Sergi Arola was born in Roses, in the Catalonian
province of Girona, in May of 1968. Coincidentally, Roses is the
home of El Bulli, the remote restaurant where Arola’s
mentor, Ferrán Adrià, got his start in 1983. Like
many professional chefs, Arola’s love of food was fostered
during his childhood, when at 12 years old he began cooking with
his grandfather. But food was not his only passion. Sergi was
also a budding musician with dreams of attaining rock stardom
one day, and joined a band called “Los Canguro.” Hoping
to parlay cooking into a side job, he attended culinary school
in Barcelona in 1988.
After graduation, Sergi stayed in Barcelona for most of the early
‘90s, working at La Jijoneca in the heart of the
city. In 1995, Sergi was contacted by Carles Abellan, an associate
of Ferrán Adrià. Abellan asked Arola to come and
work with one of Spain’s most celebrated chefs, an opportunity
that would catapult Arola’s career into the upper echelons
of Spanish fine dining. He joined the kitchen of El Taller in
Barcelona, Ferrán’s culinary research center, learning
and experimenting under the expert example of Adrià.
In 1997, Chef Arola left Barcelona for Madrid. In 2000, he embarked
on opening his own restaurant. La Broche, located in the mezzanine
level of the Hotel Miguel Angel, has gained worldwide attention
since its inception, garnering 2 Michelin stars, as well as the
National Gastronomy Prize. His second venture, the eponymous
Arola, is located in Barcelona’s fashionable Hotel
Arts, in the city’s Olympic Village. As opposed to the elaborate,
high-concept cuisine of La Broche, Arola offers
small plates of tapas and classic Mediterranean cooking.
The ambitious, hard-working Arola has also penned a cookbook,
Cooking is Fun, which features signature recipes from
La Broche, a technical glossary, and step-by-step picture instructions
of culinary techniques. Barcelona-based publishing company Salsa
Books published the book in 2004. At only 37 years old, Chef Arola
has already achieved what many chefs strive to accomplish in a
lifetime, yet he has no signs of stopping.