Joe Ray

Winter 2010 - Centurion Magazine

At a recent interview with Catalan superchef Ferran Adrià, the conversation flowed perfectly until we broached the business of El Bulli, at which point, he shut up like a clam. Why? It’s not his domain. For the business end, I spoke to manager, Juli Soler. He’s a fickle fish - a mix of businessman and artist. His responses can be cheeky, or need time before you realize they’re not glib.  Though the restaurant consistently tops ‘best restaurant in the world’ lists, it’s no cash cow. Instead, money comes in through offshoots like catering, consulting, lecturing and publishing.

How do you balance the artistic aspiration of Ferran Adrià with the need to pay yourselves? How do you work with Adrià?
With Ferran, we’ve always been working on developing our own style of cooking, but we’ve also been responsible for our own financing since the beginning.

Adria was quoted as saying: “Creativity comes first; then comes the customer.” What is the idea behind that? How did you react when you first heard that? In your case, does it work? Do you agree?
Yes. Of course! But it’s said with respect to our clients and friends. We have to work on the creative part to be able to offer our guests the best show!

Can you defy traditional business logic, by placing more emphasis on creativity and innovation than pricing and operational factors?
Our costs and sales prices would not change if we were a more conventional restaurant. The final cost is a result of the restaurant’s geographic location, raw materials and having a large team to ... provide a unique service to our clients.

How has the global financial crisis impacted on the restaurant business?
Not at all. The best restaurants in the world, whether popular or traditional cuisine, or culinary artists, haven’t suffered as a result of the crisis. All the world’s lovers of good cooking know how to enjoy and are still eating everything.

Restaurants at this level can be money pits. How does your approach differ from that of restaurants of other great chefs?
No great restaurant is a big business. The great restaurants around the world run themselves just so they can exist and live well, but none of them are ever going to be big businesses.

How satisfying is it to be involved in ‘Food For Thought. Thought For Food’ with Vincente Todoli, director of Tate Modern and the artist Richard Hamilton?
Those are very different kinds of love. Working with Richard Hamilton was absolutely his idea and project. As he’s been our client for more than thirty years, he wanted to compile and design this great work in the book that was published with the Tate Modern.

There are chefs who would sell their souls to do something like you have done at El Bulli. What would you say to a young chef with big aspirations?
It’s an authentic model that has inspired many professionals, both young and almost retired. Our advice is to take care of your staff and clients and you’ll find the satisfaction that creates happy diners. Success is guaranteed.

[Editor’s Note: The physical, emotional and possibly even financial demands of running a world-class kitchen were further hinted at shortly after the interview with the stunning announcement that El Bulli would close for two years in 2012 and 2013.]

Click here to read my Boston Globe Travel story on my recent meal at El Bulli and here to see the full photo shoot.