Collaborative post
Dining out is a special thing in and of itself. The ritual of being seated, perusing the menu, selecting wines and making small talk until the food arrives is one to which many of us are married – but special dining experiences are not solely defined by the food you eat.
Here we will uncover some of the world’s most unique dining opportunities, from beneath the waves to above the clouds.
Dinner in the Sky
Air travel is all too often a means to an end, an A-to-B affair with little thought given to comfort or joy. Airline food is better known as an example of cheap stand-up comedy than for its culinary merits – but private jet rental businesses have been pushing the envelope, with stunning results for the discerning diner.
Choosing such a unique, sky-high experience could see you enjoying private dining options that include exclusive dishes from all over the world. Coupled with the high quality of in-air service, you could find yourself eating the best meal of your life some 30,000 feet in the air.
A City View to Dine For
If 30,000 feet is a little too high for your liking, there are dining experiences available that are a little closer to terra firma – and yet, all the more thrilling for it. Over in Toronto, Canada, the landmark CN Tower is home to a 400-capacity restaurant with peerless city views. Every diner gets to see the entirety of the landscape too, with the observation deck actively rotating once every 72 minutes.
For those with a taste for adrenaline, a very different kind of aerial dining experience is available. London In The Sky is a seasonal experience, wherein a table, kitchen and cocktail bar is lifted to the heavens by crane. Diners can enjoy a bespoke menu of incredible food and the opportunity to look out over all of London.
Somewhere Below the Sea
Taking altitudinal dining to its logical conclusion, why not plunge below sea level for a different atmosphere altogether? The Maldives is home to one such underwater restaurant, in the form of Subsix.
Subsix is a luxury dining establishment with impeccable reef views, six metres below surface level; delicious courses like Wagyu beef tartare are available while watching the aquatic world go by.
Cave Cravings
Lastly, we come to the example set by Grotta Palazzese in Puglia, Italy: a restaurant set in a natural rock cave on the coast. The mouth of the cave gives the illusion of open-air dining, but the naturally-formed cave formations make something naked to the elements feel altogether cosier, and more special as a result. Such locations pull out all the stops to create the ideal, romantic ambience with on-site musicians and boast freshly caught produce.
The above is just a taster of the myriad of variables that make a culinary adventure a memorable event, with the location being one of the more underrated factors when searching for the perfect dining experience.
If you are a gastronomist seeking new experiences in fine dining, whether it’s whilst jetting thousands of feet in the sky or within the depths of the ocean, you might find some inspiration in unique and unlikely places.