Somerset House has something very delicious in store for you – they are hosting a major retrospective exhibition on a global icon of gastronomy, Ferran Adrià, and his masterpiece, the finest restaurant of the world, elBulli. The retrospective elBulli: Ferran Adrià and The Art of Food will celebrate the art of cuisine and cuisine as art, by giving the viewer a closer look at the legendary laboratory and kitchen of the restaurant, which was located in Cala Montjoi bay on the Catalan coast for over 50 years.
From research to presentations to even plaudits, the showcase will feature a diverse multimedia display of the creative mastermind and the execution of culinary genius behind the restaurant. Named after the original owners’ French bulldogs (a breed originally known as ‘bull’), elBulli became the home (or laboratory) for Adrià in the summer of 1983 and over time, the restaurant team invented 1846 dishes in total!
Under Adria’s leadership and creative direction, elBulli was voted the world’s best restaurant five times by Restaurant magazine and it received over 2 million reservations enquiries for each summer season that it was open.
Adrià said of the Somerset House show: “Even though the restaurant of elBulli is now closed, the spirit of elBulli is still very much alive and this exhibition is one of the ways of keeping it so. For some, I hope it will revive good memories, and for others it will give a flavour of a fine dining experience like no other. Overall, it is an ode to the creativity, imagination, innovation, talent and teamwork of everyone at elBulli, but especially the world-famous chefs who trained with us and took these values into their own restaurants around the world.
elBulli: Ferran Adrià and The Art of Food
Embankment Galleries West, Somerset House, London 5 July – 29 September 2013
Image: Andrew Rae
