Ferran Adrià opens today elBulli1846, the first restaurant in history to be transformed into a museum to promote the innovative spirit, share gastronomic knowledge and safeguard the legacy of what was once the best restaurant in the world. One more step in the trajectory of this restless chef who has devoted himself throughout his career to limitless experimentation and creativity.
Some of the most prestigious chefs of recent decades have trained at his side, from the Roca brothers, to José Andrés, including Sergi Arola, Paco Roncero and Mario Sandoval. They are some of the Bullinians to whom this living installation pays homage. But his contagious drive and creative audacity have led him to give more than 500 conferences around the world to university students, volunteers, business schools, the media and entrepreneurs with innovation as the main axis.
It was a matter of time before the overflowing ingenuity cook – chosen by Time magazine as one of the most influential personalities in the world – crossed paths with Telefónica, one of the technology companies that invests the most in talent and innovation for the future.
It happened in October 2010. Ferran Adrià, the chef in charge of a restaurant with a year-long waiting list that only provided one service a day, became a Telefónica Ambassador. Thirteen years later, that alliance is still more alive than ever. The imprint of this technological company is palpable in the dynamic, innovative approach and with a look towards the future of elBulli1846. Because the renovated restaurant, now a museum, is not a space for nostalgia for a glorious yesterday. It is a meeting point with innovation that gives the floor to Adrià to talk about legacy, but also to demonstrate the benefits of digital transformation for all SMEs.
Or how a chef, famous for his spherifications, foam textures, the deconstruction of dishes or his tableware halfway between sculpture and engineering, can continue to grow professionally in the digital environment. A path in which he has also been a pioneer in the last decade at the hands of Telefónica.
Ferran Adrià is a Renaissance man in the 21st century, capable of moving like a fish in water between organoleptic nuances and the latest in digital technology. After signing the agreement in 2010, Telefónica has been a technological partner of the culinary genius from Hospitalet de Llobregat, with collaborations in RD, launch of NFTs and a long list of solutions to define the future of elBulliFoundation (Bullipedia, 10 Fridays, Talentum and RD in the Bullilab). The opening of elBulli1846 is just one more station in a long professional career where haute cuisine has gone from level to digital.
One example is the dynamism shown from his Twitter (@ferranadria) and Instagram (@elbullifoundation_ferranadria) accounts and the launch of the Adrià at home app in full confinement, a compilation of 31 menus inspired by those prepared by elBulli staff . The free application was available for Android and iOS tablets. With this digital development, Telefónica provided all users with online access to useful content such as recipes and culinary advice that Adrià had already shared in his book La comida de la familia.
Throughout more than a decade, Adrià and Telefónica have worked side by side on numerous projects. Some are key to business expansion, such as the creation of exclusive experiences for clients (Tickets/41/Pakta/wine tasting/masterclass). Other times, it was about taking the creative impulse made in Adrià to other spheres of social and cultural life. This is how the ‘Ideas for Transformation’ contest (ideas4transformation) came about, where MBA students from the best business schools in the world (Harvard, Columbia, London Business School etc…) launched their proposals for what the new Bulli should be. Or the Creative Schools, a project from which an attempt was made to transplant the spirit of creativity and innovation into classrooms and teaching.
They have also given life to two documentaries: Las Huellas de elBulli and Perú sabe. The kitchen, a social weapon, together with the Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio; the exhibition Auditing the Creative Process, on the creative genius of Adrià; or the Espacio de Innovación, an itinerant exhibition project with technological installations where Adrià worked as a disseminator of innovation and creativity content. They have even presented a collection of 114 unique NFTs associated with drawings made by Ferran.
The news of the reopening of elBulli, now called elBulli1846, aroused a mixture of expectation and surprise. The former temple of culinary excellence opens its doors as a museum, without food service. Instead of feeding the body, this new elBulli1846 feeds the spirit, sharing knowledge and stimulating self-learning in gastronomic restoration.
The elBulli1846 museum is made up of four different spaces. Outside there are several facilities where homage is paid to the Bullinians who made the history of elBulli possible and the Sapiens Methodology is presented, a proprietary methodology developed to understand that culminates in the first encyclopedia of gastronomic restoration in the West, the Bullipedia.
The building that housed elBulli for 50 years has been preserved in its entirety. In addition, two other spaces have been enabled. The former gratefully recalls all those interdisciplinary relationships that enriched and provided feedback to elBulli’s innovative capacity throughout its history: journalists, food photographers, writers, editors, designers, architects, scientists, artists, academics… At his side, elBulliDNA, a multipurpose space with 69 artistic, conceptual and audiovisual installations, which explain why elBulli was elBulli and how its transgressive spirit is still alive and making history through its elBullifoundation.
Tickets are already on sale at elBullifoundation.com.
