Chef Adria to reopen Spain's El Bulli as food lab in 2019

Ground-breaking Spanish chef Ferran Adria said Wednesday he planned to open a food laboratory in what used to be his legendary former restaurant El Bulli which he closed in 2011. The lab, a centre for new gastronomic inventions dubbed el Bulli 1846, will open its doors between June and October 2019, he told AFP. "For seven years we have done many things to prepare this moment, and now it will be born," added Adria, considered one of the world's best chefs. Adria is one of the pioneers of a culinary art form known as "molecular gastronomy" that uses science to invent new techniques that transform traditional dishes into fun culinary adventures. His El Bulli restaurant, on the shores of Catalonia's Costa Brava, served novelties such as gazpacho popsicles and melon caviar. It was booked months in advance and was ranked the world's best five times by Restaurant magazine. When Adria served his last meal at the restaurant in July 2011, he announced he would re-open it three years later as a foundation for culinary experimentation. "El Bulli has become a monster that had to be tamed and transformed," he told reporters at the time. But the renovation works were blocked due to environmental concerns since the former restaurant is located in the Cap de Creus nature park. Adria then scaled down the project and last week he received permission from municipal authorities to continue with the renovation of the building.