A Meal of 50 Courses Over 6 Hours. Is This the Future of Dining?
Rasmus Munk’s Alchemist in Copenhagen plans to bring theater, art, and chemistry to the table.
A rendering of just one the dining spaces at Alchemist, scheduled to open early in 2019.
Courtesy of Rasmus Munk
When experts forecast the future of food, they emphasize “fast.” And “casual.” The modernist Danish chef Rasmus Munk rejects those trends. At his soon-to-open Copenhagen restaurant Alchemist, Munk will prepare a dinner that can stretch as long as six hours. He’ll serve 50 courses, five times as many as most ambitious tasting menus, as he introduces extrasensory experiences that play out in a palatial dining room.
Munk has already proved he’s a provocative chef. At the first version of the restaurant (also called Alchemist), he surprised guests with a menu full of politically and ethically charged dishes. A plate of king crab and potato buried under a pile of hay ash, served on an ashtray, was a delicious but off-putting commentary on smoking. He served raw lamb heart tartare laced with cherry juice alongside a leaflet encouraging diners to become organ donors. Over 14 months, 1,500 did.