Renowned El Bulli chef Ferran Adrià is tired of working as a commercial chef, he has admitted.
Adrià, whose three-Michelin starred restaurant is due to close in 2012, told Decanter.com that it was the public pressures of running a restaurant that influenced his decision to close.
‘I’ve become tired of taking care of certain aspects of being a place that’s open to the public,’ he said.
‘As a commercial restaurateur, I have certain responsibilities. When people bring up the issue of reservations, I have to give some kind of explanation.’
The 48-year-old chef was in London this week to promote his new biography by American food writer Colman Andrews.
In February this year it was announced that the renowned restaurant in northeast Spain will close in 2012 and be turned into a ‘non-profit think-tank of gastronomic creativity’ when it reopens in 2014.
El Bulli currently receives over 2 million requests for the 8,000 dining places offered per year.
Adrià said that the new format would remove the pressure to explain about reservations.
‘In a creative foundation I wouldn’t need to do that because it won’t be open to the public, so I can devote all my time to creativity,’ he said.
It has been reported that Adrià will sell tickets to eat at the foundation via auction, but the chef told Decanter.com he fears this will make it the preserve of the rich.
‘Very few people will get to eat at the foundation, but it won’t be just a question of money,’ he added.
Written by Lucy Shaw
