Customers must sign disclaimer before ‘extreme’ F&B experience
“Not fine dining, not a bar and utterly unlike anything else” according to the team behind it, Enigma, a 12 to 16-course food and drink experience, takes place over the course of two hours in an as yet unannounced city centre location in Birmingham.
Devised with the help of hypnotists and magicians – and with exact details kept under lock and key by its founders – the £75-per-head experience is described as being so “extreme” that guests will be required to sign a disclaimer beforehand.
The experience is the brainchild of the Wilderness head chef and founder Alex Claridge – who’s cooking style is inspired by ingredients and dishes that evoke strong reactions, according to travel website Culture Trip. He raised eyebrows in 2016, for example, by putting ants on the menu at his first Wilderness restaurant.
Enigma’s suitably cryptic unveiling follows the Wilderness’s opening of ’80s pop culture-themed fine-dining restaurant and bar Nocturnal Animals in collaboration with two-time GB finalist at the world’s biggest cocktail competition, World Class, James Bowker and MasterChef: The Professionals finalist Brett Connor.
Bartender Robert Wood (above left), the owner-operator of Birmingham bar 18/81, who collaborated with Claridge (above right) to create Enigma explained: “Throughout my career there has been a desire to tell a story.
“To make cocktails more than just something you drink.
“Enigma is the culmination of those instincts, not a cocktail bar but something more than that.”
With reservations being taken from 21 March onwards, Enigma is available for groups of between four and six guests.
Enigma is the latest example of bar operators pushing boundaries with new ventures after premium bar and restaurant operator launched its first augmented reality cocktail menu and app titled The Conjurer.
