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3D dining concept arrives in the UK

Smallest chef in the world comes to London

Mars El Brogy,Costel Sandu
Wednesday 01 November 2017 11:01 GMT
Dinner time stories, multi sensory experience

An innovative dining concept based around the culinary exploits of a diminutive animated chef has brought its multi-sensorial projector-based dinner show to London.

Following its hugely successful launch in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, Dinner Time Story, launched at TT Liquor in Shoreditch,

Le Petit Chef – In The Footsteps Of Marco Polo, will be Dinner Time Story’s latest pop-up dining experience.

It's set along the famous Silk Road and the experience takes guests on a journey from Marseilles to Arabia, India, the Himalayas and China, using cutting edge 3D visual technology and compelling storytelling through flavours, ingredients, sights, sounds and tastes.

During the dinner show, guests are seated around tables, as they would in a normal restaurant, however, this is where the similarities end. Guests will each be faced with their very own 3D animated show, taking place on top of their tablecloth, right under their knife and fork. As well as a tiny-sized chef moving around the table, muttering in French cooking up delicious concoctions, guests will experience birds, boats and fire-breathing dragons flying over their plates.

Le Petit Chef

Featuring an innovative six-course tasting menu, the food showcases all the very best from countries along the Silk Road.

From earthy tagines and aromatic curries, to fresh seafood and fusion desserts, the menu follows in Marco Polo’s footsteps through delicious dishes inspired by the Middle East, India and China as well as Le Petit Chef’s own hometown in Western France.

Show producer Nadia Beshir said: "I would really like people to try it, because I guarantee that they will have fun."

Throughout the evening, the food was accompanied by a bespoke wine and cocktail pairing by the TT Liquor bar team, drawing upon a decade’s worth of cocktail experience. TT Liquor’s expert mixologists have carefully curated a drink flight to compliment the vibrant flavours and ingredients of the menu, with each course entailing a different tipple.

Accompanying the menu were clever props, soundtracks and scents, allowing guests to breathe the icy air of The Himalayas one moment and feel hot and heady in an Arabic souk the next. Designed to allow groups to eat together, Dinner Time Story is all about sharing this unique experience.

Clever props, soundtracks and scents accompany the menu

The concept and character of Le Petit Chef was created in the studio of the Belgian artist collective Skullmapping, founded in 2010 by the award-winning filmmaker Filip Sterckx and owner Antoon Verbeeck.

"The 3D effect in our videos is often thought of as a hologram or a 3D projection. In fact, however, it is a normal projection. We use special optical techniques, length distortions from the right angle to produce the effect or illusion of 3D," said Sterckx.

Dinner Time Story is currently running in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Berlin and Belgium. Expansion plans for China and Scandinavia are already underway.

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