In this super long, super in-depth profile of Ferran Adrià’s younger brother Albert, one thing becomes instantly clear: stop calling him “Ferran Adria’s younger brother, Albert.” In fact, the significance of Albert Adrià is such that everyone who worked with him at el Bulli — from José Andrés to Ferran Adrià himself — consider him the most important chef in the world.
Seriously, here’s what Roads and Kingdoms found that people had to say about him:
Start asking around about Albert and chefs will stand in line to tell you about his brilliance. And the first in line will be Ferran himself.
“He is without a doubt the most complete cook working in the world today.”
When I tell Jose Andrés, who parlayed his elBulli experience into a 10-restaurant Spanish domain in the States, about Ferran’s opinion of his younger brother, Andrés objects. “Ferran stole that from me. I’ve been saying that for years. Ferran may be an incredible chef, but there is no better cook in the world than Albert.”
It’s not just because of familial loyalty: according to the profile, Albert, who joined his brother at el Bulli when he was only 15, was the driving force behind many of the restaurant’s culinary innovations: starting at the dessert station, his precise and meticulous techniques bled into the rest of el Bulli. Eventually he became the creative director of el Taller, the famed research lab of el Bulli, and has now struck out to create his own wildly creative, mind-blowingly stunning restaurant empire in Barcelona (centered around his flagships, Tickets and 41 Degrees).
Now, if those blurbs don’t get you to reconsider el hermano de Ferran in a different light, we don’t know what will — save for maybe the food porn-filled profile below.
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