50 days by Albert Adrià — Beatrice Aidin

Café Royal’s gastronomic pop-up kicks off 2016

Haute cuisine clearly runs in the Adrià family. Ferran may have a higher international profile, but he describes his brother Albert – who worked with Ferran at el Bulli for 23 years before setting up his own restaurant, Tickets, in Barcelona – as “one of the best chefs in the world”. And Albert (first picture) is bringing his sense of culinary playfulness to London this coming February.

“50 Days by Albert Adrià” at the Hotel Café Royal runs from Friday February 12 until Saturday April 9 and takes diners on a rumoured 30-course journey (£150 per person plus drinks for tables from two to eight, with private dining also available). The route passes through the bars and restaurants (whispers are, there’s also a course of sorts in the lift) of the historic building, which opened 150 years ago. Confirmed details so far are that the evening will start with cocktails and canapés in the hotel’s Oscar Wilde Bar, before adjourning to the Domino restaurant (second picture). Here, menus are yet to be revealed, but are likely to channel Adrià’s flair for Catalan and Spanish cuisine – as well as the combined might of his three Michelin stars from his five restaurants.