Trends

Pizza Virus Travels to Spain, Infects Greatest Chef in the World

New York isn’t the only place where fine-dining chefs have fallen in love with realized the profitability of pizza. According to the L.A. Times, no less than molecular gastronomist Ferran Adrià wants to open a pizzeria (yes, a plain and simple pizzeria) in Barcelona and is touring Italy to learn the tricks of the trade. Ferran’s brother Alberto (his partner at the purportedly money-losing El Bulli) admits it’s all about the Benjamins, or Euros or whatever: “We are able to continue because El Bulli is a strong brand,” he says, “But I don’t want to cook for just a few people. And what’s simpler than a disk on which one lays the ingredients of a pizza?” Indeed! Except that Italy’s proud pizzaiolos aren’t happy. The Times points out that “in Italy the idea of a fine-dining chef suddenly turning into a pizza maker is not just foreign — it’s preposterous.” Heh. And a Capri pizza master says: “The secret of the pizza is inside the blood. You don’t wake up one morning and improvise yourself as a pizzaiolo … You are born pizzaiolo.” Are you listening, New York chefs? Now step away from that brick oven you’re building …

El Bulli Chef Wants A Piece of the Pizza Pie [LAT]

Pizza Virus Travels to Spain, Infects Greatest Chef in the World