ElBarri, the group founded by Albert Adrià along with the Iglesias brothers, which took up the mantle laid down by Ferran Adria and elBulli, is to be dissolved as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The group was made up of restaurants that were among Barcelona’s leading culinary lights.
The restaurants Tickets, Hoja Santa, Pakta and Bodega 1900 are to close, and the only one to remain is Enigma.
“Enigma is mine - it is not part of the alliance with the Iglesias brothers - and I don't know if I'll open it this year or next year," Albert Adriá said.
The closure marks the laying to rest of a significant part of the legacy of the restaurant that changed gastronomy. Doing so means burying "ten years of a person's dream, which will be part of a beautiful memory", according to Adriá, who added that setting up five uniquely creative restaurants and running them was "quite a challenge" involving "ten years of work at a hellish pace".
However, the famously innovative chef is undaunted by the decision, and instead is looking to the future and the possibilities it brings. “I am not a person who looks back,” he said.
Adria's partner Juan Carlos Iglesias has pointed out that the elBarri group "disappears", although that does not mean that they will not collaborate again in the future. The Iglesias brothers also run restaurants Rías de Galicia, Cañota and Espai Kru, which just about survived the restrictions and have managed limited openings.
