The world’s most expensive restaurants are in Spain
“We are just speechless”, claims Spanish journalist Cayetana Guillén Cuervo. “It’s been a while since the last time something felt so different, refreshing and mind-blowing. It’s almost like falling in love”, admits famous Spanish actress Ana Milán. This is their reaction after enjoying an immersive menu at Sublimotion, the second most expensive restaurant in the world, whose only menu costs about 1800 euros.
This restaurant has been on first position for almost eight years, until recently, the Quique Dacosta restaurant broke the record with a 2000-euro menu. Both restaurants are in Spain.
Eating in the restaurant Sublimotion. | Sublimotion
Many people probably believe that no food or immersive experience, no wine nor champagne can be worth such an exorbitant price, not even the sum of them all. However, there is always people willing to pay a high amount of money to eat and enjoy a pleasant evening. Considering all this, in the case of the Sublimotion, which is located in Ibiza, the answer to the question is quite simple. You are not only paying for the exquisite dishes designed by experts. You are also paying for everything surrounding the menu.
In fact, the mastermind behind the Sublimotion, the two Michelin star winner Paco Roncero, shaped this project with the aid of chefs, musicians, coreographers, designers, illusionists, script writers, and even engineers.
The high price of Quique Dacosta comes with its Plenitude 2 menu, a collaboration between the brand Dom Pérignon and the Quique Dacosta restaurant in Denia. A menu for two people amounts to 4000 euros, mostly due to the two bottles of Plenitude 2.
Moreover, this menu consists of three dishes: flower bread, fish bones, and lamb, all accompanied by Dom Pérignon. The actual price of the menu is 220 euros, only the bottles of Plenitude 2 make it more expensive.
One of the peculiar dining rooms in Sublimotion. | Sublimotion
The aim of Paco Roncero is to turn the table into a stage, and that is precisely the differential factor that makes the Sublimotion stand out among other similar restaurants. It is not just a good dinner with a show, but a dinner where the client comes to take part in the very show.
This way, a table with 12 diners every night (and not more) fills in with lights that change with every dish. The clients go from being under the sea to a futuristic scenery. Eating in this context means three hours of enjoying nigiri dishes, almond and Norway lobster vichyssoise and, of course, some caviar. An experience with an exclusive taste.
Chef Quique Dacosta during a culinary event in Denia. | Shutterstock
Chef Quique Dacosta owns multiple restaurants, although only one of them has his name: the Quique Dacosta Restaurant, located in front of the beach of Las Marinas. The main character here is the chef with three Michelin stars who won the 2020 Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts. Dacosta’s cuisine is heavily influenced by the surroundings of his restaurant, and the aesthetic of his dishes has been praised several times.
Likewise, the restaurant’s webpage states that, in their view, “the table is the perfect stage and the food is the perfect means of connecting with people through experiences”. They also add that “we develop our sense of taste through other people, in a sociable act which remains inside us throughout our lives”.
