Memo on the ElBulli restaurant

ElBulli: The Best Restaurant in the World

ElBulli is the best restaurant in the world thanks to innovation, a distinctive (out of this world) eating experience, and a great crew. ElBulli strives to be unique when it comes to invention, and it is renowned for its assortment of novel recipes. The launch of the R&D lab serves to further this deeply established innovation culture, where, in Ardia's estimation, more concepts and processes have been developed in the last fifteen years than have been seen globally in the previous century.

An Exceptional Eating Experience

The second element is the exceptional eating experience, to the point where patrons must wait for years to make a reservation. The entire experience—traveling, sightseeing, and the experience is so impressive that it sticks in the mind of every visitor. elBulli has an excellent workforce which ensures that the meal preparation process is elaborate and accurate to the details. The cooking staff has recreated a detailed process daily ensuring that every activity and the meals are perfect.

The ElBulli Experience

The tour and the meals are the elements of the elBulli experience that create value for the customers. After arrival, Adria greets each customer, and they are taken on a tour of the kitchen to see the unusual equipment and the innovative techniques. From the kitchen, they are taken to the terrace which overlooks the beach and the experience is outstanding; the setting sun, hearing the sounds of the ocean while sipping some wine. The meals consist of a dizzying array of dishes served in a fixed sequence which is conceived like a movie. It takes six hours to go through the entire meal with the aim being to surprise the customers in a way they never expected.

The Creative Process at elBulli

The salient features of the creative process at elBulli are the provocation of the senses and pragmatism. Adria creative process is founded upon the ability to provoke and elicit emotions when people are eating, and therefore, elBulli's primary focus is on the five senses. The need to elicit new big emotions drives the development of new techniques. Pragmatism means that the process gives forth tangible things, that is, from theories to concepts, to practical techniques. The result is that the generation of concepts might take an extended period ranging from hours to months.

Addressing Weaknesses

A major weakness in the restaurant's conception is the fact that ideas might take months before it is integrated into the menu. For instance, the 2008 recipes took a period of 10 months before being incorporated into the menu. During this time, a lot of individuals are involved in seeking new concepts, and in the process, many resources are used as well as time. Therefore, the time from idea generation to adoption is a lot and I would fix this by setting a deadline for the development of new concepts. For instance, I would give the creative team a period of a maximum of five months for them to come up with new concepts.

Transferring the elBulli Philosophy

It will be difficult to transfer the elBulli philosophy to fast food or even potato chips. elBulli has been successful because it only serves 8,000 customers per year, and the restaurant is closed for six months a year, allowing for the generation of ideas. In fast food, consistency is key, and many customers are after convenience, and therefore, offering a wide array of meals will only cause confusion. A limited menu is sufficient in potato chips and fast foods, and operations must be maintained all year round, meaning that there is no time to try out new ideas. Therefore, Ferran Adrià and the elBulli team should try to venture into holding live cooking sessions at customers’ homes, that is, the team can attend homes and prepare personalized meals for clients.

Putting the Customer First

The customer should come first. Creativity is important, but most companies make the mistake of introducing innovative products that do not add any value to the customer. Therefore, a business should first understand the customer, and then its creative efforts should be focused on meeting the customers' changing needs. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the problem that the customer wants to solve and then come up with a creative solution. From a systems perspective, elBulli is a closed system rather than an open system. An essential feature of a closed system is the fact that information and knowledge are shared only within the system without interacting with the environment. elBulli operates as a single unique restaurant like no other, which is dependent on its processes without seeking the output of others. For instance, it closes for six months a year, meaning that while it operates as a single unit independent of the environment.