Expo 2020 Dubai partners with Bompas & Parr on immersive dining experience
Expo 2020 Dubai has partnered with UK-based multi-sensory experience design studio Bompas & Parr to showcase a pioneering culinary experience inspired by space, microbiology, artificial intelligence and hyperintelligence.
The Future of Food: Epochal Banquet is a never-before-seen experience that 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 will feature 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.
Marjan Faraidooni, Chief Experience Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, comments: “The Future of Food immersive experience is extremely exciting, offering foodies and the curious a world-first taste of the culinary experiences of tomorrow, while also delving into pressing global challenges based around food security and how innovation and food will combine in the future.”
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.
“We are thrilled to be bringing The Future of Food: Epochal Banquet to a global audience at Expo 2020 Dubai, where we hope to inspire diners to think positively about the reality of technology-infused dishes,” says Sam Bompas, Director, Bompas & Parr. “Each course will take guests deeper into the future through first-of-its-kind dishes, as well as immersive experiences that stir each of the senses.”
