference is given to vegetables and seafood, with a key role also

being played by dairy products, nuts and other products that make up a light form of cooking. In recent years red meat and large cuts of poultry have been very sparingly used.

17. Products and preparations from other countries are subjected to one's
particular style of cooking.

5. Although the characteristics of the products may be modified

(temperature, texture, shape, etc.), the aim is always to preserve the purity of their original flavour, except for processes that call for long cooking or seek the nuances of particular reactions such as the Maillard reaction.

18. There are two main paths towards attaining harmony of products and
flavours: through memory (connection with regional cooking traditions, adaptation, deconstruction, former modern recipes), or through new combinations.

6. Cooking techniques, both classic and modern, are a heritage that

the cook has to know how to exploit to the maximum.

19. A culinary language is being created which is becoming more and more
ordered, that on some occasions establishes a relationship with the world and language of art.

7. As has occurred in most fields of human evolution down the ages,

new technologies are a resource for the progress of cooking.

20. Recipes are designed to ensure that harmony is to be found in small

servings.

8. The family of stocks is being extended. Together with the classic

ones, lighter stocks performing an identical function are now being used (waters, broths, consomms, clarified vegetable juses, nut milk, etc.).

21. Decontextualisation, irony, spectacle, performance are completely

legitimate, as long as they are not superficial but respond to, or are closely bound up with, a process of gastronomic reflection.

9. The information given off by a dish is enjoyed through the senses;

it is also enjoyed and interpreted by reflection.

22. The menu de dgustation is the finest expression of avant-garde

cooking. The structure is alive and subject to changes. Concepts such as snacks, tapas, pre-desserts, morphs, etc., are coming into their own.

10. Taste is not the only sense that can be stimulated: touch can also
be played with (contrasts of temperatures and textures), as well as smell, sight (colours, shapes, trompe doeil, etc.), whereby the five senses become one of the main points of reference in the creative cooking process.

23. Knowledge and/or collaboration with experts from different fields

(gastronomic culture, history, industrial design, etc.,) is essential for progress in cooking. In particular collaboration with the food industry and the scientific world has brought about fundamental advances. Sharing this knowledge among cooking professionals has contributed to this evolution.

11. The technique-concept search is the apex of the creative

pyramid.

12. Creation involves teamwork. In addition, research has become

consolidated as a new feature of the culinary creative process.

13. The barriers between the sweet and savoury world are being
broken down. Importance is being given to a new cold cuisine, particularly in the creation of the frozen savoury world.

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Source: www.elbulli.com.

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Appendix 2 The elBulli menu: 2006 season17

elderberry cherries18 green olive sphere - 1 soursop crisp animals salmon skin parma passion seaweed waffles ginger and orange frozen cookies mandarin essence parmesan and basil won-ton coriander/peppermint/caipirinha avocado pear tempura mozzarella brioche with rose air logan/sake/almond raff tomato with powdered almond, elderberry and almond jelly asparagus in brine split peas and ham & fresh mint, creamy ravioli and eucalyptus air mussel spheres with double cream, bacon & potato soup salmon belly and pickles pumpkin seed and peanut risotto, saffron jelly and curry air the sea Marrakech-style spider crab Serrano ham slivers & potato pure crispy chicken feet 2-tempo peach black brioche peach liquid hummingbird morphing meringues

Appendix 3
17 18

Source: elBulli staff Translation of the menu

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Prizes, acknowledgements and restaurant guide ratings to Ferran Adri, Juli Soler, Albert Adri and elBulli19 Prizes
1990 National Prize for the best Chef de Salle to Juli Soler. Awarded by: National Academy of Gastronomy.

1992 National Gastronomy Prize for the best Chef de Cuisine to Ferran Adri Awarded by: National Academy of Gastronomy

1994 Grand Prix de L'Art de la Cuisine Awarded by: International Academy of Gastronomy

1996 Cl d'Or de la Gastronomie Awarded by: Gault-Millau Restaurant of the Year Awarded by: Club de Gourmets

1997 Catalonia Tourism Medal Awarded by: Generalitat de Catalunya

1998 Best Matre Award to Juli Soler Awarded by: Gourmetour Metopolis Prize for Innovation Awarded by: Metopolis

1999 Giorgio Fini Award Awarded by: Citt di Modena Chef of the Year Awarded by: Gourmetour

2001 Ceretto Awarded by: Ceretto Fundation Humanitat Ciutat de L'Hospitalet Award Awarded by: L'Hospitalet de Llobregat City Council

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Source: www.elbulli.com.

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FAD Awarded by: FAD Bronze Angel for Communication in Catalonia Awarded by: Escola Superior de Relacions Pbliques, Girona Gold Heart Awarded by: Spanish Heart Foundation

2002 Cross of Sant Jordi Awarded by: Generalitat de Catalunya Tourism Gold Medal Awarded by: Gobierno Espaol Tourism Gold Medal Awarded by: Generalitat de Catalunya The World's Best Restaurant Awarded by: The Restaurant Magazine

2003 Silver Spoon Awarded by: Food Arts Protagonistas Award for Gastronomy Awarded by: Programme of Luis del Olmo, Onda Cero Radio Catalan of the Year 2003 Awarded by: El Peridico de Catalunya Newspaper City of Barcelona Award Awarded by: Barcelona City Council

2004 Spain Brand Ambassador (Culture) Awarded by: Leading Brands of Spain Forum (Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute) Honorary Son of the City of L'Hospitalet Awarded by: L'Hospitalet de Llobregat City Council

2005 Preistrger Ferran Adri Sektion Grobe Kochkunst Awarded by: Witzigmann Preis

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2006 Award to Ferran Adri in recognition of his contribution to the spreading of Spanish gastronomy in the world over the last 20 years Awarded by: Spain Gourmetour World's Best Restaurant Awarded by: The Restaurant Magazine 3rd Dilogo Award for Hispano-French Friendship Awarded by: Asociacin Dilogo Lucky Strike Designer Award Awarded by: Raymond Loewy Foundation Madrid Creativity Awarded by: Comunidad de Madrid

Acknowledgements
1999 Cover of El Pais Semanal Magazine

2003 Chairman of the Bocuse d'Or Cover of the The New York Times Magazine, August 10th. Cover of El Mundo Magazine

2004 Cover of the Sunday edition of Le Monde, constituting the highest accolade given by the world's leading gastronomic nation. Cover of Time Magazine, naming F. Adri one of the top 100 influential people in the world. The book, elBulli1983-2002, originally in Spanish, is translated into Italian, German, Japanese, English, French and Catalan. The Spanish Royal Household appoints Ferran Adri together with Juan Mari Arzak to prepare the gala dinner served to the world's royal families on the eve of the wedding of Prince Felipe to Doa Letizia. Ferran Adri chairs the Advisory Committee of Alcia (Alimentacin y Ciencia [Food and Science]), a Caixa de Manresa project at the Monastery of Sant Benet. This is a unique project working towards future improvement in food. The Leading Brands of Spain Forum names him a Spanish Brand ambassador for Culture, together with Juan Antonio Samaranch, Amancio Ortega, Jos Carreras, El Pas, Severiano Ballesteros and Valent Fuster. Envoy Especial, France's highest-rated television show, devotes a 30-minute

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programme to him in France, thus constituting his definite acceptance in that country.

2005 The Ferran Adri Chair in Gastronomic Culture and Food Sciences is set up at the Camilo Jos Cela University in Madrid.

2006 At the Madrid Fusin Conference, 60 journalists from all over the world publish a list of the Ten Most Influential Chefs of the Last Ten Years, choosing Ferran Adri as number one. 2007 Ferran Adri is invited to take part in Documenta, the most important exhibition of contemporary art taking place every five years in Kassel (Germany), becoming the first haute cuisine chef to show his work at an event of the kind.

Restaurant Guide Ratings

9.75 in the "Lo Mejor de la Gastronoma" Guide by Rafael Garca Santos. Three Stars in the Michelin Guide. 5 garages in the Campsa Guide. 9.75 in the Gourmetour Guide.

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Appendix 4 Selected covers with Ferran Adri

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