Sugar Mountain adds ‘Sensory’ restaurant

PRESS RELEASE:

Sugar Mountain continues to push the boundaries of what a festival can be with the announcement of a new on-site dining concept at the 2016 event: Sensory.

Described as ‘an immersive restaurant experiment’, Sensory is a collaboration between Sugar Mountain and three Melbourne icons renowned in their respective fields – Bomba, Tin & Ed and Cut Copy.

Taking place during the festival – Sat 23 Jan @ Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) –  Sensory will host a strictly limited four sittings only of 90 people per sitting, housed within a brand new indoor space at Sugar Mountain.

Sensory will explore the relationship between sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. Throughout the four-course set menu, guests will be treated to a tactile and interactive environment where all senses are stimulated through a 50-minute narrative. It will be an alternate reality where artists play with how people see and understand the world around them, creating a visceral and unique dining experience.

“A restaurant like this, it’s not just about coming in to eat – we’re collectively creating a show,” says Jesse Gerner, Bomba head chef. “The performance is part of the meal. It’s been great to work collaboratively with Cut Copy and Tin & Ed to develop a full package, we’re looking not only at the ingredients on the plate but at how sight, sound, taste and smell work together.”  

Acclaimed tapas restaurant Bomba will be expressing their artistry through an experimental food offering, paired with drinks, their menu underpinning the Sensory performance. Melbourne design gurus Tin & Ed (whose recent clients include AdidasXPharrell, Qantas, IKEA) will work with two and three dimensional aspects and ‘function and form’ to create an immersive environment, while Melbourne icons and ARIA winners/Grammy nominees Cut Copywill compose an evolving soundscape to complement each course.

“Sensory is awesome because it’s one giant experiment – a multi-sensory, multi-dimensional experience,” say Tin & Ed. “We’re super excited to be part of it because we get to collaborate with Bomba and Cut Copy to create this experience of stepping into the unknown.”

“We’ve always been a band that’s drawn inspiration from other art forms,” says Cut Copy’s Dan Whitford. “So this opportunity to collaborate with talented people from different disciplines and create an immersive sensory experience for Sugar Mountain is very exciting for us.”

The strictly limited tickets to Sensory ($55 per person) can be bundled with a Sugar Mountain 2016 ticket – which will go on sale Monday 19 October. Specific seating times can be booked when the festival timetable is released in January.

Full line-up details for Sugar Mountain 2016 are set to be revealed next week! Subscribe to the newsletter or follow Sugar Mountain on Facebook.

SUGAR MOUNTAIN
JANUARY 2016
Tickets on sale Monday 19 October, 12noon (AEDT)

Sat 23 Jan Melbourne | VCA (Victorian College of the Arts) (18+)

www.sugarmountainfestival.com

Image: Bomba's Jesse Gerner