El Bulli's cuisine was basically traditional French, but the restaurant's manager Juli Soler sent Adri off to acquire new ideas, touring some of the top kitchens in France and learning under the great masters. During the second half of the1980s Adri started his experiments, which were based on the use of fresh materials and adapting classic Mediterranean preparations, giving them a new twist. Many of these new variations were acheived with his now-famous foams. Basically, this consisted of aerating ingredients with a syphon, introducing minute bubbles to the texture, a technique which is common for some desserts but which Adri applied to savoury dishes. His philosophy is to provide unexpected contrasts of flavor, temperature and texture.
Nothing is what it seems.
The idea is to provoke, surprise and delight the diner. The meals at El Bulli are of epic length. The sample menu consists of more than a dozen dishes, accompanied by as many different appertifs.