Elisa Menendez
ONE of the world’s top chefs, Ferran Adria, is set to open a cutting edge food laboratory in his legendary former El Bulli restaurant in Catalunya.
Adria announced his plans last Wednesday, which he says have been in the pipeline for the last seven years, since he closed the doors of his iconic three Michelin-starred restaurant in 2011.
The lab, appropriately named El Bulli 1846, will be a centre for creating innovative gastronomic inventions and is set to open between June and October 2019.
“For seven years we have done many things to prepare this moment, and now it will be born,” said Adria.
The 56-year-old is world-renowned as one of the masters of the multi-sensory culinary art form, “molecular gastronomy”, which uses scientific disciplines to explore how chemical and physical changes can transform traditional dishes into something extraordinary.
And this is exactly what won El Bulli, based in Cala Montjoi on the Costa Brava, the title of the World’s Best Restaurant a record-breaking five times.
And the lab has been a long time coming, after refurbishment plans were blocked by officials concerned about the impact of construction work on the environment due to its location in the Cap de Creus national park.
Some years later, the culinary icon finally received planning permission last week after scaling down his plans.
It is yet to be announced whether the lab will be open to the public.
