Intrepid dining

London-based design studio Bompas & Parr, renowned for their multi-sensory experiences that often revolve around food and drink, hosted dinner on a volcano in march 2022, serving dishes cooked over molten lava. In February, at the UNESCO heritage site of AlUla in Saudi Arabia, Bompas & Parr offered diners a culinary first: utilizing the power of nature, they cooked dinner over a fiery stream of molten lava that reached temperatures of 1350 degrees Celsius. In a spectacular display, the extreme heat charred locally sourced produce to perfection in a matter of seconds.

Other diners are taking to the skies and trekking to remote locations for a once-in-a-lifetime meal. Airships are preparing to revolutionize air travel in the coming decade and novel fine dining experiences are helping them in their mission to reclaim the skies. Ocean Sky Cruises are planning airship expeditions to the North Pole with flights due to start in 2024. With tickets marketed toward “true pioneers of the world,” travelers will enjoy onboard dining whilst taking in elevated sightseeing of one of the most remote places on the planet. After a 38-hour journey Ocean Sky Cruises will arrive at the North Pole where travelers will experience some alfresco dining with lunch served on the snow.

Those looking for an out-of-this-world indulgence can now drink wine that has been aged in space. In May 2021 the British auction house Christies offered for sale a bottle of Petrus 2000 that had been aged in space. The French wine had spent 14 months in orbit aboard the International Space Station. Lucky wine connoisseurs could savor the unique aroma and taste that the wine had obtained after orbiting in zero-gravity conditions and undergoing almost 180 million miles of travel.