Ferran Adrià Chair in Gastronomic Culture and Food Science

The main objective of the Chair is to bring the world of gastronomy closer to the educational field, promoting the study and research of Food Sciences at a higher level.

In 1977, he entered the Instituto Politécnico de la Merced to pursue administrative studies, as a prelude to a career in Business Administration. For no particular reason, in 1980, he dropped out of school and, with the desire to earn money to go on vacation to Ibiza, he began his culinary career in a modest way, by chance, starting to work as a dishwasher at the Playafels hotel in Castelldefels, near L’Hospitalet. There, chef Miquel Moy, a close friend of his father’s, allows him to become familiar with basic culinary techniques. After a few months, already in 1981, in Ibiza, he works in the Club Cala Leña, in Es Canà). After returning to Barcelona, between 1981 he worked in various positions in establishments such as El Suquet, Castell Arnau and Martinique. In 1982 he joined the prestigious restaurant Finisterre, where he remained until he left for military service on July 2, 1982.

From mid-1982 to the end of 1983, Ferran served his military service in Cartagena, Spain, where he was part of the Admiral’s kitchen team, which served him as experience when it came to taking on responsibilities, as he was responsible for a kitchen for the first time. Following a suggestion from another Catalan recruit working at elBulli, Fermí Puig, in the summer of 1983 he spent his month’s leave at the restaurant in Cala Montjoi. At the end of this stage, and in view of the satisfactory experience, Ferran is already looking forward to joining the staff at the end of his military service.

At the end of his service, from January to March 1984, he worked at the San Marcos restaurant in Seville. In April 1984, he joined elBulli as chef de partie, until November 1, when, after the departure of chef Jean-Paul Vinay, the director, Juli Soler, appointed him and Christian Lutaud as tandem chefs. Juli Soler encourages Ferran to travel to France to learn about the world of haute cuisine. In October 1986, after the departure of Christian Lutaud, he became the sole chef at elBulli. He attended training courses in the kitchens of Georges Blanc and Jacques Pic.

In 1987, Ferran decided to leave aside the nouvelle cuisine recipe book and propose his own way of looking at cooking. It begins with the use of local ingredients, techniques and elaborations, giving them a vision from haute cuisine. Until 1993, this “Mediterranean style” marked elBulli’s cuisine and later exerted an important influence on the Catalan and Spanish cuisine of the time.

In 1990 elBulli SL, a company formed by Juli Soler and Ferran Adrià, was founded, developing different business models and channels. elBulli S.L. reinvested 20% of its turnover in creativity. In reality, elBullirestaurante was the R&D department of a company that managed consulting and advisory services with food and catering companies, but always put the commitment to the avant-garde before the business. The radical nature of elBulli could be maintained thanks to this model.

From the early nineties, a change began to take place in the cuisine of Ferran and elBullirestaurant, and together with the “Mediterranean” dishes, a series of new concepts, elaborations, techniques and service formats appeared, paving the way for the change that would take place in 1994.

At the organizational level, Ferran and Juli stipulated, as early as the end of 1987, a season divided into two parts: six months of service and six months when the restaurant is closed. During these last six months, throughout the nineties, a formula was sought to create a workshop, the first in the history of haute cuisine, and after several locations, elBullitaller was created in 2000, on Portaferrissa street in Barcelona. Based on this scheme, a model of creativity is established, which will gradually be perfected. Instead of creating a dish from an idea, during the closing months in Barcelona, hundreds of ideas for concepts, techniques and elaborations are launched, which in the six months at elBulli will result in finished recipes and menus. In addition, all the variables and resources of the process are subjected to a creative audit that provides a high level of efficiency and effectiveness, which is, after all, what has determined elBulli’s creative longevity.

Ferran has been married to Isabel Pérez since 2002, and they have no children.

On July 30, 2011, elBullirestaurant closes its doors and elBullifoundation is born.

The elBulli transformation project began to be conceptualized in mid-2010 and, since then, progress has been made and a series of challenges have been carried out to help shape the new project. Currently, under the elBullifoundation umbrella, Ferran and his team have defined these projects with different characteristics and vocations, although they are closely interrelated:

elBulli1846 – An exhibition lab located in the space formerly occupied by elBullirestaurant, in cala Montjoi, where work will be done on efficiency in innovation and exhibitions will be used as a working tool.

LABulligrafía – The archive that highlights what elBulli was and who Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler and Albert Adrià are. It is the tangible and intangible legacy of the historic restaurant elBulli. All the know-how that explains why elBullirestaurante changed the paradigm of gastronomic restoration. It bases its content and narrative on the creative audit and the case of elBulli as a company. It will have two versions: off-line (the physical archive of elBulli, a 6,000 m2 visitable archive-museum) and on-line (the virtual space where elBulli’s legacy will be presented in order and classified according to the taxonomy derived from the Sapiens Methodology, developed by Ferran as a method of analysis and understanding).

Bullipedia – A multimedia platform that publishes content to be disseminated in a range of formats, for the dissemination of Sapiens of western gastronomic restoration. It will be the world’s first encyclopedia on gastronomy, creativity and innovation. The first step consists of the publication of more than 30 books of 500 pages on multidisciplinary contents that form a transversal collection that allows a holistic understanding of gastronomic restoration.

The aim is to highlight, through the educational system and the media, that it is perfectly compatible to eat healthily from a gastronomic point of view.

These actions are supported by the members of the Chair Council, who sponsor these activities and are therefore directly involved in the day-to-day work.

We certify the following online training courses developed by our partners:

• Master in Clinical Nutrition and Hospital Dietetics
• Master’s Degree in Dietetics and Food Safety for Collectivities
• Expert in Clinical Nutrition and Hospital Dietetics
• Expert in Nutrition and Food Technology for Collectivities
• Professional cooking expert

• Ferran Adrià has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Barcelona (2007), the University of Aberdeen (2008) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (2010).
• As president of the Alicia Foundation’s Advisory Board, Ferran leads a unique project in food and health research, using cuisine as a language.
• He is the only chef to have participated in the prestigious Documenta contemporary art exhibition in Kassel in 2007.
• In June 2009, the musical work El libro de las ilusiones (Homenaje a Ferran Adrià), by the French composer Bruno Mantovani, was presented at the Pleyel hall in Paris. It is a work inspired by an elBulli menu.
• Since 2010 he has been a visiting professor at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
• From February 2012 to February 2013, an exhibition on Ferran Adrià and elBulli is being held at the Palau Robert in Barcelona, which will later visit London, Boston, Brazil and other places around the world.
• In January 2014, an exhibition was inaugurated at the Drawing Center that shows the creative process of elBulli, through drawings and diagrams by Ferran Adrià. On the occasion of this exhibition, the Decoding of the gastronomic process is presented. This exhibition will coincide with ARCO, and will also be traveling to other cities, such as Los Angeles, Cleveland, etc.
• In May 2014 BullipediaLAB opens, a 1,500^m2 space in which to develop the Decoding of the gastronomic process. In the same month, work begins in Cala Montjoi.

“Dear friends,

The Spanish Professional Cooking Selection has been in existence for almost a year now, full of great successes for our country in Haute Cuisine Competition.

Spain is the world reference in gastronomy, undoubtedly the best in the world; and yet, in international culinary competitions, our high quality has not been matched. And it is important for us to be there, because of the visibility it has, since competitions are a bit like Formula 1, a test bench and a breeding ground for young chefs. With medals at the WACS Europeans in Greece, the World Cup in Costa Rica and the Global Chef’s Challenge in Italy, Spain finally has a National Team that competes well and is ready to win. I hope and wish that these triumphs will also come in the Bocuse d’Or competition organized by the French, thanks to this initiative of “the red of the kitchen” with this “Bocuse d’Or Spain Team”, which I welcome from the institutional gastronomy.” Rafael Ansón, President of the RAEG and Honorary President of the AIG

“If there is one thing that makes me especially excited is to see that the Bocuse d’Or team is beginning a journey that I predict will bring many successes for our chefs. But I am also proud of the fact that its headquarters is the Ferran Adrià Chair, which for almost ten years has been promoting so many initiatives for the good and progress of our gastronomy. I can only wish the Bocuse d’Or team and the Chair every success.” Ferran Adrià, President of the CFA

As Official Headquarters, the Chair will provide all the resources at its disposal to support the preparation of the Spanish candidate to compete in the Bocuse D’Or, from infrastructure to the design and implementation of a specific training plan for the High Gastronomic Competition.

Dept. Extraordinary Chairs UCJCPhone: +34 918153131 (ext. 1367)
Mailelectrónico:fadria@ucjc.edu
Official website:larojadelacococina.com