Deliveroo dinner on Monday, a virtual wine tasting on Wednesday, and a cook-as-you-go supper club with a fine dining chef over Zoom on the weekend. As an avid restaurant goer, I’ve had to be creative in recreating the warmth, the excitement, and the overall kick of endorphins that eating out used to give me.
Like many people living through this pandemic, I’ve taken for granted the work and thought that goes into cultivating an amazing restaurant experience. From the host greeting you at the door, to the way the carefully-crafted words on the menu induces grumbles in your stomach, to the surprise dish that arrives on your table because the chef is trying out something new and wants your honest opinion, dining out has always been a way for us to disconnect and reconnect at the same time.
“Es fantástica la coincidencia!” says Ferran Adrià when I tell him that I celebrated my 2013 graduation dinner at Tickets (his brother Albert’s restaurant in Barcelona) and that the company I did a marketing internship with that year was responsible for the promotional materials for Bullipedia, his self-described “techno-emotional cooking encyclopaedia”.
It is a surreal experience to interview Adrià for this piece knowing that his former restaurant, elBulli, is still considered one of the greatest restaurants of all time. Named the best restaurant in the world five times, elBulli spearheaded the concept of molecular gastronomy and was the ultimate training ground for some of this era’s top chefs.
When I ask about any benefits the lockdown period has brought him, he says: “I have been dedicated to the elBullifoundation. We will try to help with everything related to knowledge, be it in terms of management, innovation, or anything related to cuisine. For this, we’ve applied the Sapiens methodology to management, innovation, and cuisine, and this turns into Bullipedia.”
With lockdown restrictions starting to ease and restaurants around the world getting ready to welcome guests again, I decided to speak to leading chefs and restaurateurs around the world and get their predictions on something that has been on every avid diner’s mind: What will the future of restaurants look like?
Ferran Adrià, elBullifoundation
"Restaurants will stay the same, with an incredible variety in terms of formats and concepts. What is clear is that the crisis will make many disappear and it will be a while until we see new projects again, except for a few exceptions. For me, personally, the beginning of activities for elBulli1846 (the new exhibition lab which will open on the grounds of the former elBulli restaurant) on August 1st is the most important thing right now.”
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