Albert Adrià to collaborate with Virgilio Martinez at London’s Lima Floral

Chef Albert Adrià is to collaborate with executive chef of the Lima Group, Virgilio Martinez, in a one-off dinner at Lima Floral in London’s Covent Garden on 7 August.

Adrià is best known for working alongside his brother Ferran at ElBulli, the now-closed, formerly three Michelin-starred, World’s Best Restaurant ElBulli.

Martinez is best known for his Michelin-starred Central restaurant in Peru, which was this year named number four on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

The duo will be joined by Jorge Muñoz, head chef at Pakta, Adrià’s Michelin-starred Nikkei-style (Peruvian-Japanese) site in Barcelona, and Lima Floral’s head chef Robert Ortiz. The one-off evening will serve a £120 per person menu (with wine pairing at £50 extra), focusing on Peruvian ingredients and techniques.

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Examples of Martinez's food at Central in Lima, Peru

Since the closure of ElBulli, Adrià’s ElBarri group has won accolades for the Michelin-starred Tickets in Barcelona (Number 25 on this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list), alongside Bodega 1900, Mexican taqueria-style Niño Viejo, the fine-dining site Hoja Santa, and Michelin-starred Pakta.  

Commenting on the plans, Martinez said: “[Adrià] and I have been friends for many years and have long discussed the idea of bringing together our experience and approaches to cooking in a one off dinner as a celebration of this friendship. Lima Floral will provide the perfect setting for us to have fun cooking together in a laid back environment.”