'World's best restaurant' to reopen as museum

Spain's elBulli, repeatedly voted the world's best restaurant before it closed over a decade ago, is set to reopen as a museum dedicated to the culinary revolution it sparked.

Nestled in an isolated cove on Spain's northeastern tip, the museum is dubbed "elBulli1846" a reference to the 1,846 dishes ground-breaking chef Ferran Adria says were developed at the eatery.

"It's not about coming here to eat, but to understand what happened in elBulli," the 61-year-old told AFP near the kitchen of the restaurant he ran for over two decades.

The museum will open on June 15, nearly 12 years after the restaurant served its final dish to the public.

Visitors will be able to see hundreds of photos, notebooks, trophies and models made of plastic or wax that emulate some of the innovative dishes which were served at the eatery.

Adria pioneered the culinary trend known as molecular gastronomy, which deconstructs ingredients and recombines them in unexpected ways.

The results are foods with surprising combinations and textures, such as fruit foams, gazpacho popsicles and caramelized quails.

Under Adria's watch elBulli achieved the coveted Michelin three-star status and was rated the world's best restaurant a record five times by British magazine The Restaurant.

"What we did here was find the limits of what can be done in a gastronomic experience," Adria said.

"What are the physical, mental and even spiritual limits that humans have. And that search paved paths for others." Some of the world's most famous chefs were trained by Adria at elBulli, including Denmark's Rene Redzepi of Noma and Italy's Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana.

A foundation set up to maintain elBulli's legacy invested 11 million euros (...