Discourse as driver of innovation in contemporary haute cuisine: The case of elBulli restaurant

This paper examines the case of elBulli restaurant, an organization central to the avant-garde movement that has revolutionized haute cuisine, to analyze an organization's ability to innovate and to enact changes within its field. The paper draws on ethnographic data to describe the role of one key driver of innovation: the systematic documentation and publishing of a discourse, prior to the mass use of social media. Three functions of a discourse that lead to the diffusion and institutionalization of innovations in the case under study are identified: (i) conceptualization, (ii) socialization and (iii) control. The analysis points to the potential contribution of discourse as a driver in other industries following creative paths.