elBulli Reopens as Museum in Spain, World's First Restaurant-to-Museum Transformation

The legendary elBulli restaurant, which closed in 2011 at the height of its fame under chef Ferran Adrià, will reopen on June 15, 2023 as a museum called ElBulli 1846. Located in Cala Montjoi on the Catalan coast, the 4,000-square-meter space (2,500 outdoors) required an investment of 11 million euros. It will feature hundreds of objects and documents, 69 artistic, conceptual, and multimedia installations, and reproductions of historic dishes using the Japanese sumpuru technique. Notably, the museum will have no café or restaurant, only a bookshop. It will be open summer months only, through September 16. Tickets cost 27.50 euros including audioguide and shuttle bus from Rosas. The project, delayed by environmental restrictions in the Cabo de Creus protected park and the pandemic, is run by the elBulli Foundation. Adrià had previously participated in Documenta 12 in 2007, where he ran a satellite pavilion at elBulli for 50 randomly selected visitors per day, sparking debate on whether cuisine can be art. The museum name references the birth year of chef Auguste Escoffier. Exhibits include drawings by Adrià sold as NFTs in 2022, mannequins honoring global chefs like René Redzepi and Massimo Bottura, and creative notebooks from Adrià and his team.