Born on May 14, 1962, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. In 1980, he decided to end his business studies early. To finance a vacation in Ibiza, he took a job as a dishwasher at the small Hotel Playafels de Castelldefels. The chef, a friend of his father's, introduced him to classical cuisine. He worked at Club Cala Leña in Ibiza for four months. After returning to Barcelona, he took jobs at various restaurants. From mid-1982 to 1983, he did his military service in Cartagena, where he celebrated his first culinary successes with his comrades and superiors. In 1984, he started working at the elBulli restaurant, near the town of Roses on the Costa Brava.
There he met Juli Soler, who, impressed by his extraordinary skills, soon offered him the position of head chef. From then on, he devoted all his ambition to making elBulli something truly special. In 1993, Ferran Adrià published his first book, El sabor del Mediterráneo, which reflected his interpretation of Mediterranean cuisine from 1986 to 1993. Over the years, he published over 30 books. The year 1994 marked a decisive turning point: the experimental phase was intensified and new techniques were used to create a “Cocina Evolutiva,” an evolutionary cuisine. Supported by 60 employees, including 30 chefs, Ferran Adrià celebrated the cuisine that would bring him and elBulli worldwide attention for 50 guests each evening. The “elBullitaller” project followed in 1997.
This think tank had the specific task of developing ideas and techniques beyond the kitchen that would expand culinary possibilities on the one hand and prepare the next generation for the culinary arts of the next millennium on the other. In 1997, elBulli was awarded its third Michelin star. The restaurant elBulli, which he ran together with Juli Soler, closed its doors in 2011 and was converted into a foundation (elBullifoundation). In February 2020, Adrià plans to reopen elBulli as a state-of-the-art exhibition space and laboratory under the name “elBulli 1846.”
Ferran Adrià has received numerous honors and awards, including a visiting professorship at Harvard in 2010 and numerous honorary doctorates, including from the University of Barcelona in 2007, the University of Aberdeen in 2008, and the Polytechnic University of Valencia in 2010. The efficiency, effectiveness, and creative longevity of the elBulli model attracted the attention of various business schools, which have dedicated themselves to researching and creating case studies of Ferran Adrià and elBulli, including Columbia, Harvard, ESADE Business School, IESE, Berkeley, and London Business School.
Awards (Selection)
2013 Austrian Decoration of Honour for Science and Art
2009 Gran-Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil
2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 und 2009: “World’s best restaurant”
2007 European Merit Gold Medal
2007 documenta 12, Kassel
2006 Lucky Strike Designer Award
2005 International Eckart Witzigmann Prize
1997 Third Michelin Star for his restaurant „elBulli“
1996 Clé d’Or de la Gastronomie, Gault-Millau
1994 Grand Prix de L’Art de la Cuisine
Exhibitions (Selection)
2016/2017 Sapiens: Understand to create. elBullifoundation, Barcelona
2016 Ferran Adrià: The Invention of Food. Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg/Florida
2014/2016 Ferran Adrià: Notes on Creativity. Arco Madrid; Drawing Center, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Marres, House for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht. Ferran Adrià's drawings and notes are on display, describing the gastronomic process and graphically reflecting the development of cuisine from its “big bang” to the present day.
2014 Palau Robert, Barcelona. Architectural and conceptual project of elBulli foundation
2014 Ferran Adrià. Auditing the Creative Process. Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Madrid. The exhibition was also presented in Ausstellung Lima, Sao Paulo, Berlin and Buenos Aires
2012/2013 Ferran Adrià & elBulli: Risk, Freedom & Creativity. Palau Robert, Barcelona; Somerset House, London (“elBulli; Ferran Adrià and The Art of Food”); Museum of Science (MoS), Boston (“Innovation in the Art of Food: Chef Ferran Adrià”)
2007 documenta 12, Kassel
Filmography (Selection)
2010 Wetzel, Gereon (director): El Bulli – Cooking in Progress. Documentary film
2006 Bourdain, Anthony (director): Decoding Ferran Adrià. Documentary film
2004 Quante, Stefan (director): Küche von einem anderen Stern (Cuisine from another planet). Documentary film
Bibliography (Selection)
2016 Adrià, Ferran: Te cuento en la cocina. Barcelona, Madrid: Penguin Random House
2014 Adrià, Ferran; Adrià, Albert; Soler, Juli: elBulli 2005 –2011. London: Phaidon
2011 Adrià, Ferran; Fuster, Valentin; Corbella, Josep: La cocina de la salud. Madrid: Grupo Planeta
2011 Adrià, Ferran; elBullirestaurante team: The Family Meal. London: Phaidon
2009 Adrià, Ferran; Adrià, Albert; Soler, Juli: A Day at elBulli. London: Phaidon
2006 Fundación Alicia; elBullitaller: Léxico científico gastronómico. Madrid: Grupo Planeta
2005 Adrià, Ferran; Adrià, Albert; Soler, Juli: elBulli 2003-2004. elBullibooks
2002 Adrià, Ferran; Adrià, Albert; Soler, Juli: elBulli 1998-2002. elBullibooks
1998 Adrià, Ferran: Los secretos del el bulli - recetas, tecnicas y reflexiones. Barcelona:
Ediciones Altaya
1993 Adrià, Ferran; Soler, Juli: El sabor del Mediterráneo. Antártida