RESTAURANTS
10 most unusual in the
world
Fat Duck - Bray, England
www.fatduck.co.uk
• The current tasting menu at Heston
Blumenthal’s Fat Duck includes nitro-
green tea and lime mousse (shown here)
as well as snail porridge, salmon poached
with licorice and mango and Douglas fir
puree. Blumenthal’s latest book, In Search
of Perfection, inspired a television series
of the same name currently airing on
Britain’s BBC 2
Ninja - New York
www.ninjanewyork.com
While patrons work their way
through the tasting menu at this
Japanese restaurant, servers dressed
as ninjas perform magic alongside
their tables. Expect to spend quite a
bit on the sushi--but realize you’re
really paying for the entertainment.
Dans Le Noir (In the Dark) – Paris –
London – Moscow
www.danslenoir.com/
Dans Le Noir founders Edouard de Broglie and
Etienne Boisrond believe that the act of
consuming food becomes more satisfying when
you're relying on senses other than sight, and
they hired a primarily blind and visually-impaired
staff to prove their point. Does the food at Dans
Le Noir really taste all the better for it? Book a
table at one of their three locations--Paris, London
or Moscow--to find out.
WD-50 - New York
www.wd-50.com
Chef Wylie Dufresne cut his teeth at Jean
Georges as sous chef and then at Prime in
The Bellagio, Las Vegas, as chef de cuisine
before opening WD-50 in New York City’s
Lower East Side. His dishes, such as
butternut squash sorbet with coffee soil and
basil (shown here), are adventurous. And at
$105, the nine-course tasting menu is one
of the most reasonably priced in the city.
El Bulli - Costa Brava, Spain
www.elbulli.com
El Bulli's head chef Ferran Adrià Acosta is a
scientist with the passion of an artisan. That's
why Acosta closes for six months every year to
dream up all sorts of new and nearly
unbelievable dishes (such as the artful beet-
based sorbet shown here) in his "El Tower"
laboratory. El Bulli’s dynamic menu earned it the
title of 2006’s Number One Restaurant in the
World, according to Restaurant magazine.
Moto – Chicago
www.motorestaurant.com
From edible menus to patent-pending
edible advertisements), chef Homaro
Cantu is taking the science of cooking to
another level at culinary laboratory Moto.
The “nachos and cheese” dish (left) is
actually more sweet than savory: the
“tortilla chips” are a mix of Mexican sweet
corn and flan, the “ground beef” is a grainy
Mexican chocolate and the “Monterey
jack” is grated Mexican mango spiked with
liquid nitrogen that allows it to melt when
sprinkled on your plate.
Annalakshmi – India – Malaysia –
Singapore - Perth, Australia
www.annalakshmi.com.au
• The typical Indian fare at this restaurant
isn’t shocking, but your bill may come as a
bit of a surprise. The Annalakshmi mission
is "eat as you like and pay as you feel,"
which means there are no set menu
prices. One dollar or $100--it’s your
choice. You might be inclined to leave a
hefty tip for the staff, however--they’re
employed on a volunteer basis only.
Dinner In The Sky –Brussels
www.dinnerinthesky.com
Call it a floating restaurant if you
will--patrons who dine at Dinner in
the Sky are suspended by a crane in
midair while feasting on the
executive chef’s specialized gourmet
menu. Based in Brussels, Dinner in
the Sky now brings its table to cities
throughout Europe.
Linger Lodge - Bradenton, Fla.
www.lingerlodgeresort.com/restaurant.htm
• Chunk of Skunk? Road Toad A la
Mode? Yes, these are some of the
offerings on the road grill menu at
the Linger Lodge Restaurant. If you’d
rather refrain from snacking on
snake or sparrow, there’s a
traditional menu with classic
southern favorites such as Good Ol'
Fashioned Catfish and Old-Florida-
Style Fried Chicken.
- Sverige, Sweden
Ice Hotel Restaurant
www.icehotel.com/
• The main restaurant of the famed
Ice Hotel chain is, oddly enough,
not made of ice. But they do serve
meals on plates made from the ice
of the Torne River, which borders
Sweden and Finland. Elk and
reindeer appear frequently on the
restaurant’s winter menu.
