Ferran Adrià On Restaurants

At Ferran Adrià's recent Culinary Conclave, held at LeDomaine, a luxury hotel in Spain's Ribera del Duero, the celebrated Catalan chef offered a few observations, full of his customary non sequiturs, on restaurant-going, the Guide Michelin, and related topics — including his role, if any, in his brother Albert's burgeoning Barcelona restaurant empire.

"My relationship to Albert is that I take on the elBulli Foundation, and he takes on his restaurant projects. When I visit his places, the whole team says 'Ferran is coming.' I go and I eat and I give him my feedback. I'm with Albert for everything. He's my brother."

"I am sick and tired of going out to restaurants to eat. Most people go to restaurants only ten times a year. In Austria, people eat very slowly. I fall asleep at the table. We chefs all manipulate what people eat. The question is who is in charge, the chef or the customer. Restaurants have to have flexibility."

"The Michelin concept is nonsense. To go to a restaurant like a tax inspector! If they don't like what they've eaten, they don't tell you. They should sit and tell you what was wrong. But chefs today don't take criticism, don't understand that there can be a dialogue."

"Highly creative restaurants will not make it financially in the future. Maybe crowd funding is the answer."

"Young people are crazy. It is our job to train young chefs, but I've just given up. People are not patient."