Open only from the end of March through the end of September, El Bulli, which is named for the English bulldog, serves about 50 diners per evening — many of whom have traveled halfway around the globe to partake in the experience. The kitchen, with 30 staff members collaborating on Adria's creations, is almost as crowded as the dining room.

Praise for his culinary achievements comes from lofty heights. Adria has been called "the best cook on the planet" by noted French chef Joel Robuchon.

"He's doing the most exciting things in our profession," agrees fellow Frenchman and legendary chef Paul Bocuse. Writing in The Los Angeles Times, critic David Shaw hailed Adria as "the brightest star in the gastronomic firmament."

Adria has won the adulation of both his peers and his far-flung clientele for his arresting combinations of texture, temperature and taste. For instance, bite-size cuttlefish ravioli explode in a burst of coconut and ginger; soft-boiled quail eggs feature a crispy caramel crust; a polenta comprises frozen and powdered Parmesan cheese; and almond ice cream sits on a swirl of garlic oil and balsamic vinegar.

But most of his fame was gained when Adria discovered he could produce espumas, or foams, from nitrous oxide canisters intended for making whipped cream. Adria filled the canister, which he had received as a gift, with various liquids and gelatin. Soon he was creating tomato, asparagus, cheese, foie gras, shellfish and potato foams. The flavors were limitless — if sometimes a bit outlandish.

Jeffrey Cerciello, the chef at Bouchon in Napa Valley (owned by the French Laundry's Thomas Keller), did an internship at El Bulli from 1993 to 1994. He was actually in the kitchen when Adria received the career-launching canister. "Up until this time, Adria was preparing traditional foods. But he knew he had hit on something and he began experimenting," Cerciello recalls. "After almost ten years, people are still as excited about Adria's cooking as they were then."

Adria, now 39, began his culinary career at age 21. Straight from his economics studies and military service, and without any formal kitchen training, he landed a temporary cooking job in 1984 at the two-star El Bulli. He was given a copy of the classic Escoffier Cook Book, which he memorized from front to back. "I read everything I could — I became my own university," the now-iconic chef says. Within a year of Adria's arrival, Julio Soler, the small restaurant's manager, unexpectedly found himself in need of a head chef. He knew he need not look elsewhere to fill the spot.

To prepare for his new role, Adria first began a grand tour of top kitchens in France. He then apprenticed at Georges Blanc in Vonnas and Restaurant Pic in Valence. In 1990, Adria and Soler purchased the restaurant and Adria began cooking food that nobody had ever seen before. In 1997, El Bulli received its third Michelin star.

Today Adria is probably the world's leading proponent of what can best be described as "techno cuisine" — where art meets science. For instance, rather than serve gazpacho in a bowl, Adria freezes the soup into lollipop-shape popsicles. "I'm not confined by classic techniques," he says. Adria's aware that he challenges the staid palate with dishes like a dessert wafer of white chocolate and black-olive paste, or tagliatelle carbonara made of gelatinized chicken consommé cut into thin, pasta-like strands that dissolve back into consommé on the tongue. But for Adria, the unusual is commonplace. "People say, 'Oh, there is all this chemistry at El Bulli!' But there is chemistry and physics in every kitchen, in all cooking," he says. "I can explain everything to you — except the magic, which is what really matters. The rest is rationale, technique, professionalism. The magic moment, when you find that gelatin can be transformed into tagliatelle, I cannot explain."

Adria's approach, however, makes it clear that inspiring gustatory creations don't just emerge from a vacuum. His culinary heritage — lessons learned in other restaurant kitchens, familial traditions, even personal preferences — all play a role. "To have a future, you have to have a past," Adria proclaims.

To that end, focusing primarily on Spanish regional favorites, he "deconstructed" familiar dishes, ingredient by ingredient. Then he transfigured the ingredients and reassembled the dishes very differently, reinventing them in the process. Whereas traditional dishes exhibit a relative unity, these reinvented recipes emphasize every individual flavor, texture and temperature. Take, for example, Adria's version of pea soup; far from standard, it is served in a glass flute filled with liquid that is hot on top, cold on the bottom. Drunk in one long sip, according to the instructions from the waiter, the effect is fascinating.

In Adria's hands, simple water can be transformed into different textures and temperatures. For instance, during a demonstration at Tasting Australia, a wine and food festival in Adelaide, he added agar-agar (Japanese gelatin) to water and made noodles that could be heated to 70 degrees without melting, whisked another gelatin-water combination to generate a meringue-like fluff, and put still other mixtures into canisters to create foams. He even shaved ice into a granita that somehow held its form as it melted.

Adria is also more than willing to share his discoveries with fellow chefs. His enthusiasm for his subject coupled with his generous nature practically turn the rote of nightly dinner preparation into something like a well-attended lecture series. Indeed, Adria's unique sensibility beckons both long- and short-term apprentices, many of whom go on to establish their own Adria-inspired signatures in American outposts — more accessible places such as Washington D.C., Boston and Miami.

One such disciple, Jordi Valles, chef de cuisine at Aria Restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne, Florida, worked at El Bulli for the 1998 season. Valles, 29, a Barcelona native, returns for a visit every year. "I think of El Bulli as a school for chefs. He opened my mind. I left saying that with cooking, anything is possible," he enthuses. Valles, who adapted some of El Bulli's techniques and organizational skills to his own kitchen, is quick to defend Adria when he is accused of playing with or manipulating food. "Adria is obsessed with the science and form of food, the way it can be presented in new, interesting ways," Valles explains. "Grapes, for example, can sell for one dollar for two pounds, but when turned into wine it can sell for $1,000 a bottle. You don't call that manipulation."

Adria's influence is evidenced on Aria's Mediterranean-inspired menu. Be it subtle or obvious, Valles presents such dishes as asparagus soup served in a cappuccino cup with nutmeg foam or veal cheeks braised with langoustines and Mediterranean spices with flair and precision.

While El Bulli is closed during the fall and winter, Adria and his pastry chef brother, Alberto, travel abroad. They also devote that time to work out the techniques needed to achieve the astonishing flavor and texture profiles of their dishes. Adria tries to balance experimentation with the need to please the customer. "You never know the effort this person has made to get here, or who has been waiting months to eat here," he says. "So you need to give your all to these people because if you don't, if it doesn't work, this is just a food factory." Adria comes up with a challenging 80 new dishes each year, which makes El Bulli's evolving menu even more intriguing.

For many years, Adria worked on his formulas in El Bulli's kitchen, but he wanted to separate the intellectual from the mechanical, so in 1999, he moved his research and development work to an apartment in Barcelona that he and Soler transformed into El Taller, or The Workshop. "Architects and designers have studios in which they create, why not chefs?" Adria quips. He also believes in teamwork. "Several minds working on one idea will always achieve more than one mind alone," he says. "My philosophy is that food is like wine and you have to experience the explosion of all the different flavors. The 30 chefs who work alongside me at El Bulli are just the visible sign of what I am trying to achieve. The real excitement takes place in in the workshop."

One of those chefs, Jose Andres of Jaleo, an upscale tapas restaurant with locations in Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Maryland, grew up in Barcelona. He worked at El Bulli from 1987 to 1989 and, despite his mounting acclaim here in America — in the past he's been nominated for a James Beard Rising Star Chef award and recently for the James Beard Best Chef Mid-Atlantic — he still returns every summer to El Bulli for a refresher course.

"I always wanted to work with the best, so one day I just knocked at his door and said, 'I'm Jose, here I am,' " he recalls. Over the interceding years, Andres and Adria became good friends, and perhaps no one stateside knows him better. "Adria's mind is like a computer, absorbing and processing everything," Andres says. "He always carries a notebook and his expression is full of wonder, like a little kid, when he discovers something. He shares everything with other chefs — except the new dishes of the season."

Like any master with his students, Adria sets the standards. "One of the most important lessons I learned from Adria is to make sure you make the best product you can — whether it's a hot dog, hamburger, tortilla or haute cuisine," Andres notes. He demonstrates Adria's influence with his deconstruction of the traditional Spanish tortilla — the flat, potato-onion omelet — into one-part potato foam, one-part onion purée and one-part sabayon, layered in a sherry glass with a topping of deep-fried potato dice. Similarly, he elevates the classic but simple concept of a tomato and anchovy salad to the sublime, again deconstucting and reassembling its basic ingredients to achieve ethereal results. "This is a simple dish brought up to another level," Andres enthuses. "Tomatoes have the most amazing natural gelatin. [Plus] the sweetness and acidity of the tomato paired with the saltiness of the anchovy make it a perfect match for a Verdejo from Rueda."

Gelatin, in fact, is one of Adria's trademarks, which Andres has adapted to his own cuisine. Similar to other chefs who have studied, however briefly, with Adria, Andres exploits those elements that speak to him, combining them with his own personal style. The result is fare that hints of Adria but departs from mimicry.

"What inspires me about Ferrán is his philosophy that the old ways should always be challenged, that we should look at everything from different angles," Andres muses. "The old-fashioned way is to protect the product's form and taste. He believes that we should change the form of the product but maintain its flavor or even make it more flavorful." So, while Andres' style at Jaleo is, he insists, "very classical" and "in development," he acknowledges his mentor with dishes like a deconstructed clam chowder.

"Adria is a brilliant, creative chef who likes to push invention to the limits," says Kenneth Oringer, executive chef-owner of Clio in Boston's Eliot Suite Hotel and last year's James Beard award winner for the Best Chef of the Northeast. "I can't think of anyone else who is as unique a thinker as Adria."

During his stint at El Bulli in 1997 — he spent a week there studying Adria's techniques — Oringer learned "there is no limit to the imagination, but it must make sense. The ingredients are familiar, the taste is familiar, but he makes you think about it."

Like Adria, Oringer takes classic dishes and deconstructs them, disregarding familiar contexts in an effort to form new ones. He describes a squab dish on Clio's menu that he conceived with Adria's approach in mind: first, a glass-like sheet of caramel is made without sugar (using glucose, fondant and pectin); next, spices and pumpkin seeds are added to the hardened caramel before the sheet is broken into squares; simultaneously, the squab breast is roasted until the skin is very crisp; it's then covered with the caramel squares; the bird is then gently reheated so the caramel melts; it rehardens as the squab cools. "When you bite into it," Oringer notes, "it has that thin crackle and crunch, and then another crunch from the squab skin. The impact is from the texture; you don't have to put much more on the plate."

Other chefs who don't necessarily wish to study with Adria, such as Norman Van Aken, the critically acclaimed chef-owner of Norman's in Miami, still take the time to understand the fuss. "The most important element to me," Van Aken notes, "is that despite the 'out-in-space' thinking that seems to drive the experimentation of the Adria brothers, it is their loyalty to traditional Spanish ingredients and history that keeps me enamored of them."

Admittedly, not every Adria creation is bound to be a success. Unorthodox combinations such as asparagus with caramelized grapefruit can be daunting, even perplexing. And the sheer variety of the 30-item tasting menu makes it next to impossible for every diner to like every dish. Certainly Parmesan ice cream sandwiched between crispy Parmesan wafers will not appeal to all, yet to an adventuresome epicure armed with a glass of Alvear y Escalera Carlos VII Amontillado, it's heavenly.

What everyone can agree on is Adria's ability to provoke opinion. Some view him as a sensation, others as a firebrand, while others hint that he is an aberration, insinuating that he is merely an accomplished technician whose extreme style and presentation upstages the food. None of the buzz matters to the warm and hospitable Adria, however. "Creativity is what you see that others don't," he notes. "Cooking is a way of seeing life and enjoying life."

And for Ferrán Adria, life — and food — is far from mundane.

Food Editor Carole Kotkin is a Miami-based cooking instructor and consultant who co- authored Mmmmiami — Tempting Tropical Tastes for Home Cooks Everywhere.

RECIPES Asparagus Cappuccino Adapted from a recipe by Chef Jordi Valles of Aria

For the Asparagus Soup:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 shallots sliced
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 Idaho potato, peeled and sliced
• 5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 5 cups heavy cream
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
• 1 cup English green peas
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Crabmeat Frittata:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 whole eggs
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup crabmeat
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place all ingredients except crabmeat and butter in a mixing bowl and beat vigorously. Add crabmeat and mix well. Heat butter in a large ovenproof skillet. When hot, pour in the egg mixture. Reduce heat and cook until bottom is set, then place under broiler for 30 to 60 seconds to finish cooking. When cool, cut into 10 pieces.

For the Nutmeg Foam:

• 1 cup heavy cream (whipped)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• Salt and pepper

Refrigerate a large mixing bowl for 10 minutes prior to making foam. Add heavy cream and nutmeg to cold bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Beat mixture for 2 or 3 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To Serve: Reheat soup and adjust seasoning. Place a piece of frittata in each serving bowl or coffee cup; pour hot soup on top until three-quarters full, then spoon on a dollop of nutmeg foam and serve immediately. Serves 10

Tomato Anchovy Salad Adapted from a recipe by Jose Andres of Jaleo

• 12 Roma tomato pulp segments, seeded
• 1/2 quart of tomato water gelatin (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 fresh anchovy fillets
• Frisée greens
• Rock salt

For the Tomato Gelatin:

• 2 cups tomato water
• 2 sheets gelatin
• Salt

Melt the gelatin with the tomato water. Strain and set aside. Fill a whipped cream siphon with tomato water gelatin. Refrigerate container. Cut anchovies into 8 rectangles. Place tomato pulp segments on each of 4 serving plates, add foam next to pulp, add pinch of salt followed by an anchovy rectangle and a sprig of frisée. Repeat a second and third time. Serves 4

Celery Root Mousseline with Black Truffle Fondue Adapted from a recipe by Chef Kenneth Oringer of Clio

For the Mousseline:

• 1 pound celery root
• 2 cups heavy cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Celery salt to taste
• 2 shallots, sliced and sautéed in butter until soft
• 2 tablespoons butter, browned
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Peel celery root and cut into large dice. Place in saucepan. Cover with heavy cream. Season with salt, pepper and celery salt. Cook over medium-low heat until very soft, about 10 minutes. Drain and reserve the liquid. Purée in blender with some of the reserved liquid and shallots to the consistency of thick crème anglaise custard. Add brown butter and lemon juice. Put through a fine strainer and strain again. Pour mixture into a whipped cream siphon bottle fitted with N2O canister. Then pressurize.

For the Black Truffle Fondue:

• 2 quarts pigs' foot stock (may substitute veal or chicken stock)
• 1/4 pound black truffles (reserve 1 tablespoon)
• 2 tablespoons truffle juice
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

Reduce stock to 2 cups. Grate black truffles on box grater and add to stock. Add truffle juice, butter, salt and pepper. Process in blender until truffles are puréed. Set aside and keep warm.

To Serve:

• Cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon reserved black truffles
• 2 tablespoons chives, chopped

Put truffle fondue on the bottom of espresso cup. Top with celery root mousseline. Dust with cocoa powder, chopped truffles and chives. Serves 8

Foie Gras Crème Catalan Adapted from a recipe by Chef Jordi Valles of Aria The contrasts between hot and cold, sweet and salty and soft and crunchy makes for a traditional yet evolutionary appetizer.

• 1 piece of foie gras (fresh or frozen)
• 1 quart heavy cream
• Zest from one orange
• Zest from one lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 whole eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sliced French brioche
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 8 ounces baby arugula
• Cabernet Sauvignon Vinaigrette (recipe below)
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• Coarse sea salt

For the Cabernet Vinaigrette:

• 1 cup Cabernet vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Pour Cabernet vinegar in a pot. Bring to a boil. Once the vinegar has been reduced to 1/8, allow it to cool. Once vinegar is cool, add extra-virgin oil and emulsify. Add salt and pepper.

Utensils:

• 4 small ramekins (6-ounce size)
• 1 propane torch

If frozen, allow foie gras to thaw at room temperature until soft, at the same time place heavy cream in a pot with zests and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium heat and turn off. Let sit for two minutes. Dice foie gras and pass through a fine strainer placed over a bowl in order to clean and devein. Immediately pour the cream on top of the foie gras, being careful that it does not disintegrate. Whisk well to emulsify the foie gras into the cream, then add the eggs. Put through a fine strainer placed over a pitcher, and pour mixture in the ramekins. Place ramekins in a roasting pan large enough to accommodate the ramekins and cover with plastic wrap. Preheat oven to 250 degree. Place roasting pan on oven rack and immediately pour enough scalding hot water into the pan to come 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Using a cookie cutter, cut the brioche bread in silver dollar-size rounds and toast. Mix the arugula in a bowl with the pine nuts and Cabernet Vinaigrette. Season well with salt and pepper. Place the brioche on the bottom of the plate. Place the arugula salad on top, and garnish with the pine nuts and basil oil. Remove plastic wrap. Sprinkle sugar on top of the crème brûlée and caramelize with the propane torch until a nice golden brown color is achieved. After approximately one minute of burning the sugar, the top of the crème brûlée should form a nice crust. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top to make the contrast and enhance the flavors. Serves 4

Parmesan Ice Cream Sandwich Adapted from a recipe by Chef Ferrán Adria of El Bulli

For the Ice Cream:

• 5 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 pound finely grated Parmesan cheese

Place a fine strainer over a medium bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a simmer. While stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually add Parmesan. Stir constantly until mixture is smooth, about 10 minutes. Pour mixture into strainer and press any solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Allow to cool to room temperature. Pour mixture into a 9x12" baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze until solid, about 6 hours.

For the Marmalade:

• 5 lemons
• 1 cup sugar

Using a sharp knife, cut all peel (including white pith) from lemons. Dice lemons into 1/2" cubes and transfer to a small saucepan. Add sugar and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick, about 1 hour. (While marmalade is simmering, prepare Parmesan cookies.) Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

For the Cookie:

• 5 large egg whites
• 1/2 pound finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degree. In a mixing bowl, combine egg whites and grated cheese. Spray 2 10x15" nonstick baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half of mixture in center of each sheet. Top with a sheet of wax paper and use a rolling pin to press mixture evenly across each pan. Remove and discard wax paper. Bake mixture until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Remove pans from oven and trim dark edges. Cut remaining mixture in each pan in 12 3" squares to make a total of 24. Using a spatula, turn the squares over and return pan to oven. Bake an additional 5 minutes; remove from oven.

To Serve: Remove pan of ice cream from freezer and place on top of a warm, damp cloth for about 5 minutes. Using a knife dipped in hot water, cut ice cream into 12 3" squares. Place a square of ice cream on a Parmesan cookie, top with a spoonful of marmalade and top with another Parmesan cookie. Serve immediately or freeze until ready to serve. Makes 12 ice cream sandwiches — Carole Kotkin