Forces of Nature –a culinary world-first
In a remote desert canyon, 40 minutes drive from the ancient desert city of AlUla sits Forces of Nature, a pop-up restaurant that for 10 days only will use the raw power of the nature that surrounds it to create a unique dining event.
The first of its kind, the event forms part of the AlUla Moments festival season in AlUla, a remote but globally significant heritage destination located in an extraordinary geological setting in Saudi Arabia.
Experiential gastronomy specialists, Bompas & Parr, have developed the concept driven by the black lunar-esque volcanic plateaus that contrast with the ochre sandstone and lush green oasis of the AlUla region.
The dining experience for those lucky enough to get tickets offers an incredible opportunity to eat sumptuous local produce, cooked across a stream of molten lava heated to a staggering 1350 degrees Celsius. Lava technicians pour out the molten rocks in a performance spectacle, where guests’ dinner is cooked, seared to perfection in mere seconds, or smoked, roasted, and grilled over three roaring fire pits.
This immersive experience features a phenomenal set menu featuring whole, salt-baked celeriac, charred fillets of beef finished across molten lava, and pit-roasted saddles of goat grilled across fire pits. Desserts include a decadent chocolate lava cake, oozing in the middle of the course. The finest of local ingredients are sourced from regional suppliers and bring the heart of the volcano to the table.
Drink offerings include smoked, flamed, and charred mocktails, as well as coffee and tea, heated tableside.
The venture builds on the ground-breaking work of one of the world’s foremost experts in molten rock, Prof. Robert Wysocki from Syracuse University in New York. The lava furnace has been specially designed for the event and shipped to AlUla for construction.
Set under the vast night sky, the open-air restaurant is set in a remote canyon area not far from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra, a Nabataean city that is famous for its necropolis of intricately carved monumental tombs. The experience of Forces of Nature is guided by torchlight through a bespoke sound and light installation which completes the sensory effect of the world-first event.
Saudi Arabia spans over 200 dormant volcanos, creating some of the most dramatic volcanic landscapes in the world. The limestone of AlUla was formed between 541 and 251 million years ago, during the Paleozoic Era creating the rock faces that allowed habitation that is synonymous with AlUla.
The dining experience is a ticketed event from February 18 to February 26 February for 350 SAR per set menu.
