Ferran Adrià expresses concern for the future of cuisine: "The best Spanish chefs are 45 and older."
The opinion
In an interview with Gastro SER, Ferran Adrià contemplates on the current culinary landscape. The Catalan chef, still in top form, shares his thoughts with clarity. Faced with the astounding success of DiverXO (recently awarded for the third consecutive year by The Best Chef for Dabiz Muñoz's eclectic cuisine, considered by many as his "successor"), Adrià expresses admiration for the Madrid chef, stating, "He works hard and has a lot of talent. He never stops. I met him in the old restaurant, and he never stopped. This consistency makes him unique; to go far in our world, you need creativity, which he has, but also passion and commitment." He adds, "If your colleagues are as creative as you, but you put in more passion and commitment, you will surpass them. I believe that is a great value. Perseverance can make a difference over time."
While Adrià has encountered many talented chefs, he assures that the magic often fades: "In high-end restaurants, the dinner will almost always be presented through a tasting menu. It happens that if you return a few years later, you can clearly perceive the lack of evolution and the loss of creativity in the kitchen. This is one of the big problems of today's restaurants. In the past, there were no long menus or the obligation to change them two or three times a year; only Pierre Gagnaire had a menu of 7-8 courses."
However, what concerns Ferran Adrià the most is not so much the immediate future but what will happen in 10 or 15 years: "When you dedicate yourself to creation, what determines the future is the creative thermometer, and very few people in the world keep it stable. There is high-level press that sets trends, rankings; there are also customers with their feedback and, why not, social media. But creative value does not depend on any of that." His reflection naturally concludes with two words on Spanish cuisine: "Disfrutar and Diverxo will surely be present in the coming years, but what interests me, and I believe everyone, is that someone brilliant emerges globally at 25 or 30. We must think about the future! What matters to me is that a young man or woman of great talent emerges; however, not easy, because when we talk about the best chefs in Spain, they are 45 and older." And he continues, "We must ensure that if someone very brilliant emerges, they can benefit from our experience. Only in this way, in 10 or 15 years, can we have someone at the top. At least one!"
Asked about future trends, he responds without hesitation: "The Alchimist's offering is still similar to what we did at elBulli. We all wonder what the next revolution will be, and I believe it will be in China. I went in 2017, and there were already young people doing creative Chinese cuisine. It's talked about little, but it would be nice to dedicate a congress to them to see what's happening because there are many techniques and products still unknown to us."
