The world’s most expensive restaurant is all set to open on the party island of Ibiza. Playa d’en Bossa, a major holiday resort in Ibiza is going to be home to the new Hard Rock Hotel. This exclusive new venue will include a new restaurant called Sublimotion, which is being described as an unparalleled gastro-sensory venture. Patrons will be served elaborate 20-course meals at a whopping cost of $2,000 per head.
The five-star restaurant, headed by Michelin-starred chef Paco Roncero, has an exclusive concept – to accept only 12 guests at a time and provide them ‘an experience for all the senses’. The menu, which is yet to be revealed, promises a ‘complete and unprecedented emotional experience’ to all the diners. “The dishes will cause a stir among the most neglected senses; from moments of humor, pleasure, fear, reflection and nostalgia, diners will be wandering through a world of sensations from the North Pole where they will enjoy a cold snack that they carve on their own iceberg or to the baroque Versailles where the elegance of a rose is sure to melt in their palate,” a spokesperson said. That does sound like a quite a ‘mouthful’.
The ambience at Sublimotion is also designed to titillate the senses. The spokesperson said that there would be ‘state-of-the-art’ systems that create a ‘vivid setting transcending human senses’. Roncero, who is considered to be Spain’s most famous chef, said: “We are very excited about the opening of Sublimotion and believe our guests will enjoy a culinary experience they’ve never previously encountered. We are so delighted to be working with Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza in one of the most international islands in the world.”
“This is my space, it’s a dream-come-true,” added Roncero. “But you don’t get dreams with just luck. You have to chase them, work for them, pull out all the stops and above all, this space was made with a lot of enthusiasm. A project like this is impossible for one person to do alone. I’m a cook and what I know is cooking. I had to combine forces with other talented professionals who could contribute technology, design, study the role of the senses.”
The Hard Rock Hotel is going to be Europe’s first; it is all set to be the biggest five-star hotel in Ibiza. It will include 493 rooms, suites with private pools, ocean-front balconies and outdoor Jacuzzis. The VIP services will include access to some of Ibiza’s most exclusive restaurants and clubs. “This commitment to gastronomy, entertainment, technology and luxury fits perfectly with Hard Rock’s passion to keep music at the forefront of each initiative, as well as Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza’s standing as a music-inspired innovator in one of the world’s most renewed music capitals,” said Abel Matutes Prats, the CEO of Palladium Hotel Group.
For over a year, Roncero has been busy conducting a workshop for his team of chefs at Sublimotion. Together, they’ve been working hard on developing the perfect menu and ambience for the restaurant. “As a cook I have the chance to travel all over the world and in all these trips I tried to find that unique space which could give me something totally different, said Roncero. “I’m really very proud to have this space here. And to have developed it with my team, my people. The workshop has been going on for just over a year – we’ve spent it researching and creating dishes, but above all, it’s about making our customers happy.”
“The macro-environment all depends on the cook, who is the emitter,” said one of the chef’s on Roncero’s team. “The receiver is the diner and the dish is the message. And the setting is the channel. All this is inside the macro-environment, which is the place where you eat. For example, eating on a beach is not the same as eating on a field. And that is what we have developed here in the Paco Roncero workshop.”
According to Roncero, Sublimotion is quite hard to explain. “Ibiza, passion, gastronomy – a radically different show you could only experience for yourself.” The price seems even more inexplicable, if you ask me…