Eat to the Beat: Has Ferran Adria Jumped the Shark?

When wonky foodie people speak about Adria, it’s in the hushed, reverent tones that Kool-Aid drinkers use to speak of their idols.

He’s a revolutionary, no doubt: Adria has single-handedly made El Bulli the most famous restaurant in the world, with 400 reservation requests for every table, while still losing money hand over fist. He’s Spanish, OK? Capitalism has never been his strong suit.

Adria is referred to as a genius, a maestro, the grandfather of molecular gastronomy; he’s lectured at Harvard to a sold out class of drooling undergrads, and when he’s actually doing his job, he gets to light things on fire and wear a funny hat.

Unfortunately, it seems Adria has paid the price that most cultural icons pay for their universal adulation–he’s started buying the hype and seems as besotted with himself as his most effusive admirers.

But even Adria’s most obsessed fans will blanch when they hear his latest, er, plan to improve humanity’s lot. Check out the interview with Adria, below, as he praises the essential contributions he has made–and will continue to make–to the field of not just food, but society as a whole and the world at large.

As he prepares to shutter El Bulli in July, Adria predicts that his next move will forever change the relationship between creativity and the world. (He does realize he’s talking about cooking, right? Just checking.)