Ferran Adrià’s elBulli to reopen

The reservations book at elBulli, Ferran Adrià’s five-time winner of the world’s best restaurant accolade, could reopen in the spring of 2016.

The Catalan chef’s elBulli1846 project is scheduled to be launched on the site of the former restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava. But don’t get too excited, reservations will be harder than ever to secure.

The elBullifoundation recently made a €9 million investment in elBulli1846, a research and innovation centre of excellence, part of which will open to the public as a functioning restaurant for just 20 days a year.

The restaurant will be run by a team of 30 “gastronomy experts” who will work at the centre’s elBulliDNA research laboratory for the rest of the year. Half of the seats will be paid for and the remainder will be offered free to the public via an online lottery. elBulli1846 is named after the number of dishes Adrià and his team created during the restaurant’s lifetime.

Adrià and his business partner Juli Soler have had to seek special planning permission for the 4,383, sq m centre, half of which will be positioned underground to respect the surroundings of the Cap de Creus National Park in which it is located.

As part of the planning process the Catalan parliament is due to vote on the endeavour’s status as “project of public interest”. If this is successful, work is expected to start in the autumn and the centre is due to open in March 2016.