Oriol Castro was Ferran Adrià's right-hand man in the kitchen of El Bulli. There he coincided with Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, with whom he would end up forming one of the most influential trios in contemporary gastronomy. When in 2011 Ferran Adrià decided to close El Bulli —after having revolutionized culinary creativity on a global scale—, not only was a restaurant closing: a stage was closing and a school that had already left its mark all over the world was opening. And its cradle, as it could not be otherwise, remained in Catalonia.
Just one year later, Castro, Xatruch and Casañas took the leap on their own with the opening of Compartir, in Cadaqués. They did it from the ground up, fixing the premises themselves and assuming a role they had not explored until then: that of entrepreneurs, in addition to chefs. The success of Compartir allowed them, in 2014, to open Disfrutar in Barcelona. Today, with three Michelin stars, the restaurant has been recognized as the best in the world according to The World's 50 Best 2024.
And it's no coincidence. The children of El Bulli —as they are called for being heirs to its impeccable creativity— maintained the work methodology, the demands and the technique learned in Ferran Adrià's kitchen and placed creativity at the neuralgic center of the restaurant. Eleven years later, with 120 employees and the pride of having filled every day they have opened their doors, the three chefs play in another league, that of the Best of The Bests. But they do it "with their feet on the ground", without divinizing themselves and having clear the recipe that keeps them on the path of excellence.
In the Esmorzars de Forquilla cycle organized by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce —sponsored by Indra and with The New Barcelona Post as a collaborating media—, Oriol Castro shares his experience and way of understanding the profession behind closed doors with a small group of guests, a few days before the end of the year. Just after breakfast, we talk with him about ten key concepts that emerge from his intervention: a distillation of the philosophy with which he has built, step by step, one of the most influential gastronomic projects in the world.
The ten concepts —or the recipe— before starting: creativity, work methodology, the pursuit of excellence, feet on the ground, fidelity, questioning everything, communicating, stopping from time to time, saving and sharing.
— Creativity. We couldn't start with any other concept. The easiest thing would be to think that your creativity was born in El Bulli, but really, where does it have its origins?
— It's true that I learn and develop it at a high level in El Bulli, but I am very aware of other kitchens, people, and training that preceded it. Like Màrius Ferrer, a cooking teacher at the Joviat school in Manresa, who taught me "to think and reflect in the kitchen," or Paco Torreblanca, one of the best pastry chefs in the world, who always wondered about the why of things and reactions in the kitchen.
However, from Ferran Adrià we did learn creative cuisine. To understand creativity as the pillar of the restaurant. Eduard, Mateu, and I adopted this way of understanding creativity and made it part of our lives. Of course, without magnifying it. It's a job. We are all equal.
— We are all equal, but some are born with a gift.
— It's true that there are geniuses, there are those who are born with a gift. But many others are not. I don't consider myself a genius. I am a person who started from scratch and has been training, growing, and developing their creativity through a methodology.
"Creativity is not a gift, it's a way of working"
You can have more or less skill, more or less talent, but creativity is not a gift, it's a way of working. And if you develop a good methodology in a discipline that suits you, you can greatly enhance your creativity and achieve great things.
— After so many years of creative cooking, is there still room to continue being creative?
— Of course. In many ways. Every season we create a completely new menu. We start from scratch.
— Second concept: the work methodology. They call you the children of El Bulli, but… do you maintain exactly the same methodology or have you created your own?
— The methodology, having creativity as a pillar, the organization, the way of making recipes and the catalog, the structure, taking photos and videos of the dishes… we still maintain all of that. But we have been improving and updating it, making it our own.
In the end, everything evolves. There are master lines and then you build. It's like a tree: first you plant the seed, there's a sprout, it grows, it becomes a tree... and it ends up having many branches. A little different from each other. After eleven years at Disfrutar, being a creative and avant-garde restaurant, we have improved and changed many things.
— How would you define your work methodology?
— It has rigor, constancy, affection, effort, thought, and a lot of reflection. It also has a lot of internal auditing: it is necessary to analyze and criticize yourself. All of that configures a very extensive methodology.
— And it is a methodology that, with great effort, leads you towards excellence. Third concept. Where does this search for excellence come from?
— In my case, it has foundations that come from home, from family. From wanting to do things well, with respect and affection for what you do, and with constancy and education. It is a search that, in fact, you pursue in all areas, not just in the kitchen.
— At home, you were five siblings and you ate well.
— Very well! My mother and my grandmother cooked very well, and that educates you. And of course, at Eduard and Mateu's house, they also ate very well. They were from Vila-seca and Roses, and in their homes, they cooked with good products, very linked to the territory.
We are fortunate in this country because for many years we have lived in an environment with a great richness of products and producers.
"We understand that the company is ahead of individualisms and that the three of us are exactly equal"
I remember as a child that on weekends we would go to Torredembarra to buy vegetables from a farmer and fish from the fishermen, directly, and we had enough for the whole week. Eduard always explains that he grew hazelnuts and vegetables with his father. Mateu bought fish in Roses, there at the fishermen's market. All of that is very important and has marked our lives. We are deeply Mediterranean chefs because we carry all these values incorporated.
— With the emotional or personal cost that it implies, how do you live with three Michelin stars?
— Well, we already experienced it at El Bulli: we had three Michelin stars and were the best restaurant in the world for five years. And that implied that we had to do things very well. And when we set up Compartir and Disfrutar, we maintained this philosophy and set the threshold of excellence very high. To the maximum. And yes, it is very difficult to reach the maximum, but if you set yourself the goal of wanting to reach very high, you will reach a good mark.
— Keeping your feet on the ground. How do you manage to keep them on the ground and not let success go to your head?
— With three basic ideas: what you want for yourself, you have to want for others. You cannot believe yourself superior to anyone. And in the kitchen, or in business, egos stay at home.
— Another key concept: Fidelity. Eleven years and three partners at the helm of two restaurants with 120 employees. How do you establish the hierarchy?
— We understand that the company comes before individualisms and that the three of us are exactly equal. We try to maintain the values our parents taught us and transfer them to the team. This project is our life and we have to be united and respect each other a lot to make it work.
— Is there any dynamic among the three of you that helps you resolve conflicts?
— In the face of discrepancies or discussions, which are normal to appear, seek consensus and have good faith. In fact, being three makes it easier to break ties and reach agreements.
— Question everything. Before opening Disfrutar, you were in operation for a month, training 30 employees and doing tests with your closest circles, family, friends… You offered an open menu. But two days before officially opening, you decided to change plans and focus on a tasting menu. Two days before, you questioned everything.
— That's right. The 500 menus we had printed were useless. Nowadays, we keep them stored in Disfrutar, in fact. We saw that, deep down, we were serving our friends and family what we considered best, we weren't using the menu. So we met two days before and decided to rectify. How important it is to rectify in time!
We opened without any reservations and it went very well. In fact, a journalist came and publicized our opening and people in Barcelona found out. Since then, we have been full every day we have opened in these eleven years.
— The importance of communicating. We add another ingredient. And you have always done it this way: with a very good relationship with the press, with social media…
— Yes, and we are very grateful to the press and to the people who have helped us communicate from day one. Even to those who have come and transmitted it to their environment: that is, although the way we communicate is changing a lot, word of mouth will always be essential for any restaurant. If someone comes, doesn't eat well, and transmits it to their environment, it can be devastating for any restaurant.
— Have you done influencer politics?
— We don't. Sometimes they come, pay, and leave very happy. It seems it will be a future trend, but we haven't done it yet.
— Why is stopping from time to time part of your methodology?
— We make three stops a year. At Christmas, at Easter, and in summer. These are necessary moments for reflection, analysis, and self-criticism. We live in a society where everything goes very fast and we need to stop to dedicate time to breathe and see what we are doing well or what we can improve. And that is applicable to any profession or discipline. Stopping gives you very good results.
— So it doesn't remain theoretical: an example of the benefit of these breaks?
— During this summer's break, we decided to set up a new space where we now have all the design, consulting, and creativity part. We have organized ourselves better, and that makes us better.
"Saving saves businesses: having saved saved us in the pandemic"
— Saving. Ferran Adrià already prioritized it at El Bulli, but you don't become fully aware until you open Compartir and Disfrutar.
— That's right. And having saved saved us in the pandemic. Saving allowed us to pay all suppliers, not have debts, help employees, and for all of us to get ahead and endure that hiatus. Therefore, saving saves businesses: company management is vital for the viability of a business.
We have never wasted and everything we have earned we have invested in improving the restaurant. And I would also tell you that we learned that from El Bulli: to be aware of expenses, not to waste, to look for the minimum error, to keep our feet on the ground and to be very normal people.
— And we finish with the last concept: sharing. A while ago, great chefs did not share their recipes, but you practice the opposite: you publish and disseminate your recipes and technique. Why?
— It is part of our process and philosophy. Sharing makes you known and also generates synergies. When we have conceived and developed a recipe, we share it with photographs, videos, and even books. We want people to be able to take advantage of it. In fact, in the last two books, we have added QR codes with videos of the recipes so that people can clearly see the technique.
And we also share our knowledge at congresses: we travel all over the world (to India, Japan, China, the United States, Turkey…) and share what we have done that year in our kitchen. And people understand that here, in Catalunya and in Spain, different things are happening in our kitchen. We are, in the end, ambassadors of Catalan and Spanish cuisine.
"They can copy a technique, but everyone has their own style"
— Sharing in this way, with such transparency, is not fearing the competition.
— Well, we know that every year we have to do completely new things. Therefore, it doesn't matter if they copy it. They can copy a technique, but everyone has their own style.
— When did you start dreaming this future?
— We have never dreamed it, it has come to us.
— At some point you dream it, right? You imagine it, at least while you are doing it.
— Well, Màrius Ferrer one day asked us students what we would like to do professionally. Some said they wanted to have a catering, others to set up a restaurant. I told him I wanted to be in a kitchen and do whatever I wanted. And I have achieved it.
— So you did dream it, but success was not the goal, but the process. Thank you for sharing.