2) Ferran Adrià
The famed head chef of three Michelin-starred restaurant El Bulli on the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain — widely considered one of the best restaurants in the world — started his career as a dishwasher at a hotel, where the chef taught him about traditional Spanish cuisine.
At the age of 18, after a stint as a cook in the military services, Ferran Adrià joined the kitchen staff at El Bulli as a line cook. A mere eighteen months later, he took on the role of head chef.
Adrià is frequently credited with popularising ‘molecular gastronomy’. He is also well known for his advancements regarding ‘culinary foam’, discarding the traditionally-used cream and egg and using only the main ingredient and air, with the help of nitrus oxide cartridges.
El Bulli opens from April to October — Adrià spends the remaining six months of the year working on recipes at his workshop in Barcelona.
Adrià is the author of several cookbooks and has been a featured chef on Great Chefs television.
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Sep 7, 2009
Many thanks to James and Aj for their comments. I'd just like to emphasise that the Top 20 Most Influential Celeb Chefs listing was compiled on the basis of votes cast by F&B professionals who took part in the Caterer F&B Survey last month. The listed celebrity chefs needed to be not just intern...
Sep 7, 2009 , United Arab Emirates
We all know these people - would it not have been better and more appropriate to focus on the Talent that we have in The Middle East? There are many amazing Chefs in the hotel industry in the Middle East that deserve some recognition as well??