In the midst of a crisis, Ferran Adrià looks ahead

Although the groundbreaking restaurant El Bulli has been shuttered for nearly a decade, its most recognized chef, Ferran Adrià, has not been idle. After closing the restaurant for several reasons (including the fact that it was not profitable), he focused his attention on the elBulli Foundation which has two branches, an archive museum and elBulli1846. The latter is described as “an exhibition lab in which we will study, investigate, and experiment in order to create knowledge.” It’s a culinary think-tank, which is a natural extension of the experimentation done each year at El Bulli. elBulli1846 was set to have a “soft open” later this year, with a full opening in 2022.

Now that the restaurant business is in turmoil, you might think Adrià would be reconsidering opening anything culinary-related because of the uncertain future of the industry. Instead, he is using lockdown to focus exclusively on the project, moving ahead at full steam in advance of the planned August opening.

Adrià says that since El Bulli closed down for several months each year to develop the next year’s menu, he is used to working in solitude. “I would spend six months at El Bulli in Montjoi and the first two-and-a-half-months was basically like lockdown,” he said. “So I’ve already lived through this experience of being pretty much alone.”

Even though he still intends to open his creative laboratory in 2020, Adria knows that the restaurant industry will emerge looking a lot different than it did going into this year. He predicts that even after restaurants reopen, people will be reluctant to go out. “We go to restaurants because it’s sociable. The most important thing is to be with friends. To eat well, yes, but with friends. If you can’t do that, it’s going to be very difficult.”