With a Thermomix and Guitar Pick, Sergi Arola is Redefining Spanish Cuisine

Alta cocina and rock n’ roll? These are the dueling passions of Sergi Arola, Spain’s young chef extraordinaire. Although music was his first love, cooking has become his calling. Chef Arola enjoys a rare culinary pedigree. A disciple of Ferrán Adrià, he trained in Adrià’s kitchen laboratory in Barcelona, working alongside the master chef for 8 years. Following in the principles and practices of his esteemed mentor, Sergi now presides over La Broche, a minimalist restaurant in the Spanish capital of Madrid featuring “post-modern cuisine,” as well as Arola in Barcelona’s Hotel Arts. Chef Arola is both a pioneering presence in the food world and a humble and respectful admirer of his forebears, whom he lists as Pierre Gagnaire, Juan Mari Arzak, and Adrià; he represents the second generation of Spain’s avant garde chefs. Arola considers the Thermomix his most indispensable tool in the kitchen, using it to create dishes that combine disparate flavors, textures and temperatures, as in his Peach Confit with Amaretto and Leek Crunchies.