Ferran Adria at Live from the NYPL

Photo by andy in nyc

It only took about 10 minutes for the wheels to come off during Ferran Adria's discussion with Corby Kummer and Harold McGee at the Live at the NYPL event this past Friday. Adria, the "greatest chef in the world," was in town on a whirlwind media tour promoting the new Phaidon book, A Day at elBulli. The talk was promoted as "an evening of explanation and exploration of the sublime."

Over the course of the hour and a half long event the audience learned about Adria's famed restaurant, elBulli, and his workshop, elBulli Taller, and we also learned that Adria is not a man of brevity or obedience. Not content to let Kummer smoothly perform his job as moderater, Adria responded with circuitous and lengthy answers about the make up of his workshop (an induction burner, a gas stove, five chefs and no chemists), why he doesn't offer guests a menu (he wants every dish to be new, to be experienced without preconception) and the role of science in his cooking (he views as a tool for exploration, not something to be exploited for show) among other things. 

Although the event seemingly didn't play out as planned, it was a fascinating look into Adria's world and his thinking on science, the creative process and modern gastronomy. Kudos to the NYPL for presenting a forum for a true master to share insights.

Other Ferran Adria sightings in NYC...

• Settling for Leftovers After Famous Chef Cooks Personal Meal by Allen Salkin (with video)
• Q&A with Ferran Adria on Diner's Journal

Coming up at the NYPL...

• On Wednesday, October 29th Grant Achatz, chef and owner of Alinea, and Nathan Myrvold, CEO of Intellectual Ventures and former CTO of Microsoft, will discuss the ways that science and technology are transforming our notions of food. Visit the NYPL web site for more info.