[UPDATE: On Midnight the same day this story broke - it seemed we were right to wonder if this really is the end. Ferran has now told El Pais that the New York Times got it all wrong. 'We're not going to close El Bulli permanently' he tells the paper.]
Typical. The Hot Dinners team allow ourselves one day away from the computer and the tyranny of Twitter and the news ‘breaks’ that Ferran Adrian has now decided to throw in the towel and close his restaurant El Bulli.
Or has he? Already foodies are examining Adria’s comments in a New York Times phone interview for clues that they may, after all, have a chance of dining in the best restaurant in the world some day much as musos, in their day, pored over the Abbey Road album cover.
As the New York Times reports it, Adria was talking to them about the 500,000+ euros he sinks into El Bulli every year, when he said; ‘At that level of contribution I think we would rather see the money go to something larger that expands the concept and spirit of what El Bulli represents.’ The report then says that Adria and his partner Julie Soler had decided to close the restaurant for good in December 2011 and instead open a culinary academy. On the plus side that academy ‘may’ then open for the occasional breakfast or lunch.
Actually, now we look at what Adria said at Madrid Fusion just a few weeks ago, perhaps he was hinting as much. Yes, he did say ‘El Bulli is not closing down’ but actually he was referring to the two year period he was planning to close for between 2012-13 when he planned to go travelling and seek inspiration and generally rejuvenate. The point he was making that he wasn't closing shop as such, more working off-site.
‘We want the year 2014 to stand out,’ he said then, ‘and I know that when I return it will not be the same.’ He reprises this in the press release El Bulli issued at the time of Madrid Fusion which warned that when they returned after their sabbatical , ‘Research will be prioritized over production’ and that Ferran and his team would be ‘constantly challenging the possibilities of the concept of a restaurant.’
Does this mean that we’ve seen the last reservation scramble for El Bulli? We’re not so sure. Watch this space.
