Extravagant dining and flights of gastronomic fancy have long been associated with those seeking out the finest things in life. For those who live the most luxurious of lifestyles and scour the globe for the most exclusive, most elegant or dazzling experiences, the world of fine food and wine constantly throws up new surprises. The world’s best restaurants are constantly competing to offer ever more delightful sensory adventures, and dishing up ever rarer, once-in-a-lifetime culinary encounters.
Once you’ve exhausted your list of fine dining restaurants, and have grown weary of crisp linen tablecloths, besuited waiter service and never-ending tasting menus, how do you take things to the next level? As with everything in the world of luxury living, there’s always someone out there offering wish-fulfillment for the right price. Hungry to find out more? Take a look through our quick list of the world’s most exclusive dining experiences, and see how top chefs and game-changing restaurants are blazing new trails in gastronomy for others to follow. Any one of these dining experiences would offer the perfect opportunity to show off your favorite luxury resort wear items -so add them to the bucket list, straighten your napkin, and ready your tastebuds!
A symphony of elegance
The Hungarian capital of Budapest has plenty to offer those interested in the arts, from world-class galleries to concerts along the Danube. However, if you’re a classical music fan, in need of a good meal, and happen to have $85,000 to spare, then why not take advantage of the Four Seasons Opera House package? You and your beloved can dine on the stage of Budapest’s spectacularly opulent opera house, while being serenaded by a forty-five piece orchestra.
When money is no object
Singapore’s Marina Sands Hotel is known for being among the most luxurious on earth, offering unparalleled views of the coast and the glittering city below. It is also known for offering the world’s most expensive, most incredibly over-the-top dining experience, which costs those who wish to experience it $2 million. What do you get for that price? Well, the whole experience lasts eight hours, and begins with a helicopter flight over the city. Upon landing, you’ll be driven by a Rolls Royce to the restaurant, where you’ll sup on an 18 course taster menu while surrounded by 10,000 roses. Belon oysters, Almas caviar, rare wines and ingredients are to be enjoyed with diamond encrusted chopsticks (engraved with your names), and the final dessert is presented with a two-karat blue diamond ring.
Oceanic opulence
Luxury dining should combine the most exquisite ingredients and service, along with an atmosphere of indulgence, relaxation, and intimacy. Possibly no other restaurant ticks these boxes quite so well as the Four Seasons Resort Mauritius, which offers guests an exclusive table for two on a floating platform, lulled by the gentle waves of a private lagoon. The finest south Asian cuisine, accompanied by views of the sun setting over the Indian ocean... bliss!
Big in Japan
There are few cuisines in the world quite as meticulous or as masterful as sushi, the iconic national dish of Japan. However, if you want to taste the very finest examples of this culinary art-form, prepared by a cult figure in Japanese gastronomy, you’ll have to get yourself on a waiting list, and fast. Ninety-one year old Jiro Ono is the head chef and proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, Tokyo’s most hallowed sushi restaurant. It seats just a few people, and getting a table at this three Michelin-starred eatery is seen as something of a golden ticket for lovers of the finest foods on earth.
The restaurant as multi-sensory theatre
Sublimotion is a Ibiza’s sole Michelin starred restaurant, and if you want to experience fine dining on the very cutting edge of the foodie scene, then this is the place to come. Seating just twelve people at a time, Sublimotion attempts to immerse its diners into a world of sensory delight. The restaurant uses futuristic technology, 360 degree surround cinema screens, projectors, music, lights and -of course -truly stunning cookery to take you on an emotional, immersive journey through into the heights of gastronomic excellence.
So there you have it -five impossibly luxurious fine dining experiences, each beloved by the elite epicureans of the world. These restaurants successfully combine elegance and comfort, sensory delight and unique, tailored experiences for those living La Buona Vita.