Keen to get back to basics – the very basics – a pop-up restaurant in London is from this Saturday offering diners a naked, no-tech dining experience.
The 42-seat restaurant, Bunyadi, says it wants to offer Londoners their “first naked food experience,” and although you might think there’s not much call for places where you can pay to eat in the nude, it already has a staggering 46,000 people on its waiting list. Considering it’s only open for three months, it’s safe to say not everyone is going to get to dine in the buff.
Bunyadi actually operates a clothing-optional policy, though the mere act of booking a table at the restaurant suggests its customers are rather keen on having that “naked food experience.”
No smartphones
Diners should forget grabbing a selfie though, as smartphones and cameras are strictly prohibited. Remember – restaurant founder Seb Lyall is aiming for a plain and simple experience, and anyway, where would you put your device, unless you’ve a fold or crevice substantial enough to take it, of course.
Lyall said he wants people to “get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out without any impurities” – so be sure to scrub up before you go. There’ll be “no chemicals, no artificial colors, no electricity, no gas, no phone, and even no clothes if they wish to; the idea is to experience true liberation.”
Upon arrival, guests can either strip off and head straight for the naked section, or change into a robe and take a seat in the non-nude part. Should a clothed diner later change their mind – perhaps after a couple of glasses of the restaurant’s finest wine – they can slip out of their robe and take the “path to purity” which leads straight to the naked section.
In case you’re wondering, the maitre d’s will reportedly have their vital parts covered, perhaps a wise move if Lyall’s idea for the restaurant is to keep distractions to a minimum. There’s no word on the chefs, but simply for safety you’d imagine they’ll be wearing an apron at the very least. Though best not to picture that.
Bunyadi‘s menu includes wood-flame grilled dishes “served on handmade clay crockery and edible cutlery, in a space void of the industrialised-world’s modern trappings,” while customers will dine “under a canopy of candle lights, creatively partitioned with bamboo and wicker, as they recline on wood-hewn furniture.”
It sounds rather idyllic, apart from the nude bit. And let’s just hope spotted dick isn’t on the menu. After all, ordering the quintessentially British dessert could potentially cause all kinds of confusion at a naked restaurant.
