Albert Adrià

Albert Adrià was born in 1969 in L'Hospitalet (Catalonia). He dropped out of school to start an apprenticeship at elBulli, inspired by his older brother Ferran who was already working there.

For two years, he worked every section of the kitchen and became especially inspired by patisserie and desserts. Each winter whilst elBulli was closed, Albert went off to gain work experience in some of Spain’s top pastry kitchens including Escribà in Barcelona, and Totel close to Valencia with Paco Torreblanca. He also spent short spells working alongside chefs such as Guy Savoy, Michel Bras, Heston Blumenthal and Martín Berasategui.

The restaurant test kitchen was “invented” by Albert Adria. After 10 years at elBulli, he left in summer 1997 to write his first book on the dessert of elBulli. During the same period, Adria set up a new research concept elBullitaller with Oriol Castro. Initially, it was only one table, a stack of books and two chairs. The elBulli workshop became crucial to the whole evolvement and structure of elBullli. Until 2008, Albert developed the workshop, relocated in the centre of Barcelona, and over the summer season he continued to run the pastry section of elBulli. The idea was to separate the everyday requirements of daily restaurant service from developing culinary creation. At the workshop, the menu for the following the season at Cala Montjol was created to be served the following season . At the workshop Adria and his team also devised commercial products, such as the textures used at the restaurant.

In March 2006, Albert opened Inopia Classic Bar in Barcelona, inventing the genre of “gastrobars” in Spain, where traditional tapas including classic croquetas and hot potatoes using the best raw ingredients were given a twist of modern invention. Albert Adria left the creative management of elBulli and haute cuisine in 2009 to write his second book “Natura”, direct the film “A Day in the Life of elBulli” which won many festival awards and develop new culinary projects including Tickets..

Cakes & Bubbles is Albert Adriá’s first permanent foray into UK, after a hugely successful 50 day pop-up restaurant at Cafe Royal in November 2016. Cakes & Bubbles, specialising in desserts, cava and champagne which opened in the winter of 2018. A signature dish is the savoury-sweet cheesecake invented at Tickets. Now Albert Adria is involved in 10 Hudson Yards in New York, the food hall modeled after Eataly by Spanish-born US-Based chef José Andrés creating a Spanish food lovers’ emporia and embracing all kinds of Spanish cuisine from tapas to more high end, with references to Boqueria. This will be the Adrià brothers.

 In January 2011 Albert opened 41o, located on the famous Avenue del Paralelo in Barcelona, initially a cocktail and snack bar which evolved into a 16 seat restaurant with a menu of snacks paired with cocktails. Soon after, he opened Tickets with his brother Ferran and the Iglesias brothers.

Playful, contemporary tapas restaurant Tickets is more like a culinary amusement park that takes tapas to the cutting edge. Five small-plates open kitchens and bars surround the perimeter of the restaurant, each specialising in different techniques. In 2018, British publication The Restaurant Magazine awards Tickets restaurant with position 32nd best restaurant in the world.

In 2013, Albert Adrià opened Pakta, a Nikkei restaurant (a combination of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine) in the same Parallel neighborhood of Barcelona, now referred to as elBarri. A Vermutia, Bodega 1900 was Albert’s fourth opening. .

Ever looking ahead, in 2014 Albert opened a double restaurant, Niño Viejo, a street food typical taquería and Hoja Santa, a haute cuisine Mexican restaurant,which has subsequently gained a Michelin star. As has Enigma which first opened in June 2016 as a 28 seater gastronomic restauranti.

Venturing beyond Barcelona, in February 2015, Albert and his brother Ferran signed with Le Cirque du Soleil for the Heart Ibiza project, a multi-space located in Ibiza that unifies art, gastronomy and music.

Unstoppable, in 2015, he launched La Cala Albert Adrià launched a company specializing in products to accompany aperitifs. Ever mixing medias, in 2017, Albert directed “Constructing Albert” a documentary that relates his life as a creative chef and businessman during the creation of all his recent projects.

Cakes & Bubbles is Albert Adriá’s first permanent foray into UK, after a hugely successful 50 day pop-up restaurant at Cafe Royal in November 2016. Cakes & Bubbles, specialising in desserts, cava and champagne which opened in the winter of 2018. A signature dish is the savoury-sweet cheesecake invented at Tickets. This year, 2019, Albert Adria (and brother Ferran) are involved in Mercado Little Spain, bringing the culture of Spain to 10 Hudson Yards in New York. The food hall is unashamedly modelled after Eataly, with Spanish-born US-Based chef José Andrés to create a Spanish food lovers’ emporia. The 35,000 square feet of  restaurants, kiosks and market in homage to Barcelona’s La Boqueria, embrace all kinds of Spanish cuisine from tapas to more high end, with references to Boqueria. No wonder TIME magazine recognised Albert Adria as one of the 13 most influential people in the world of gastronomy.