Le Petit Chef and Friends recently premiered at Delhi’s Shangri-La Eros. SHOBORI GANGULI ventured into this beautiful theatre of symphony between the virtual world and the real, woven into a spell-blinding narrative
Shangri-La Eros last month premiered a unique theatrical fine dining show featuring Le Petit Chef and Friends, with never before seen technology dramatically drawing the diners in, marrying a virtual world of contemporary global cuisine with a real extravagant continental spread on the tables. With a live and exclusive culinary narrative accompanying each course of the dinner, it was indeed spectacular to feel the virtual world dance to in perfect synchronisation with the real.
While it is impossible to describe in words what the fabulous one and-a-half-hour long dining opera actually felt like, one can only try. Safe to say, it was like being in a 3D theatre, except with real exclusively curated dishes on our platter ending each breathtaking virtual display.
Le Petit Chef is only 6 cm tall and we are told he cannot grow Born in April 2015 in Marseille, France, this tiny magician was created by the art directors of Skull Mapping, a company based out of Belgium, who combined their profound artistic knowledge with dramatic bespoke visuals using a technology called 3D Projection Mapping.
Paired with theme music and related props, the miniature Chef and his friends ran busily across our tables, with the use of visual mapping of the dining table, including our plates and cutlery. They engaged us in their creative kitchens, against the backdrop of the Italian countryside, delicate Japanese paintings, a virtual culinary narrative, across Italy, France, and Spain and Japan.
As these tiny magicians hopped on to our tables to serve a four course feast, our sensory journey was further enhanced by the aroma of Italian wheatfilelds, lively Spanish music filling up our senses, soothing Japanese painting serving as a table cloth and the sizzling sound and smell of French Fries, all of this right on our dinner table.
Often mistaken as a hologram or a 3D projection, the show actually uses special optical techniques, length distortions from the right angles to create the illusion of 3D. Technology apart, the switch from the virtual to the real was a rare display of culinary genius and innovative presentation, leaving us awestruck.
The show starred four chefs, Pequena Maria from Spain, Piccolo Luciano from Italy, Chisano Takahiro from Japan and of course Le Petit Chef from France.
Orchestrated by live hosts, the Le Petit Chef and Friends show was an immersive dining experience, few of us may have ever encountered. While all of us our well versed with 3D cinema where one can feel the real splash of water or a bullet whizzing past our ears, it takes an extremely creative tech genius to experiment with food.
Le Petit Chef and Friends served us a four-course contemporary European extravaganza, suitable to both vegetarian and non-vegetarian palates, with the interactive storytelling playing out on our dinner plates with the assistance of technology.
As the virtual world paved way for reality, the first course to arrive was Spanish Chef Maria’s signature Hass Avocado and Chicken Mortadella Salad with baby fennel, cherry on vine semi-dried San Marzano and citrus dressing. The delicately nuanced salad already made us look forward to the culinary adventure ahead.
Barely had we gone through Spain with the salad, than we were swept into the wheat fields of the Italian countryside which turned into our table cloth for the second course. Chef Luciano and his boisterous kitchen colleagues were seen working hard at his patented Pasta, the Liquid Parmigiano Reggiano served with sundried tomatoes, pesto pecorino and tartufo sauce.
The culinary magician, after a hectic kitchen schedule, laboriously climbed on to our plates to serve the dish. And lo and behold, soon the Chef Luciano and his army danced out of the scene for the real dish to arrive on our platter letting us gorge on the liquidy chicken and cheese creation.
For the main course, Italy gave way to France, as the tiny Chef Le Petit went about preparing his signature dish, Braised Lamb Rump with Compound Butter, and Mushroom Flan, served with baked fries, port wine jus and freshly sourced vegetables. Once again, the virtual gave way to the real dish to arrive at our table. I have yet to taste such well cooked lamb, more tender than minced meat, that managed to retain the robustness of the meat even as it sunk in the rich embrace of browned butter sauce. Frankly, this was a stand alone meal, not really requiring the other three courses.
Once again it was time for the scene and setting to give way to Japan, as our table cloth tuned into a delicate painting of flowers with Chef Takahiro unveiling the final course, the Dessert, which was a Green Tea Cake with Citrus Cremeux. A heavenly end to four enthralling narratives across continents.
