They say you eat with your eyes and when it comes to the 7 Paintings dining experience, nothing could be truer.
We enjoyed this multi-sensory experience in the private dining room at Sofitel Brisbane Central, but it is also being presented in Melbourne, Adelaide and the Sofitel Gold CoastBroadbeach, as well as many overseas locations.
The 2½ hour show blends gastronomy, visual art, music and storytelling as it takes guests on an immersive culinary journey through some of the world’s greatest masterpieces.
A talking Mona Lisa is the narrator as the dining table becomes a canvas with the works of Michaelangelo, Banksy, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Vincent Van Gogh projected onto walls and table settings.
The evening unfolds across seven acts, each inspired by one of the artists and paired with one of seven dishes designed by Sofitel executive chef Alex Goyard.
It’s a huge amount of fun as you get to paint your plate with gels and purees, solve riddles, mix a Negroni cocktail, eat edible pictures, and get totally involved in the experience.The whole thing is gloriously over the top.
Moving across centuries of art, the Sofitel dinner kicks off with the works of Michaelangelo paired with a Renaissance-inspired dainty charcoal tartlet filled with Mount Tamborinestraciatella and Taggiasca olives.
Fast forward to Banksy and my least favourite of all the dishes, eye fillet tartare shaped rather unattractively into a log presented with yuzu pickles and dollops of parsnip purée, alongside one of Banksy’s most famous works, Girl With Balloon, rendered in black dust on the plate.
The Picasso course is a beautifully cooked piece of fish with confit fennel and almond crumble. It’s presented with a little bottle of black garlic beurre blanc to pour over the fish – rebellious in presentation, as we might expect, but perfectly harmonious in flavour.
Channeling Jackson Pollock’s drip technique, we splash vegetable purées over our place settings and playfully dip baby carrots, baby cos lettuce, baby cucumber, radish, and heirloom tomato into our edible painting.
Not wanting to give away too many secrets, all I’ll say about the Andy Warhol main course is that a Campbells soup can unsurprisingly makes an appearance alongside the melt-in-the-mouth grass-fed Angus eye fillet.
The first of two desserts is a whimsical Passionfruit creme brûlée with orange confit, inspired by the surrealism of Salvador Dalí.
Our culinary and artistic journey comes to an end with Vincent van Gogh and a Blueberry cheesecake with speculoos sable biscuit, the latter a nod to van Gogh’s Dutch origins.
Bookings for 7 Paintings at Sofitel Brisbane Central are being taken until the end of September. The experience costs $175, and vegan and children’s menus are available on request.
Beverage package
A beverage package is available for $60 per person. We were very pleasantly surprised at the value this represented, with free-flowing beer and wine from a list that included Veuve Ambal Vin Mousseux Blanc de Blancs NV from Burgundy, Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc, a Provence Rosé and other quality drops.
We’ve been privileged to experience a few virtual reality and multi-media dinners but none were quite like 7 Paintings in the level of involvement required of us as guests. This is a totally immersive experience and we really felt like participants, not just spectators.
What would Banksy or Warhol have made of it all? Or indeed, Van Gogh, who only sold one painting in his lifetime? Heaven only knows.
To book for 7 Paintings, follow the link here.
Sofitel Brisbane Central very kindly hosted us for the 7 Paintings experience and we spent a wonderful night in one of the hotel’s Signature Suites. You can read our story about our stay here.
