Ferran Adrià and elBulli's transformation

The case tells the story of Chef Ferran Adrià and describes the transformation of elBulli, a renowned Michelin three-star restaurant located in Spain's Costa Brava, since the restaurant's opening in 1961 until its closing in 2011. Why would Ferran Adrià close elBulli? Was the iconic restaurant yet another financial crisis victim? Had the chef and his team tired of success or run out of creative juices, unable to keep up with the hectic innovative pace required to create new, ground-breaking menus year after year? What else could have possibly driven Adrià to turn away from the restaurant's huge, untapped demand, with some two million reservation requests a year and a seating capacity for 8,000? Why would he risk turning this "gastronomic success" -a restaurant that had been named the world's best restaurant five times- into a foundation yet to be formulated and shaped? Learning objective: The teaching objective pursued with this case is to have students explore elBulli's evolution to find out how it became the world's best restaurant and why Ferran Adrià chose to make the strategic decision of closing it. At the end of this session, students are expected to understand Ferran Adrià's decision while all leading restaurants in the world aspire to reach the pinnacle elBulli had conquered. Subjects Covered: Business models; Creativity; Entrepreneurs; Innovation; Organizational change