El Bulli takes a two year holiday

Chefs worldwide will be sharpening their elbows to jostle for the culinary profession’s top spot after Ferran Adrià announced plans to close his three-Michelin-starred restaurant El Bulli, near Barcelona, for the whole of 2012 and 2013.

The Spanish chef revealed the news during a press conference at last week’s food fair, Madrid Fusión. Citing “personal and professional” reasons for the decision, Adrià explained: “I don’t want to go and sit on a beach in the Bahamas but I think we deserve to lead more normal lives because for 25 years we have been focusing on the restaurant.”

The news has not come as a complete surprise to Adrià’s fan club. Back in October at London’s Restaurant Show, the chef hinted at the need for a change, saying: “I have to reinvent myself”.

Adrià confirmed that the break would be used as a chance to spend time in the laboratory exploring fresh ideas and creative research.

Although he could not offer any detail of his restaurant’s future incarnation, Adrià promised: “El Bulli is not closing down”, adding: “I need time to decide how 2014 is going to be. We want the year 2014 to stand out. I know that when I return it will not be the same.”

With bookings already closed for the 2010 season, those wishing for a final chance to experience El Bulli in its present form will need to move quickly as soon as reservations open for 2011 in December.

Gabriel Savage, 02.02.10