Ex-elBulli chef opens 3D-printed restaurant

A restaurant where everything from the chairs to the food is 3D-printed is set to open in London, with chef Joel Castanye, formerly of five-time World’s Best Restaurant elBulli, at the helm.

Food Ink will pop-up in Shoreditch at the end of this month for three days only, with head chefs Joel Castanye and Mateu Blanch set to produce its menu using a 3D printer, which will also be responsible for crafting the restaurant’s plates, chairs and utensils.

Three dinners will take place on 25, 26 and 27 July. Just 10 spots are available each evening with tickets costing a rather hefty £250 each.

For this guests will be treated to a “one-of-a-kind, nine-course food experience” with food printed in front of diners and and live-streamed online.

The 3D printed menu includes intriguing dishes such as Air Caviar, Fish and Chips, Steak TARTRIS, Love Bites, and 3D Boscana.

While the concept could be dismissed as a gimmick, the culinary credentials of the chefs involved is stellar. Chef Castanye runs one of Spain’s most acclaimed new restaurants, La Boscana, and previously worked previously for many years at elBulli, when it was ranked the number one restaurant in the world for a record five times.

Virtual reality headsets, wall-to-wall visual projections and AI-composed music complete the experience, described as an “immersive environment and a thrilling glimpse of the future”.

“This is the first time in the world that any initiative involving 3D-printed food has ever been executed with so many elements and anywhere approaching this level, and it represents a major step forward in technology, food, and design, all in a single event”, the Food Ink team said in a press release.

“The goal of Food Ink is to use the universal language of food as a fun and accessible way to promote awareness about the amazing possibilities of 3D-printing and other promising new technologies. Our 3D-printing dinner series serve as a platform for a public conversation about how these emerging technologies are rapidly challenging and changing the way we eat, create, share and live.”

Following its London launch, the team hope to roll out the concept to a number of other cities worldwide.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, 15 July, at 9am. Those unable to get a ticket will still be able to have a nose around Food Ink and sample some of its 3D printed snacks on 26 and 27 July between 2pm and 6pm, when it will be open to the public.