A museum to reflect on knowledge, innovation and the history of elBulli.
elBulli1846 is the first restaurant in the world to be turned into a museum. This unique space was created in pursuit of the objectives of safeguarding the legacy of elBulli, promoting an innovative mindset, and developing quality content for education and self-learning in the fine dining restaurant sector.
In the stunning natural setting of Cala Montjoi (Roses, Costa Brava), elBulli1846 occupies a floor space of almost four thousand square metres (2,500m2 externally and 1,300m2 internally) where, on a visit lasting more than two hours, you are invited to reflect on the themes of gastronomy and innovation, and where we pay tribute to our Bullinianos, narrating the story of elBulli, and explaining in detail all the projects subsequently carried out at elBullifoundation, including Bullipedia and elBulliDNA.
elBulli1846 will open to the public as a museum for six months. During the remainder of the year it will be transformed into elBulliDNA, a space devoted to investigating, experimenting and disseminating the contents developed through calls for research proposals that incorporate multidisciplinary teams.
The exhibition
Through sixty-nine installations of an artistic, conceptual and audiovisual nature, the museum provides visitors with all the necessary resources to understand the evolution of elBulli. It also explains, by way of several of the foundation-led projects, the reason why elBulli is still in existence and how it manages not only to honour the past, but to look to the future and continue making history.
elBulli1846 museum comprises four distinct areas:
Outdoor space
The museum provides an itinerary through various open-air installations in which a multitude of reflections on cuisine and innovation are shared and tribute is paid to the Bullinianos who made the elBulli story possible. Finally, the Sapiens Methodology is presented. This proprietary methodology was developed to enhance understanding (by means of a holistic vision designed to connect different spheres of knowledge), and has led to the publication of the first encyclopaedia of Western fine dining, the Bullipedia, a comprehensive collection envisaged to form up to 50 volumes – with more than 25 books, each 500 pages in length, published to date – that will provide a holistic understanding of the fine dining restaurant sector.
The itinerary includes an overview of the creative and innovation process at elBulli, which can be applicable to any business sector. It also offers an unprecedented insight into the first moments in the history of cooking, and features an installation designed to guide understanding of the fine dining experience and all the elements involved in the process.
Starting with such questions as: What is cooking? How did cooking begin? What is creating? and What is innovating? Ferran Adrià invites visitors to elBulli1846 to embark on a journey through the ages (from the Palaeolithic period to the present day) to find out how and when it all started, offering a personal reflection through the continuous questioning of the status quo.
Historic building
In this space, the visitor will enter the historic building that housed elBullirestaurante for 50 years, which has been preserved in its entirety.
You will learn about the case of elBulli as a functioning company through its history, evolution, and legacy. And you can gain an understanding into how the elBulli team systemised innovation and applied their learnings through the language of cooking, exploring the limits of the fine dining experience and creating a new paradigm worldwide.
Fully connected to the outdoor experience and theoretical installations, this second part of the exhibition can be considered a practical application of the Bullinian method. The next step is to enter the dining room and kitchen responsible for changing the way in which fine dining is understood.
As you enter this space you can imagine how it must have felt to visit the world’s most famous restaurant.
Interdisciplinary relationships
What did elBulli learn from other disciplines? This space pays tribute to the interdisciplinary relationships that enriched elBulli during its long history, and were assimilated into its capacity to innovate. Journalists, food photographers, writers, editors, designers, architects, scientists, artists, and academics were all part of this fusion of ideas.
The representation of the map of the creative process, all the publications that featured elBulli and Ferran Adrià, the diagrams, notebooks and creative maps, the interaction with the world of art and all the exhibitions featuring elBulli held around the world, the inspirational Picasso quote placed below the panoramic window overlooking the Cap de Creus Natural Park, the role of design and architecture, the dialogue between science and cuisine, the awards and acknowledgements, and elBulli’s momentous trip to Japan. These are all milestones that marked elBulli’s trajectory.
elBulliDNA
El último lugar del recorrido, antes de volver hacia la tienda y el parking, es el espacio polivalente. Se trata de una de las instalaciones más disruptivas, visualmente hablando. Tiene forma de roca y se integra en el paisaje del Cap de Creus.
The last place on the itinerary, before returning to the shop and car park, is this multipurpose space. One of the most visually disruptive installations, it was designed in the shape of a rock that blends into the landscape of Cap de Creus.
About elBullirestaurante
“elBulli was a revolution that changed the world’s gastronomic landscape. And the importance of what happened here set a new standard for fine dining. Up to that point, culinary innovation came out of France. Now you can find creative cuisine all around the world.” Ferran Adrià.
elBullirestaurante showed that a small business with limited resources could change the way an industry is understood, seeking the limits of the gourmet restaurant experience.
Some of the most significant awards and acknowledgments for elBullirestaurante:
CAMPSA GUIDE
- 1989 Campsa Guide: 4 suns to Hacienda elBulli
MICHELIN GUIDE
- 1990 Michelin Guide: 2 stars to elBullirestaurante
- 1997 Michelin Guide: 3 stars to elBullirestaurante
GAULT&MILLAU GUIDE
- 1994 Gault&Millau France Guide /18
LO MEJOR DE LA GASTRONOMÍA GUIDE
- 1995 Lo mejor de la Gastronomía Guide
THE WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS
- 2002 The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: World’s best restaurant prize, awarded to elBullirestaurante.
- 2006 The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: World’s best restaurant prize, awarded to elBullirestaurante.
- 2007 The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: World’s best restaurant prize, awarded to elBullirestaurante.
- 2008 The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: World’s best restaurant prize, awarded to elBullirestaurante.
- 2009 The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: World’s best restaurant prize, awarded to elBullirestaurante.
About Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià arrived at elBullirestaurante in 1983, following the advice of fellow army recruit Fermí Puig, who had encouraged him to spend his month-long military service leave gaining professional experience. Little did Ferran imagine at the time that he would return a year later to stay, and that soon after he would be at the helm of the restaurant with Juli Soler.
Through his creative skills and full commitment to avant-garde cuisine, Ferran Adrià had a clearly defined mission for elBulli: to create a new language that would blaze new trails for others to follow and push the boundaries of the fine-dining experience.
Thanks to his ambition, Ferran succeeded in bringing about a paradigm shift in cuisine, which gained elBulli legendary status in the history of gastronomy.
Gracias a ello, logró cambiar el paradigma de la cocina mundial y hacer de elBulli un auténtico mito de la historia de la gastronomía.
- In 2004, Time Magazine portrayed Ferran Adrià on the front cover, naming him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
About elBullifoundation
elBullifoundation is a private family foundation created by Ferran Adrià and Juli Soler. It was established on 7 February 2013 in response to the need to transform elBullirestaurante, with a view to the future based on the desire to protect the legacy and spirit of elBulli, and with a threefold mission:
- Safeguarding the legacy of elBulli: as a space and as an archive for the documents and knowledge that were essential to the paradigm shift in world gastronomy that it brought about.
- Sharing its experience in management and innovation: aspects that are essential for the success and longevity of any business project. We do this in the hope of promoting an innovative mindset in entrepreneurs.
- Developing quality content for the fine-dining sector: to provide a valuable self-learning and educational tool to strengthen gastronomy as an academic discipline.
