Experimental Dining

Book excerpt: A provocative study of the creative dining experience as a multisensory performance. Experimental Dining examines the work of four of the world's leading creative restaurants: el Bulli in Catalonia, the Fat Duck in Berkshire, Noma in Copenhagen, and Alinea in Chicago. The author contends that the work of the experimental restaurant, while operating explicitly within an economy of experiences, is not absolutely determined by that political and economic context. Exploring gastronomy as experience, Paul Geary examines the restaurants' creative methods and the broader ideological discourses within which they operate. Bringing together ideas around food, philosophy, performance, and cultural politics, the book offers an interdisciplinary understanding of the world of experimental experiential dining.