Rob Horgan
PLANS to expand the world-renowned el Bulli restaurant into a gastronomic hub have taken a blow.
Chef Ferran Adria has been forced to scale back his plan to expand the site by 300% after environmentalist protests.
Adria wanted to create a mega, gastronomical think tank on the site of the former 3-Michelin star restaurant.
El Bulli – in Cala Montjoi, on the Costa Brava – was named the world’s best restaurant a record five times before it closed in 2011.
Reopened as a museum and creativity centre in 2014, Adria wanted to turn it into a creative hub for Spain’s best chefs.
The restaurant is located in the Cap de Creus Natural Park and those opposed to the expansion claimed it would be a breach of environmental law.
Instead, Adria will now expand the site by just 20% and is due to open the doors once more next month.
Gastronomic empires earn enough money to fund their enterprises without expanding onto protected natural public lands.
And people who have eaten at his restaurant can’t remember a single dish they have eaten after a couple of days. Once hype takes hold, dummies have to believe it is the truth.