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Why did El Bulli close in 2011?
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molecular gastronomy
Tomato and basil spheres.
El Bulli closed in 2011 primarily because the restaurant’s highly ambitious and exacting approach to molecular gastronomy made it impossible to serve more than a limited number of diners each year. As a result, the establishment consistently operated at a financial loss.
While chef Ferran Adrià offset these costs through the sale of books and branded merchandise, he ultimately chose to shutter the restaurant to transform the space into a nonprofit foundation dedicated to culinary research.1