THE ADRIÀ-SOLER GALAXY

The Galaxy is the business model of Juli Soler, Ferran Adrià and Albert Adrià concerning elBullirestaurante. In 1998, a key decision was taken as to how the business model should be, making a conceptual change based on the following premise: keeping elBullirestaurante at the cutting-edge. To give us the necessary freedom to do this, a business model for elBullirestaurante was created, based on consultancy and image work, and the formation of our own business lines.

FOOD & BEVERAGE AND DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRIES

1997 – Collaboration with the creative team of Chocovic in ventures related to chocolate.

1999 – R & D, and creation of vinaigrettes, sauces and aromatic olive oils in partnership with Borges

2000 – Study and creation of soups and dairy products for Kaiku, together with Juan Mari Arzak, Karlos Arguiñano and Pedro Subijana.

2001 – Collaboration with Caprabo in several publishing and consultancy projects.

2002 – Collaboration with Lavazza, for the creation of products and concepts related to coffee.

2004 – Innovations in the world of cocktails, with Diageo

2005 – Texturas, a line of products selected by elBullitaller, to bring new elaborations to the kitchen.

2005 – Working on new creations in chocolate with the architect Jean Nouvel and the team of Cailler, a company in the Nestlé group.

2005 – A new range of potato crisps, and other ideas for aperitif concepts in collaboration with the R & D department of Frito Lays, of the Pepsico company.

2007 – R & D in fruit juices and cookies, with United Biscuits.

2008 – Creation of Inedit, in collaboration with the team of Damm master brewers. A ground-breaking new line of beer that, for its elegance and ability to accompany the great variety of flavours existing in modern gastronomy, offers an alternative to wine.

RESTAURANT BUSINESS

1986 – ElBulli Bistrot opens in the Pasarela nightclub in Empuriabrava (Roses).

1989 – Consultancy work for Bel-Air, Chévere, Network and Samoa restaurants (Barcelona), along with Can Bosch (Cambrils).

1990 – Consultancy work for Reina de España restaurant (Puerto Rico).

1992 – Consultancy work for the Bernat II Hotel (Calella).

1993 – The Ñam-Ñam self-service restaurant opens at the same time as Dim-Sum, a European dim-sum concept restaurant. Both at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona.

1993 – A collaboration with Semon begins, which lasts one year.

1994 – Mas Pau restaurant opens, in Avinyonet de Puigventós (Figueres), run by Xavier Sagristà and Toni Gerez.

1995 – ElBullicatering is born, in which the cuisine, philosophy and service of elBulli is transferred to the world of catering.

1999 – Creation of elBullihotel, whose first project is the Hacienda Benazuza hotel, where consultancy work is also undertaken for the gastronomic offer of the hotel.

2001 – Commencing a collaboration with NH Hoteles, which bears fruit with two projects: Nhube and Fast Good.

2010 – Tickets. In collaboration with Albert Adrià; a re-imagining of the concept of contemporary tapas.

From 2011 on…

2015 – Heart Ibiza. In collaboration with Albert Adrià and the founder of Cirque du Soleil; a multidisciplinary project which allows us to explore the limits of what a restaurant is.

TABLEWARE & KITCHENWARE

1998 –With ICC company, state-of-the-art kitchen utensils and appliances, including the siphon, are manufactured and commercialised.

2001 – Creation of Ola dishware with designer Gemma Bernal, produced by CIM, which became a success in the restaurant business.

2004 – Agreement with Armand Basi to create tablecloths and textile tableware products related to the world of cooking.

2004 – Creation of Faces, producing cutlery, kitchenware and utensils for table service, in a joint collaboration with some great names in Spanish design.

 PUBLISHING AND AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCTIONS

Printed publications (including for elBulliBooks and material for other publishers)

35 books
More than 15,000 pages of content
More than 8,000 images
6 CDs with 1,846 recipes

Audio-visual publications

Self-published
2009 – General Audio-visual Catalogue in 9 episodes, in collaboration with Televisión Española
2009 – A Day at elBulli
2011 – Documenting Documenta

In close collaboration
2009 – elBulli – Cooking in progress
2011 – elBulli, Last Waltz

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

• In 1997, elBulli receives its third star from the Michelin Guide.
• In 2002, Restaurant Magazine names elBulli the best restaurant in its list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
• In 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009, Restaurant Magazine again names elBulli the best restaurant in its list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
• In 2013, Albert receives recognition as one of the 13 most influential people in the world in the gastronomy and food sector.
• In 2013, both Tickets and 41º Experience receive a Michelin star.
• In 2014, Pakta is also awarded its first Michelin star.
• In 2015, Albert is awarded the prize of World’s Best Pastry Chef by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, organised by Restaurant Magazine, in recognition of his career and his important contribution to the world of patisserie in the fine dining sector.
• In 2015, Albert receives the National Gastronomy Prize for Best Restaurant Entrepreneur in Spain, awarded by the International Academy of Gastronomy.
• In 2015, Hoja Santa, his Mexican fine dining restaurant opened the previous year, receives its first Michelin star, becoming the second Mexican restaurant in Europe to receive this important distinction.
• In December 2016, Tickets is awarded 3 suns, the highest recognition in the Repsol Guide. In the same edition, both Hoja Santa and Pakta are awarded 1 sun.
• In April 2017, Tickets climbs to 25^th position in the list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants organised by Restaurant Magazine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Los postres de El Bulli, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. Ediciones Península, 1998
• elBulli 1998-2002, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. elBullibooks, 2002
• elBulli 1994-1997, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. elBullibooks, 2003
• Cocinar en casa con Caprabo y Ferran Adrià, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. elBullibooks, 2003
• elBulli 1983-1993, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. elBullibooks, 2004
• elBulli 2003-2004, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. elBullibooks, 2005
• elBulli2005, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. elBullibooks, 2006
• Un día en elBulli, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Maribel Ruiz de Erenchun. elBullibooks, 2007
• Natura, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. elBullibooks, 2008
• A Day at elBulli, Ferran Adrià, Albert Adrià, Juli Soler. Fotografías: Maribel Ruiz de Erenchun. Phaidon, 2009
• elBulli 2005 – 2010-11,Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. Fotografías: Francesc Guillamet. Phaidon, 2014
• Tapas. La cocina del Tickets, Albert Adrià, 2013

FILMOGRAPHY

• Catálogo audiovisual. Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. RTVE, 2009
• Un día en elBulli. Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. RTVE, 2009
• elBulli. Cooking in progress. Gereon Wetzel. A contracorriente, 2010
• Documenting Documenta. Ferran Adrià. elBulli, 2011
• El último vals. Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler, Albert Adrià. elBulli, 2011

…in addition to a large number of documentaries broadcasted on television channels throughout the world.

EXHIBITIONS

• From 2^nd February 2012 to 3^rd February 2013 at the Palau Robert in Barcelona, entitled: “Ferran Adrià & elBulli: Risk, Freedom & Creativity”. This exhibition is also held between 5^th July and 29^th September at Somerset House (London), called: “El Bulli; Ferran Adrià and The Art of Food”, and later, from 15^th February to 26^th May 2013 at the Museum of Science (MoS) in Boston (Massachusetts), entitled: “Innovation in the Art of Food: Chef Ferran Adrià”.
• From 25^th January to 28^th February 2014 at the Drawing Center (New York) under the title “Ferran Adrià: Notes on Creativity”. This touring exhibition is also held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland (Ohio) between 26^th September 2014 and 18^th January 2015. Then it transfers to the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minneapolis from 17^th September 2015 to 3^rd January 2016 and then on to Marres, House for Contemporary Culture in Maastricht (The Netherlands) from 20^th March to 12^th June 2016.
• From 19^th to 23^rd February 2014 in the El País stand at Arco Madrid (International Contemporary Art Fair), Ferran Adrià’s drawings and annotations are displayed, describing the map of the gastronomic process and giving a diagrammatic reflection of the evolution of cuisine, from the Big Bang right up to the present time. This show complements the exhibition being held concurrently at the Drawing Center in New York.
• From 2^nd June to 31^st August 2014 at the Palau Robert in Barcelona, a public exhibition is held presenting the architectural and conceptual project for elBullifoundation in Cala Montjoi, sharing the background to the project and its plans and models.
• On 29^th October 2014 an exhibition entitled “Ferran Adrià. Auditing the Creative Process” is inaugurated in Madrid, at Fundación Telefónica, which explores the codification of the creative process. After, the exhibition tours different countries for two years: Peru (Lima), Brazil (Sao Paulo), Germany (Berlin) and Argentina (Buenos Aires).
• From 25^th September to 27^th November 2016 an exhibition entitled “Ferran Adrià: The Invention of Food” is held at the Dalí Museum of St. Petersburg (Florida, United States). The exhibition offers an overview of the phenomenon of creation, drawing a parallel between the emblematic elBullirestaurante, in Cala Montjoi, and neighbouring Cadaqués, a place representative of the presence of Salvador Dalí.
• Between 15^th November 2016 and 31^st May 2017 an exhibition entitled “Sapiens. Understand to create” is held in Barcelona. A dish as emblematic and apparently as simple as tomato bread is the ideal pretext to address the complex and plural reality of the world of cooking, together with the difficulty of understanding what we mean by: “natural” products, elaborated products, elaborations, the role of tradition… This exhibition, created at CosmoCaixa, in collaboration with Fundación La Caixa and Obra Social La Caixa, is the first exhibition concerning the Sapiens methodology, which has been developed by Ferran Adrià and the elBullifoundation team.

SYNTHESIS OF THE ELBULLI'S CUISINE

1. Cooking is a language through which all the following properties can be expressed: harmony, creativity, happiness, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humour, provocation, culture.
2. Two things are taken as given: the use of the highest quality products and the skill and expertise to prepare them properly.
3. All the products have the same culinary value, regardless of their price.
4. Preference is given to vegetables and seafood, with a key role also being played by dairy products, dried fruits and nuts and other products that make up a light form of cooking. In recent years sparing use has been made of red meat and poultry in large pieces.
5. Although the characteristics of the products are modified (temperature, texture, form, etc.), the aim is always to preserve the purity of their original taste, except for processes that call for long cooking or seek the nuances of processes like the Maillard reaction.
6. Cooking techniques, both classic and modern, are a heritage that the cook must know how to utilise with expertise.
7. As has occurred in most fields of human evolution down the ages, new technologies are a support for the ongoing progress of cooking.
8. The family of stocks/fonds is being extended. Together with the classic ones, lighter fonds performing an identical function are now being used (water products, broths, consommés, clarified vegetable juice, nut milks, etc.).
9. The information given by a dish is enjoyed through the senses; it can also be enjoyed and rationalised through reflection.
10. Taste is not the only sense that can be stimulated: touch can also be played with (contrasts of temperatures and textures), as well as smell, sight (colours, shapes, trompe d’oeil, etc.), whereby the five senses become one of the main points of reference in the creative cooking process.
11. The technical-conceptual search is the apex of the creative pyramid.
12. Creation involves teamwork. Furthermore, research and investigation has become established as a new characteristic in the culinary creative process.
13. The barriers between the sweet and savoury world are being broken down. A new cold cuisine has gained importance in which the highlight is the creation of the frozen savoury world.
14. The classical structure of dishes is being broken down: a veritable revolution is underway in first courses and desserts, closely bound up with the concept of symbiosis between sweet and savoury worlds. In main dishes the “product-garnish-sauce” hierarchy is being broken down.
15. A new way of serving food is being fostered. The finishing of dishes in the dining room by serving staff has been worked upon. In other cases, the diners themselves participate in the finishing of the dish.
16. Local cooking tradition as a style is a sense of bonding with the local geographical and cultural context, as well as with its culinary tradition. The link with nature complements and enriches this relationship with the environment.
17. Products and elaborations from other countries are subject to the individual criteria of cooking.
18. There are two main paths to achieve harmony between products and flavours: through memory (connection with local cooking traditions, adaptation, deconstruction, previous modern recipes), or through new combinations.
19. An individual language more and more systematised is created that on occasions establishes a relationship with the world and the language of art.
20. Recipes are conceptualised that give harmony to small servings.
21. Decontextualization, irony, spectacle, performance, are completely legitimate, providing they are not superficial but are closely bound up with a process of gastronomic reflection.
22. The tasting menu is the greater expression of avant-garde cuisine. The structure is living and subject to changes. Concepts such as snacks, tapas, avant-desserts, morphings, etc are coming into their own.
23. Knowledge and/or collaboration with experts in different fields (gastronomic culture, history, industrial design, etc.) is paramount for our ongoing evolution. In particular, cooperation with the food industry and science has resulted in a fundamental shift. Sharing this knowledge between the different culinary professions contributes to this evolution.