11 Amazing Food Experiences to do Before you Die
EATING in trees, on ice, underwater, or even tasting stars. Here are 11 food experiences worth forking out the time and money for.
Dine below the sea at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Picture: SuppliedSource:news.com.au
THESE days travel and eating go hand in hand. We travel to see the world … but travelling to eat comes a close second. These 11 food experiences (in no particular order) go above and beyond great food, offering diners the ultimate epicurean experiences. All come with brag rights.
1 Taste the stars
Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica
Sound a bit far fetched? At the Taste the Stars culinary and stargazing experience at Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo, guests can enjoy a fusion of astronomy and gastronomy. One of the special ingredients used is Meteorito wine (you read right). Ian Hutcheon, an astronomer/wine maker creates a special wine at Chilean space observatory Centro Astrononomica Tagua Tagua by adding a dash of a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite that crashed in the Chilean desert 6000 years ago. The concoction is used as sauce and served alongside the beef as the fourth course (there are five courses all up) — so you really do get a sprinkling of stars!
2 Dine at ALL of the three Michelin-starred restaurants in the world
Global
Just imagine visiting 12 different countries and eating at all 107 Michelin star restaurants in the world. It’s doable — in fact there’s a tour by holidaysplease that’s the ultimate epicurean holiday. You’ll need six months. Oh and you stay at some of the finest hotels in the world and fly business class all the way — because it’s a tough gig with all that travelling around.
3 Sample blessed Pachamanca in a sacred valley
Sacred Valley of Uruamba, Peru
Pachamanca is a traditional baked Peruvian dish, where meat (usually lamb, guinea pig, mutton or chicken) is baked alongside potatoes and beans in the ground. With Real Holidays you head to the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba. After honouring the gods (just standard stuff really) a pit is dug in the ground, a fire is lit inside it, large rocks are placed around the pit, and finally a mix of salted Andean lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes and fresh herbs is placed on the rocks. Fast forward a few hours and you get tender and flavoursome meat. Bonus points is that according to locals you get tender and flavoursome meat … that’s been blessed by mother Earth herself!
4 Order Australia’s most expensive cocktail
Brisbane, Australia
At the perpetually bustling The Kitty bar at the Treasury Brisbane there’s a cocktail that has everyone talking. The aptly named ‘Kitty on the Rock’ comes with Richard Hennessy, Bollinger Grand Vintage, a sugar cube soaked with Angostura Bitters … and a 0.75-carat diamond. At $9500 and with 48 hours lead time (so staff can arrange the delivery of the diamond) it’s one expensive drink — but one worth every drop (and diamond).
5 Eat among the trees tops
Koh Kood, Thailand
There’s something serene about dining among tree tops, although popping to the bathroom isn’t so simple. At Soneva Kiri by Six Senses, located amid tropical rainforest off the southeast coast of the Gulf of Siam, you can be dined and wined among rainforest canopy. The Treepod Dining experience begins with you and your dining partner being hoisted five metres up into the trees. Once seated and swinging in the custom-made bamboo pod food and drinks are brought over by a flying zip-lining waiter …
6 Dine inside the world’s most recognised landmark
Paris, France
Picnicking and looking out onto the world’s most recognised landmark is pretty spesh, but go one step further and book a table inside the Eiffel Tower at the one Michelin-starred fine diner, Le Jules Verne. You should check in twice just so your Facebook friends get the message about where you are.
7 Feast under the sea
Maldives
Submerged five metres below sea level, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is home to an intimate 12-seater restaurant that offers panoramic views of reef and marine life. The only thing between you and the fish is a 180-degree acrylic transparent dome (pictured above).
8 Book an unforgettable arrival
Sydney, Australia
Head to Jonah’s, one of Sydney’s most iconic restaurants located on Whale Beach (whale sightings often included in season), in sophisticated style. The recently launched Ultimate Dining Experience includes door-to-door transfers in a Royale Limousines Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead, a BMW 7 Series or a Mercedes S Class. If you ever wanted to be seen (without being seen) the ride in is half the fun. Jonah’s itself is pretty incredible. The 85-year-old restaurant is one of only a handful of Relais & Chateaux properties in Australia and is home to a 5000-bottle cellar … thank god for the smooth ride back home.
9 Chill out
Lainiotie, Finland
For something truly unforgettable feast on hearty Lappish cuisine like game meatballs and sauteed reindeer among ice — just rug up — at Icebar at Snow Village. Everything inside this chilled-out eatery (pun intended) is made from ice and snow and allegedly the temperature is always between -2 and -5.
10 Have sushi your way
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
The unassuming eight-seat Sushi Shikon is Hong Kong’s only three Michelin-starred restaurant. Here ingredients are flown in twice daily from the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo and hand selected by master chef Yoshitake (who is based in Tokyo at the mother restaurant Sushi Yoshitake, also three Michelin-starred). Head chef Kakinuma is not your typical Japanese chef because he is happy to adjust menu items to suit (not very common when it comes to Japanese anything), even going as far as to adjust the rice temperature for guests who prefer eating their sushi with their hands instead of chopsticks.
11 Get lost
Anywhere
Sometimes the simplest things are best. Wherever you are in the world do this at least once.
Step one: Find the most gourmet supermarket in town and buy just about every local product that looks like it might taste good.
Step two: Buy local wine — lots of it.
Step three: Ride a bike, take a train, it really doesn’t matter. The key is to take some mode of transport without planning where you’re going. Travel for at least an hour.
Step four: Stop somewhere picturesque.
Step five: Eat and drink and take in wherever you are.
