Establishing New Codes for Creativity through Haute Cuisine: The Case of Ferran Adrià and elBulli

Abstract

Ferran Adria is one of the most recognized chefs in the world. Hisrestaurant, elBulli, was awarded five times the title of the BestRestaurant in the World. Through an analysis of the last 30 years of thecreative journey of elBulli, this contribution highlights that Adria andhis team of chefs succeeded in articulating two different processes: i)a process of creativity that aimed at defining a new ``school{''} ofhigh cuisine and ii) a process of innovation that was expressed by thenew gastronomic experiences offered to the (happy few) customers of therestaurant until its closure in 2011. A careful examination of thecoupling and decoupling of these two processes shows how they fueledeach other, and how the management of the organization (through aspecific type of ambidexterity) was conducive to the adequatearticulation of the two processes.