Barcelona, Oct 17 (EFE).- Social networks and blogs are bringing the work of chefs and gastronomy closer to the general public, a process that for chef Ferràn Adrià is unstoppable, although he warns that "total transparency" is necessary. " about the reach and audiences of these new media.
Adrià, one of the participants in the First Congress on gastronomy and technology - a pioneering event organized by Telefónica and El Bulli Foundation that is being held today and tomorrow in Barcelona - has highlighted the importance of having data on the number of visits that "blogs" have. or knowing the influence of the so-called "trending topics" on Twitter ("what's happening" and never better said).
"If you don't have visitor audience data, it's of no use to me; for a business to be sustainable, the audience is vital," said the prestigious chef who sees it as essential to check the impact of "tweets" or "blogs" in the media. traditional "because restaurants are not filled with critics.
Adriá - who has participated in a talk with different chefs about the influence of "blogs" and social networks - has stressed that the conferences held in Barcelona try to lay the seed to turn Barcelona into a world reference when it comes to relate gastronomy and food and new technologies.
"Spain is at the forefront of the world and this is an event that has no parallel," said this culinary genius who believes that the Catalan capital, with its 8,5 million annual tourists, must take advantage of the resources it offers. Internet to attract customers, "although the main thing is the content", whether it is a "gastrobar or a fun tapas bar."
The chef believes that the role of customers will increase and has given as an example Google's purchase of Zagat, the American restaurant recommendation guide and other services.
"We are waiting, if Google adopts the position that the public chooses the places, not classifies them, and says which are the best Japanese cuisine places in Barcelona, it will be a revolution, which will force us to redefine the role of criticism and blogs".
Adrià has highlighted that chefs do not accept criticism at all well, a problem when it multiplies on the Internet.
"I am beginning to understand that it is impossible to please everyone, people who don't even know you and think things about you: that's life, we have to accept that this is going to happen to us and assimilate it," the prestigious chef said resignedly.
In this sense, the Rioja chef Francis Paniego (Echaurren), author of the "blog" "Sometimes when I think too much", believes that restaurants and their chefs must know how to "manage bad reviews" but warns that in this digital world " there are a lot of terrorists" and has advocated maximum transparency as a defense. "Although if you screw up, you screw up," he remarks.
The Galician chef Pepe Solla (Casa Solla) considers that the traditional press continues to function in the sector, but that social networks have made the public "lose their fear of the chef." However, he believes that an excess of information is generated that is difficult to filter and, he adds, "the magic of not knowing anything about the restaurant when you step foot in it for the first time is being lost."
Marcos Morán (from Casa Gerardo, Asturias) - who does not mind admitting that he reads gastronomic "blogs", "although less and less" - entered social networks as a "hobby" but quickly realized its reach when he took a photo to a monkfish, while having breakfast with his fishmonger, which for a few hours became a "trending topic" when it was posted on Twitter.
Also Ángel Léon (Restaurante Aponiente), who claims to be an "old" person who still writes notes by hand, had no choice but to assume the role of the networks, when one day after posting, together with some friends, a recipe for shrimp churros, several clients from Seville showed up at his store in Cádiz to taste them even though they were not on the menu.
EFE