How can triple-Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea evoke memory and nostalgia through the 5 senses? As the restaurant prepares for its re-opening, it seeks to present diners with a creative concept that is both inspiring and reflective.

This is a self-initiated concept.

Multisensory Dining

ROLE

Experiential design strategist

TEAM ASSUMPTIONS

  • Creative: Creative director, art director, brand strategist, content strategist

  • Environmental (architect, environmental designer, sound designer)

  • Technology (creative technologist, systems engineer, content engineer)

TIMELINE ASSUMPTIONS

12 weeks

(Hypothesized) Problem

Known for its innovative approach to gastronomic cuisine, 3-star Michel restaurant Alinea continuously pushes the boundaries of experiential dining to bring out the storytelling behind the food. For its re-opening, the restaurant wants to create a new immersive concept for its diners that holds true to its thoughtful creativity, while maintaining its reputation of being one of the world’s most acclaimed restaurants.

Assumptions

  • Alinea has provided some data on its diners

  • Alinea's menu theme is around nostalgia and nature

  • Proposed strategy is within Alinea's budget and timeline

Solution

The strategy for the restaurant’s multisensory experience engages sight, hearing, and touch to amplify the menu’s theme of memory and nostalgia. To create an immersive, intimate experience while staying within budget, the experience is designed for the exclusive, private-room “Kitchen Table”.

Process

Diner profile

To ensure the experience delivers on diners’ needs, expectations and concerns, I created what a prospective Alinea diner profile. Based on researching blogs and on my own personal experience at the restaurant, I hypothesized that these diners are local, as well as national and international, with tourists visiting Chicago with the Alinea experience specifically planned during their trip.

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Needs

• Explore a novel experience

• Satisfy adventurous taste palette

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Expectations

• Awed by taste and visuals, given familiarity with restaurant’s reputation

• A memorable and reflective experience

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Concerns

• Value not being worth the large amount of time and money spent

• Cheap thrills; overhyped

Competitive landscape

To spot the opportunities where Alinea can differentiate itself, I conducted a competitive analysis on other immersive, high-end restaurants that have international acclaim. I categorized my analysis into three key areas: overarching narrative of the restaurant, food quality and connection to the story, and sensory immersion (restaurant interior, audio, visuals that go beyond the food itself).

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Insights

• Majority of dining experiences focus on 1-2 sensory elements (outside of taste and smell)

• Most lack overarching narrative and don’t evoke deep emotions (i.e., intermmitent superficial “wow” moments)

• Interactive components derail the flow of the dining experience and feel irrelevant and disconnected

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Opportunity

• Tell a consistent and cohesive story across all 5 senses

• Elicit deep-connecting emotions of nostalgia that are universally familiar, regardless of geographic origin

• Food stars as main character and sensory elements play a supporting role

Multisensory concept

Based on the insights and opportunities from my competitive research, I mapped out the three key sensory elements of sight, sound, and touch that would transport the diner into the story behind each course, along with examples for a dessert dish inspired by outdoor camping.

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Sight

Projection mapping on walls and ceilings create a deeper sense of place

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Nighttime scene evoked by a clear night sky with twinkling stars, with trees and and mountains in the distance

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Sound

Sound effects accompany the surrounding visuals to heighten the immersion

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Crackling fire, rustling leaves, cricket chirps

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Touch / Gesture

Projection mapped visuals are reactive to gestures to create subtle interest

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Tree leaves gently sway as diners and servers walk by; dessert course is tactile to evoke the memory of eating smores by a campire