The greatest restaurant in the world, El Bulli, has closed

Does your foodie world feel somewhat off-kilter this Monday morning? Perhaps it’s got something to do with the fact that the culinary world is indeed different: today it is without El Bulli, arguably the best restaurant in the world.
El Bulli has closed it’s doors and the foodie press is aflutter. This weekend the last meal at Ferran Adrià’s magical and supremely over-booked restaurant was served to staff and their friends and family and the restaurant’s doors are now firmly shut until 2014 when Adrià’s foundation will open. Exactly what form this foundation will take is still a little blurry.

El Bulli, in Northern Spain, was a honey pot to critics worldwide: some, such as John Walsh, heralded Adrià a genius for his 49-course menu that was ‘far too rarified and polytextural to be called anything as mundane as “dinner”, in which the human tastebuds are put through the most strenuous workout of their lives’; others, including peers such as Raymond Blanc, were less exuberant in their praise for the molecular-gastronomist.
El Bulli won the coveted World’s 50 Best Restaurants title a record five times and, according to Jason Atherton, cooked at three Michelin star standard for 13 years. In later years, the restaurant was closed for six months a year and it is reported that when Adrià announced the closure there were over one million diners on the waiting list – all wanting to taste iconic dishes such as Parmesan snow, reconstituted olive (placed on the tongue and sprayed with gin and vermouth) and a square of cling-film that tastes of peas.
Along with the one million people on the waiting list, we’re sad we didn’t get to try it but it must be quite a feeling for Adrià, waking up this morning knowing that he has stepped out of the ring for a while but has done so at the top of his game.

Find out more, watch videos and hear what the international critics have to say:
The Independent – The last supper: El Bulli closes its doors
The Telegraph – El Bulli, ‘world’s best restaurant’ serves its final 49-course supper plus The last supper at the world’s finest restaurant
Bloomberg – Why El Bulli’s closure is no bad thing for the restaurant world
Guardian Word of Mouth: El Bulli is closing: now let’s cut the bull
Also worth having a peak at Ishay Govender’s insight into Adria’s new Tapas Bar in Barcelona
Guardian: The last supper: in pictures