Glow-in-the-dark concoction, technology-infused dishes, flavour-changing desserts and edible luminescence will be on your platter as you take an immersive culinary experience at the upcoming Expo 2020.
Pioneering culinary experience inspired by space, microbiology, artificial intelligence and hyperintelligence will stir the senses of curious diners at Expo 2020 Dubai, in a new concept designed to challenge the future of dining.
Epochal Banquet is a never-before-seen experience cooked up by UK-based multi-sensory experience design studio Bompas & Parr, in collaboration with Expo 2020. The ground-breaking foodie adventure will feature numerous world firsts, taking creativity, innovation and technology to a new level.
Diners will have the opportunity to taste super-light delicacies formed using the same technique that NASA uses to collect comet dust; edible creations that glow in the dark; flavour-changing desserts; ultra-rare ingredients, including new-to-the-plate plants; and much more.
The immersive experience is inspired by the ‘Novacene’, a new era hypothesised by eminent 102-year-old scientist and inventor James Lovelock. The new age, he prophesises, will take over the ‘Anthropocene’ era, in which humans have been able to make large-scale changes to the planetary environment, and introduce a future where robots and artificial intelligence will rule.
The curated experience features a multi-course exploratory menu, designed to entertain and inspire, while exploring important themes involving the future of food, including how humans and artificial intelligence can combine to sustainably feed a growing global population and tackle food waste, as well as the implications for future nutrition.
Known for its genre-defining projects, Bompas & Parr rose to prominence with its jelly creations that take architectural forms, such as Grimshaw’s The Eden Project and Lord Foster’s wobbly Millennium Bridge. The experiential firm is behind the world’s first multi-sensory fireworks display, commissioned for New Year’s Eve 2013 in London, and the world’s first cultural institution solely dedicated to food and drink, the British Museum of Food, which opened in 2015.
Available throughout the six months of Expo 2020, tickets for the two-hour culinary odyssey are expected to sell fast. They will be available at www.expo2020dubai.com from early September, starting at AED550. The experience is not suitable for guests under 14 years of age and features strobe lighting that may affect those with sensory sensitivities. As part of the shared experience, diners are seated at a communal table, which conforms to COVID-19 measures.
A food destination in its own right, with 200-plus food and beverage outlets offering a world of cuisines and innovative concepts, Expo 2020 will ensure there is something new for everyone to taste. Coupled with up to 60 live events – including film nights, poetry readings, art activations, musical concerts, cultural tours, parades and interactive journeys for all ages – the site will be alive with sounds, rhythms and flavours from across the globe.
