( CNN ) -- Ferran Adria delights in doing things differently . He 's credited with inventing over 1,800 recipes for his restaurant El Bulli -- consistently rated the world 's best -- and elevating cooking to a new level , fusing gastronomy with art and science . `` One of the big reasons why El Bulli is where it is , is because we talk to other disciplines . We are seeing the revolution of communications in cooking , '' he says . Adria has become something of a culinary superstar who has given lectures across the world on his innovative approach to food and his face has been splashed on the cover of international publications . `` Everything that has happened is a gift , '' he says . `` When I was on the cover of The New York Times I could n't believe it . What is a cook doing there ? I have been invited to Harvard as a visiting professor ! How could I have dreamed of this ? I never expected this . '' It 's a long way from where he imagined he would be when he took his first job in a restaurant kitchen aged 17 . That was more to do with a teenage need to fund a summer vacation rather than the makings of a life 's vocation . Adria 's interest in cooking began at home in Barcelona with his parents and younger brother Albert , but then becoming a footballer was of greater interest to the young Ferran . `` Neither Albert nor I studied cooking . Neither of us wanted to be cooks . So we have the same way of thinking . We ask why about things , '' Adria says . Yet by the time Adria was 24 he was the head chef at El Bulli on the Catalan coast in northeastern Spain , at that time a struggling restaurant in danger of losing its Michelin-star rating . Today El Bulli is the benchmark for the world 's greatest culinary experience . Only 8,000 people are served there each year despite millions of requests for a table . Dining is less about enjoying a meal as indulging in an experience that can take a whole day . The average cost is $ 400 , involving dishes prepared with almost molecular precision . `` You do n't make money with avant garde cuisine . This is not a business . We could auction reservations on eBay . But that would be prostitution , '' says Adria . It seems fitting that the creations emanating from his kitchen should be less than 10 miles from the former home of artist , Salvador Dali . From `` pina colada pillow '' cocktails to extracting the unique flavor of prawn heads , his kitchen team provide the unexpected in a way the surrealist would likely have approved of . `` Every time I meet something I did not know existed I say , 'Nice to meet you , ' because it extended my idea of what life is about and that is what Ferran is doing , '' says Vincente Todoli , former curator of London 's Tate Modern . `` Art or not art ? I do n't care but certainly this is an experience that takes me into other realms . '' Adria also has his attention fixed on venturing into new territory . Last year he announced that El Bulli would close its doors for good in the summer of 2011 . In its place will come the El Bulli Foundation , a `` think tank of gastronomic creativity '' that Adria will continue to hone until it opens in 2014 . `` This could become a vast creative network , thousands of people bringing in ideas . It is going to change the relationship between creativity and society , '' Adria says . `` This is a lot more than a cooking project . It 's a social project . The objective of the foundation is to continue creating and to share everything via Internet . '' Adria 's interest in connecting with a larger world has already seen him partner with technology and communications company Telefonica in Spain to help develop El Bulli Foundation 's IT . But he 's also gone back to his roots , embarking on smaller projects including a tapas and cocktail bar in Barcelona with his brother . The tapas bar Tickets will open later this Spring , while 41 Degrees is bringing a range of cocktails to Barcelona 's bar scene . `` We needed a place in Barcelona for friends . A place like this is much more relaxed than El Bulli , '' Adria says of 41 Degrees . `` There will be tapas for 5 or 6 euros ( $ 6.7 to $ 8 ) . It is not the same . The pressure is very different . '' `` The easy option for me was to just stop . But when you see how people react ( to El Bulli ) you realize it 's worth ( pursuing a new venture ) .
Ferran Adria is the head chef of El Bulli , thought of as the world 's best restaurant . He has been working in restaurants for over 20 years and was a judge on MasterChef Australia season 3. El Bulli will stop serving in the summer of 2011 to be reopened as El Bulli Foundation .