Elevated dining

IMAGINE dining beneath the stars, on a menu chosen well in advance, and with the glittering expanse of Kuala Lumpur unfurled before your eyes. Now imagine doing it strapped to your seat on a rotating platform measuring 5m long and 9m wide, with no doors, windows or ceiling to separate you from the world.

It’s just you, 21 other guests, a chef and a waiter and a very long drop to the ground below – 50m to be exact.

On Aug 1, Dinner In The Sky will make its much- anticipated debut in Malaysia after its whirlwind tour around the globe. Ranked among the world’s Top 10 most unusual restaurants by Forbes magazine, this unique experience is open to those age 18 and up and gives a whole new meaning to “high class” by suspending diners, wait staff and table in the air, using a crane located right beside KL Tower. Guests are firmly secured to their seats with multiple seat belts, as the chairs rotate to give them a bird’s eye view of the city.

While definitely not for the faint- hearted, guests can be assured that nothing too heart- stopping will occur apart from the occasional flash of vertigo; safety is paramount here and all designs adhere to strict German specifications. That’s part of the reason why this Belgian- based company – the brainchild of David Ghysels, owner of a marketing and communications company, and Stefan Kerkhofs, a bungee- jumping impresario – took off when it was founded in 2007. From the Las Vegas Strip to the hills of Villa Borghese in Rome, Dinner In The Sky ( DITS) has hosted over 5,000 dinners in 40 iconic locations around the world.

Thanks to local event organiser 2Spicy Entertainment, KL- ites will be among the first in South- East Asia to experience these unique aerial dinners. Held over a span of a month, DITS KL will feature two seatings a day – one at 6.30pm and the other at 8.30pm. The five- course menu – which is dubbed as “Modern European” and prepared by Marc Fery, chef de cuisine from Hilton KL’s Graze restaurant – takes approximately an hour to serve and also includes an option for vegetarians.

So what will the experience be like? Evenings will start off with a drink in a welcome lounge – and yes, it’s earth- bound – before embarking on their culinary journey. Those who survive the experience will receive a printed picture of them enjoying their meals, apart from earning maximum bragging rights, of course.

The experience isn’t cheap – at RM599 per person, it costs way more than a meal at your average restaurant. And diners won’t get a refund if the weather’s bad – the dinner will be moved indoors. Still, seats were completely sold out within 48 hours of its launch and the company has added new time slots on its website – to be announced today – to keep up with the demand. If you plan to book a place however, be sure to keep this in mind: visit the restroom before you go up.