How high-concept experiential dining can take the guest experience to new heights.
‘Food is one part of the experience. And it has to be somewhere between 50 to 60% of the dining experience. But the rest counts as well’- Alain Ducasse
Nobody would argue that food is not the central and most important part of the dining experience. If the food itself is not up to par, then it doesn’t matter if it has been backflipped to the table by gymnastic elves, served on platters of pure gold as the entire London Philharmonic Orchestra plays it in. Simply put, perfect your culinary offerings first.
Once you have refined the food to the nth degree, however, there is no reason why you can’t use the concept of experiential dining to take that food and elevate the experience to the delight of your guests.
First, an explanation of experiential dining. When done right, it turns an enjoyable night in a restaurant into a multisensory experience, an event, breaking the norms of eating out and helping the ordinary become extraordinary. A way to differentiate yourself from the competition and build a distinctive identity. To fuse fun and food. To create memorable meals and moments.
In the last decade or so, immersive experiences have been all the rage thanks to the Millennial life manifesto to ‘collect moments, not things’. From theatre to music, cocktail making to poetry nights, many guests want to be in the think of the action… literally. In the restaurant world, this was seen as a flash-in-the-pan trend. However, that trend seems to have morphed into something that is going to sustain the restaurant scene for years to come.
The concept takes different shapes from immersive theatre to multi-sensory fine dining, pop-ups to themes. How can you use this method of seducing ALL the senses to benefit your guests, ensure repeat custom and ensure a tidy profit for your own F&B business?
Without further ado, here are five lessons from the world of experiential dining with examples to get the creative juices flowing. How can you create an unforgettable guest experience of your own?
Food is theatre
This is a method of experiential dining honed and perfected by the London-based Gingerline, ‘experts of immersive & integrated dining in London…using multi-room elaborate sets, ‘table stages’, game shows and even operas as formats through which to present a meal.
They work with real chefs but present the food as a serious all-singing, all-dancing spectacle with their last event pre=pandemic taking over a warehouse space in North London. With the location unknown until the day, diners arrive through a dark curtain and board a hot-air balloon and, inspired by children’s books, take a trip around the world through live animation, dancing, incredible set design and a spectacular five-course dinner with wine pairings.
If this seems a bit overboard, remember, theatre & dining have long been paired together… this just presents an old concept in a fresh and exciting way.
Experiential Dining as a Force for Good
Age-old pioneers of experiential dining as a force for good would be the wonderful Dans le Noir, who brought ‘dining in the dark’ to the masses. With restaurants all over the world, the concept is supposed to enhance the flavours and encourage a more open type of social interaction.
Gimmicky maybe but over the years, this chain has brought awareness to people living with visual impairments alongside raising money for relevant charities. Quite a few reasons that the food tastes good here!
Another great example of this is Pittsburgh’s Conflict Kitchen, sadly closed as of 2017, a restaurant that served only food from countries that the USA is in conflict with. Food has been a way to cast aside differences since our earliest days and to break bread with somebody is to know them better. CK, were ‘an experimental public art project—and the medium is the sandwich wrap’ that handed out information pamphlets with meals and held lectures to promote understanding and heal rifts between countries in conflict.
Taste the Narrative
As discussed in our previous article on Telling Tales through Cocktails, storytelling is what we were built on. Creating connection and promoting understanding is our purpose- it’s who we are. So it stands to reason the narrative in dining can pique the senses in new and interesting ways- ways that guarantee that guests return again and again to savour the next chapter.
A fine example of this is London’s aptly named ‘Story’, Chef Tom Seller’s od
e to his
upbringing and British food which gained its second Michelin star in 2021.
There is no menu presented on arrival, instead, you are asked your likes and dislikes and from there, you’re off on a journey through Brit
ain and back to Chef’s childhood in a personally composed combo of restaurant classics and ever-changing seasonal dishes. This is not a meal, it’s a nostalgic odyssey.
A particularly ingenious dish is the bread and dripping (an old British staple) with a candle made of beef fat that melts into the candleholder and is mopped up with vreshly made bread.
Of all the methods of experiential dining, this has to be the most accessible for all F&B venues, large and small. Everyone has a story to tell, you just need to decide how to tell it.
Where Food meets Technology
From accessible to… something completely different. Whilst certainly not suggesting that the following example is a realistic concept to imitate, this restaurant is perfect for drawing inspiration from when looking at how technology can bolster the dining experience. Are you ready for some serious extravagance?
Touted as the world’s most expensive restaurant- it’s a whopping €1500 per diner for a three-hour experience- Sublimotion in Ibiza utilises VR-technology to transform the interactive space known as the ‘capsule’ into absolutely anything that this team of film directors, architects, engineers, DJs & composers, fancy it to be.
Underwater Atlantis? Tuscan villa? Space? Inside a computer? The imagination is really the limit here. One important thing to remember here though is that, though this is famed for technological wizardry, it works because the chef in charge of it has serious chops. Double-Michelin star chef Paco Roncero is Masterchef judge in Colombia and one of the pioneers of Spanish avant-garde cuisine. It works because the food is as good as the experience.
The original multi-sensory adventure
How could there ever be an article written experiential dining with no mention of
pioneer Heston Blumenthal?
Whilst every place on this list does it and the simple act of enjoying food is a multi-sensory experience in and of itself, it is really Blumenthal who paved the way for the spectacles we see today.
Though coming to cheffing comparatively late in life, the British Heston Blumenthal is famed for pushing the boundaries with food starting with the launch of the Fat Duck in Berkshire- an experience, not just a restaurant. Carrying three Michelin stars and counted amongst the top 50 restaurants in the world, it is the ‘nitro back and egg ice cream’, mock turtle soup and ‘Sound of the Sea’ audio dish that helped it get there.
Since then, Blumenthal has gone on to open Dinner, his central London ode to historical British recipes with Meat Fruit and Tipsy Cake galore.
Whilst expensive technology or the space for huge theatrical performances may not be within reach for every restaurant or bar, having a keen understanding of how to make the actual menu your experiential dining component is accessible. You just need to think expansively and creatively how about how that looks for you.
If this article has inspired you to spread your wings and take your concept multi-sensory, we’d love to hear all about it over at @Wired.FND on Instagram.
Good luck. Dream big!
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