In the summer of 1991, after several conversations on art and creativity, Xavier Medina Campeny, a sculptor who was also an elBullirestaurante customer, invited Ferran Adrià to work at his Palo Alto workshop located in Barcelona’s Poblenou district. Taking up his invitation the following winter, while Xavier worked on his art projects, Ferran would cook dishes that they both would later enjoy. It was the first time Ferran had been in a kitchen creating without the need to cater to a restaurant service. It was an unforgettable experience, because he was able to gain first-hand knowledge of the way an artist worked and understand that there were characteristics in the creative processes of sculpture that could be transferred to cooking.

It was not until 1993, the year elBulli’s new kitchen was completed, that Ferran considered the possibility of forming a team that would be dedicated to creativity. It was formed in 1994 under the name of ‘development station’. This initiative responded to the need to professionalise the creative process in order to develop new concepts and techniques, which require a daily dedication to creativity.

In 1993 and 1994, the chefs Andoni Luis Adúriz, Bixente Arrieta and Alex Montiel accompanied Ferran and the elBulli team during this period of ‘craziness’ and played a major role in launching elBulli’s creativity.

‍Talaia Mar: the beginning of the concept of the creative team

As far as creativity was concerned, 1995 was a crucial year. The consolidation of elBullirestaurante’s winter closure period provided a few months in which to concentrate solely on the creative process without having to worry about daily service at the restaurant. It also offered the possibility for the creation of new concepts and techniques in Barcelona, which had become an increasingly important factor due to the new business activities being conducted there. The solution came with the opening of the Talaia Mar restaurant, located in Barcelona’s Olympic Port, for which elBulli provided consultancy services. Ferran Adrià, Albert Adrià and Oriol Castro took advantage of the afternoon period between the lunch and dinner services to hold creativity sessions in the restaurant kitchen, together with the core creativity team, which comprised Alex Montiel, Marc Singla, Carles Abellán, Sergi Arola and Oriol Balaguer.

‍The first workshop at the Aquarium

The idea of setting up a workshop had been steadily taking shape, but the how and where to do this was still undetermined. In the winter of 1997, the elBullitaller project was intensively being developed at L’Aquàrium de Barcelona, where the headquarters of the elBulli catering business had been located for the previous three years. A gastronomy library was beginning to be organised and everything related to elBullirestaurante was archived. In addition, a timeline was established and the entire creative process was systematised.

‍elBullitaller: the dream becomes reality  

Along with Oriol Castro and Albert Adrià, Sílvia Fernández, Ferran’s assistant, joined the team as well as Marc Cuspinera, who, after holding the role of head chef at elBullirestaurante for three years, would also become Ferran’s right-hand man in the area of product and image.

At the same time, they were also dealing with other activities that would become a part of the Adrià-Soler galaxy, meaning that having a specific space of their own was becoming an unavoidable necessity. The ideal location was found in late 1998: it was in an 18th-century mansion in Carrer Portaferrissa and close to La Boqueria market, which was essential for sourcing products on a daily basis.

In January 2008, the creative team settled into elBullitaller to face the challenge of combining creativity in the elBullirestaurante’s cuisine with creativity applied to business.

Two distinct teams were formed, which would eventually have their own spaces after the creation of elBullicarmen in 2002, a specific space in which to manage the projects of this galaxy.

The dream had become a reality.