The role of "chef"

"What should the role of the chef be in modern-day society?"
It was Ferran Adria's turn to ask questions of us. After divulging what he has for breakfast, what "being famous" means to him, and dismissing the idea of making wine with a "pft" and wave of the hand, we got down to business.
To answer the question, I would say: to give more than you take. The irony is, Chef Adria questioned what he himself is doing, because with the chef having the ability to create food to feed the masses, is it really a noble cause to be at the helm of a place where dinner costs 300 Euros per person?
I'm not trying to slander the existence of El Bulli, or its famed chef, in any way, but there have been increasing wonder as to whether Adria has crossed the line from chef to artist, and in doing so, has blurred the lines on both sides.
What he has done, is show that as long as you maintain the true taste of something (which is something I personally believe in, and show with my cooking), then everything else is essentially secondary. You can alter appearance, texture, temperature, all the other factors, as long as taste remains static and intact. And for that, I respect him.
But what is he giving to the food society of the world? If it is a new way to look at food, to create it, than he is indeed an artist. But if he does what he does to feed people, just to feed them, than he is a chef.
On a side note, Ferran Adria cooks family meal. EVERY DAY. For all 80 staff, he cooks. At that point, he is indeed a chef. But I doubt that his family meals are full of foams and gels. So I guess, in the end, he dances across the line, from artist, to chef and back again, every day.
These are just some little nibbles, like the tasty bits in the bottom of McDonald's french fries (back when they still fried in that sweet, sweet tallow), for you to feast on, or spit out, if that's the way you roll.