It could seem like one of the back doors of the Hotel Hard Rock Ibiza if it wasn’t for the fact that when you open it, any similarity with reality is pure coincidence. Once inside a flight attendant leads the twelve guests to a cargo lift which vibrates to sound of the Ramones and their iconic Hey Ho, Let’s Go. The journey ends in a room full of mirrors, presided over by a large dining table where a beam of light projects the name of each guest. «Don’t bother trying to tell people what you experience in here tonight because they just won’t believe you» announces Gabrielle, the mistress of ceremonies. Next, several bottles of Perrier Jouët champagne descend from the ceiling kick-starting what will be an unforgettable evening.
The cover price, the most expensive in the world, is around €1,800 per head
Sublimotion is a multi-sensory performance that can only be understood by those who experience it. Dishes that drop down from the ceiling in the form of puffer fish as if the guests were submerged in the sea, virtual reality glasses that allow you to fly above all types of landscapes, and live shows, all with the most immaculate of details, make this restaurant, whose price is around €1,800 per head and is the most expensive in the world, into a type of gastronomical Cirque du Soleil. At the helm is chef Paco Roncero, who boasts two Michelin stars and the maximum distinction of three Repsol Suns.
«Our discerning audience obliges us to keep taking risks»
The infinity room
Throughout the gastronomical experience, the table is transformed into a spectacle of lights and colours. And what’s more, the diners change table, sometimes without even knowing how it happened. In the words of the founder and creative director, Eduardo Gonzáles: «Our discerning audience obliges us to keep taking risks and be at the forefront of technology and staging. This season we are going one step further, transforming our technological capsule into an infinity room where the dining experience has no limits. «A completely updated menu and adapted to formats as innovative as the new ‘Kaleido-dish’, a unique medium created to enjoy the beauty of a culinary composition from the very first to the very last bite, something that hasn’t existed until now and which is certain to continue evolving as a trend».
Sublimotion, awarded the most innovative and technological restaurant in the world, allows its guests to visit a dozen different spaces and places without moving from their seats, enjoying a spectacular combination of music, lights, projections and settings.
Sublimotion is the world’s most innovative and technological restaurant
Everything is designed to enhance the diners’ sensation of pleasure. Another novelty for this new season is the chance to eat in the Metaverse. Being able to experience real fine dining inside a virtual world, something the technical and creative team of Sublimotion have been working on for over six years, is one of the keys to the success of this innovative gastronomical and multi-sensory show.
Surprise flight
One of the things that most attracts the attention of the diners at the most expensive restaurant in the world is the number of spaces and even countries that they visit in less than four hours. The guests embark on a flight when the dining room is converted into an aeroplane with an unknown destination and a menu, this time miles high, consisting of charcoal-grilled black grouper with white butter flavoured with citrus and aniseed.
This year Sublimotion has teamed up with artist Antonyo Marest
In addition to this there is a warm crustacean broth with cream of roast spring onion, sautéed oysters accompanied by cream of cauliflower with a marine twist. This year the flight lands in São Paulo, where diners are treated to the typical flavours of Brazil, such as caipirinha.
During dinner, the guests travel from dining beneath the sea to a descent into hell
From the depths of the sea to the depths of ‘hell’
Another of the settings that makes your hair stand on end is the descent into hell via a premium quality meat dish. The temperature heats up as if you were in the underworld itself. And that’s not all, the aromas are intensified in this setting, which only increases the sensation of descending into the abyss. Throughout the dinner, Sublimotion plays with the scents in just four of the stagings, «so that the aromas are not mixed up», the creative director explains.
Guests are greeted at the restaurant with ‘Hey, ho, let’s go’ by the Ramones.
The experience ends with graffiti served up by the waiting staff, which minutes later is converted into dessert for the twelve dinner guests. And this bears the signature of Spanish artist Antonyo Marest, an international reference in urban art, who is another new addition to the team this year. The team at Sublimotion has worked with the artist to combine art, gastronomy, design, music and choreography, to recreate one the most amazing moments of this performance. In this edition, the restaurant has opted for vanilla as a final note.
In the last scene of this gastronomic performance, the restaurant is converted into a nightclub and each diner into a DJ, with a cocktail in the form of a Tetris, putting the finishing touch on a night to remember.
After its successful winter season at the hotel Mandarin Oriental Jumeira in Dubai, Sublimotion wants to continue expanding internationally, explains Gonzáles.