A Journal of Food Science study in 2018 found that VR environments affect taste. For example, a VR barn makes cheese taste more pungent and a VR park bench makes it taste more herbal. The three people behind the concept come from different walks of life. Chintan Pandya, the acclaimed chef at Adda Indian Canteen in Long Island City, New York, and Roni Mazumdar, its savvy owner, teamed up with Mattia Casalegno, a visual artist from Naples, Italy, who teaches digital arts at Pratt Institute. Pandya and Mazumdar have risen up in New York City’s dining scene in the last year with their hit restaurants, Rahi and Adda. The latter, especially has topped ‘best new restaurant’ lists from Food & Wine and Bon Appétit. “This is an extension of what Ferran Adrià was doing at El Bulli, playing with memory, perception, and taste,” Davis said to Bloomberg. “It’s digital gastronomy.”
While blindfolds are just pieces of cloth that can be easily put on and removed, a VR experience involves expensive equipment, maintenance and hours of training for staff.
Source: Next-level eating, powered by virtual reality goggles
