Albert Adrià: "Michelin stars inflate our egos, but it's also true that we deserve them."

BarcelonaThis year, Albert Adrià's restaurant Enigma has managed to go from one to two stars. A year ago, and two years ago as well, popular predictions were that it would climb from one star to three. Some even compared it to chefs from other countries who had experienced a similar situation. But then came the star awards ceremonies, and Michelin left Albert Adrià out. Last year, to drive the point home, friends and family were so certain he would win three stars that when the chef of Casa Marcial appeared on stage, they mistook him for Adrià (from behind, he could resemble him) and he started receiving congratulatory messages on his phone. This happened to those watching the ceremony on YouTube, because those watching it live... They saw "the idiotic face" that Albert Adrià says he had when he realized, yet again, that he had not two or three stars, but that he still had one.. To continue, last summer, in the city of Turin, The English ranking The World's 50 Best Awards awarded the chef the Chefs Choice awardThis is what only chefs vote for on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, sponsored by Estrella Damm. This year, rumors suggested that Michelin would award Albert Adrià another accolade. Such is the pressure these lists and their awards carry; there are times of the year when everyone wins and everyone loses, but chefs, like Albert Adrià, maintain that the only real reward is filling the restaurant's dining room every single day.

This year you were back on all the prediction lists that guaranteed you would get the second star.

— As the Michelin star announcement date approaches, everyone makes their prediction. For three years in a row, friends and journalists have told me I'm going to get more stars, and all I knew this year was that I'd received a letter inviting me to the gala.

Are you happy to have gotten it?

— Awards boost our egos, and we deserve them, but the thing is, in Barcelona there are many of us with quality restaurants, and we have to fight to get customers to come. So, of course I'm happy about the second star, but filling the restaurant every day is the best gift I've received in a long time.

Last year you made the dishes exactly the same way you're making them this year. You haven't changed your way of working. What did you think last year when you didn't get the second or third star?

— That it didn't meet the profile or standard they want. I respect their criteria, and I'm very happy for my team to have earned the second star. During all these years, I've never written to Michelin, nor spoken to them, to ask them anything. I know that there are restaurant profiles that are already designed to follow Michelin's standards: three appetizers, six courses, two desserts, and small foursI make three starters and thirty main courses, just like Disfrutar in Barcelona or Diverxo in Madrid.

Does Michelin not reward long menus?

— They don't want long menus, but it's also true that there are restaurants that have been awarded three stars that do have them. But I'll also tell you that I've been a chef for forty years, and I've seen it all.

Your tasting menu still features large white plates, in a minimalist style.

— They will always be white, because it's the only color that suits the local architecture. I can't add any color. They will always be white or glass. Aside from the color, I continue with my obsessions when creating dishes, which are seasonality and the quality of the product.

I've seen new dishes, like the artichoke and coconut one.

— Now in autumn, the new products arrive, which we use to test dishes. It's something that worries me, because we close for vacation from December 21st until mid-January, and I have to have everything perfectly prepared. These days are very busy. Anyway, we grill the saffron milk cap mushrooms, then blend them, serve them with a saffron milk cap mushroom sauce, and combine them on the plate with coconut flakes, cut so thinly by a Japanese cook on the team that no one can tell the difference between the saffron milk cap and the coconut.

What dish are you preparing for next year?

— Hare, cooked with foie gras and anchovies. We're experimenting, and if we don't succeed, we'll bring back a dish from last season. The thing is, thinking up a dish, developing it, and putting it on the menu takes three weeks of work. And sometimes we don't manage it, for whatever reason. Since we have the product dates very well noted, knowing when they're at their best, we then revisit the idea.

In Barcelona, everyone takes it for granted that you will open a new restaurant inside a hotel.

— At the moment, I don't have anything confirmed. Every year I speak with about twenty hotels, especially when they have new management, as they then look for new projects. That said, I won't open another restaurant in Barcelona, because it would overshadow Enigma. On the other hand, I would be interested in cities like Madrid, where my son is studying, Seville, or Malaga. But sometimes I reconsider, because with all the staffing problems, you lose the motivation. I'd also like to try models and styles that don't require the intensity of Enigma.

Like the ice cream shop or burger joint you advertised in Barcelona?

— In February I'm opening a new ice cream shop inside Torrons Vicens, on Passeig de Gràcia, opposite La Pedrera. As for the burger place, forget it, the numbers just don't add up. We'd have to sell a lot of burgers to make it profitable. And now, to finish the year, I have many other offers, but nothing's signed yet, so I can't say anything.

In September, as other restaurants in Barcelona have also done, you raised the price of the Enigma menu.

— We went from 240 euros to 260. I know that's the price of three-star restaurants, but it's what it costs me to pay the fifty-five people I have working at the restaurant to serve forty diners. And that's only working evenings from Monday to Friday. We're closed on weekends.

Will you be raising menu prices again in January?

— It will depend on several factors. If I do it, it will only be so that my team earns more money.