jackytoo

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news...le_24855.shtml

Can't remember which thread this place was discussed or I would have tagged it on.

Fred James

Well, not exactly closing down.

He is just extending his annual six month closure to two years - just to come up with a new menu!!

That should let The Fat Duck back into the Number 1 slot!

steviedeluxe

Interesting - the headline states "World's best restaurant to close for two years". I thought the queues for a booking were that long anyway?
To me the place may as well be on Mars - I'm not likely to ever eat there!

Rotor

I think it would be more honest to say ceasing trading due to economic climate, anyway its better than letting it go bust and having a que of creditors at his door , this way he may keep his reputation

Fred James

How do you reckon that?

His entire years tables are booked in just one day!

If ever a business was recession proof, it's El Bulli.

Rotor

Busy dose not always equal profitable/viable , if hes got only 30 tables you really believe he`d get over 10,000 bookings in one day ? ie 30 x 364 , theres so much hype/BS in this type of industry.

A friend of mine fits lighting systems in nightclubs etc, regulary the clubs advertise as having spent millions on new systems where as his invoices only are around the 200 to 300 k mark!!

cricketman

Absolutely. El Bulli is incredibly profitable and has made Ferran Adria a multi-millionaire who can pick and choose his projects now.

The posters on here who suggest it is going bust don't live on this planet. He could just shove in another 1,000 tables if he wanted and still be booked up every night.

Rotor

I guess youve never been in business then?

John Burton Race with his 3 Michelin stars managed to go bust.

Gordon Ramsay , Keith Floyd to and a long list of other top chefs , Worral Thompson and Rick Stien in dire straights , not me living on another planet.

Bamba9

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/vid...i-ferran-adria

Please see attached, as you will see he makes his money from his intelectual property rights, he also tells you that el bulli loses money!!

Bit of a joke to compare Jon Burton Race who has never held 3 stars!!

Rotor

Your link is two years old,His recent publicty could be creasing him ,watch the press ,soon creditors will start shouting

See this link

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle6869579.ece

Burton Race is a Michelin star chef ,how ever many stars they are all in the same league.

jackytoo

The comments below the Typically spanish one said that most of his money comes from books etc. 2 years does sound a long time, sounds like a facesaver.

rugbymatt

El Bulli never made money, but then it was never meant to make money, its the subsidiary businesses that make the money, mainly built on the reputation of El Bulli and its chefs.


Oh and GR isn't bankrupt OR bust.

Rotor

[QUOTE=rugbymatt;8286766]El Bulli never made money, but then it was never meant to make money, its the subsidiary businesses that make the money, mainly built on the reputation of El Bulli and its chefs.


Oh and GR isn't bankrupt OR bust.[/QUOTE]

Back in August he was up a certain creek ,dont know where hes at now but if you believe hes pumped 5mil to stay afloat things are very very bad.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...staurants.html

rugbymatt

Facing bankruptcy and being bankrupt are two separate things, it was obvious 2 years ago that he was spreading himself too thin and that prover right last year but when a guy can find 2.5 million from nowhere its fairly evident that he isn't broke.

There have been rumours flying round for years in the industry about him and a couple of other chefs, you mention Burton Race, well the day he left the Landmark (where he won them 2 stars not 3) everyone knew he would flounder and sure enough he did. I have been to the New Angel and its lovely, he is a great cook, but he is also a price cock and I honestly can't stand him, but a friend and work colleague down here in Devon is very good friends with Gordon brother and its fair to say that given how bad their lives were as kids its a bloody miracle they all ended up like they did and from what I am told, and I admit its not first hand, but Gordon is actually a lovely person in real life.

I will be surprised given how successful El Buli is that it will close, a reshuffle? Maybe a trim of staff? Or... and this is just the cynic in me... but maybe this is just another bit of first class PR, much like Gordon's supposed foul mouth.

Madridboy

As my OH is in the restaurant trade in this level we were interested in this ourselves. OH seems to think it's believeable that he's closing down for 2 years to figure out how to cook a nice piece of fish....I think not.
Yes they're booked solid and the average Joe hasn't a chance of ever eating there but......they have more people working in the kitchen at any one time then there are customers and there are between 2 and 3 waiters per table.
My OH works in Pan de Lujo (kitchen ran by Alberto Chicote) which is not a cheap restaurant and they're lucky if there are 6 waiters for the 55 - 60 tables and around 8 people in the kitchen.
It does sound like El Buli is more of a project than a buisness.

A Bugatti Veron is the worlds most powerful production car and sells for £1,000,000 but costs 5 times that to build.

If he's making a shed load of money from somewhere else it probably doesn't matter but I don't see El Buli making a "good" profit.