El Bulli
El Bulli was a restaurant near Roses, on the Costa Brava of Catalonia. Run by Ferran Adrià, it became a global reference for avant-garde cuisine before closing in 2011.
History
The site began around 1961 as a small bar within a holiday development created by the German Hans Schilling and his wife Marketta. It gradually became a restaurant. After the first Michelin star, earned under French chef Jean-Louis Neichel, the arrival of Juli Soler as director and Ferran Adrià in 1984 defined its best-known period.
For years it ranked at the top of international lists of the world's best restaurants. Its menu rested on constant research and new techniques, and it opened only part of the year, with demand far above the seats available. Many cooks who trained in its kitchens, known as bullinianos, later carried its ideas to other countries.
In 2010 Adrià announced that the restaurant would stop serving guests. It closed on 30 July 2011 and became the elBulli Foundation, devoted to culinary research and the preservation of its archive.
Culture
More than a place to eat, El Bulli worked as a laboratory where ideas were tested and then passed into professional kitchens. Its work reached the public through books such as A Day at El Bulli (2008) and the Texturas product line, whose thickeners and gelling agents, such as xanthan and alginate, are now common in kitchens for spherification and thickening without altering flavour. The documentary El Bulli: Cooking in Progress (2010) and a London exhibition in 2013 shared its creative process beyond Spain. Its influence remains visible in avant-garde cooking worldwide.
Legend and fact
It is often said that the name came from the French bulldogs owned by the Schillings, which were colloquially called bullis. Accounts of the founding dates differ: 1961 is given for the choice of site, 1963 for the bar, and 1964 for the first restaurant.