Increasing numbers of foodies and health enthusiasts are
opting to take their food ‘natural’, but a new restaurant in London is taking
the trend to a new level.
A naked pop-up eatery called Bunyadi is
soon to launch in June in London, and there are already nearly 10,000 people on
the waiting list.
Opening for three months, people will
also be allowed to wear clothes but it will also have a naked section, in which
gowns will be provided, which people must fold and put on the seats on arrival.
Seb Lyall, the founder of creators Lollipop, said: ‘We
believe people should get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out
without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colours, no electricity, no
gas, no phone and even no clothes if they wish to. The idea is to experience
true liberation.’
The website says they aim to create a
‘Pangea-like world, free from phones, electric lights and even clothing’, using
‘natural, home-grown ingredients’ to envelope clients in the atmosphere.
Guests will enjoy wood-flame grilled
meals served on handmade clay crockery and edible cutlery, in a space void of
the industrialised-world’s modern trappings, their website says.
They will dine under a canopy of candle lights, creatively
partitioned with bamboo and wicker, as they recline on wood-hewn furniture.
Guests will be offered a vegan and a
non-vegan menu, and those who sit in the naked section will be offered lockers
to put their clothes in as they change in to their gowns.
But the instagram foodies may have a
quiet night as there is strictly no photography in the naked section.
Mr Lyall said the body positivity, the
trend for more natural ingredients, and nostalgia surrounding days when people
didn’t take their phones to the table inspired the idea.
He told MailOnline: ‘There are a lot of people who want
truly natural ingredients, people who are vegan and are very health-conscious.
That is one trend.
But also, everyone has their phone at
the dinner table these days. People in their late 20s, 30s and 40s will
remember a time when that wasn’t the case, and I think they crave the chance to
go back to that.
‘Another reason is the idea of feeling comfortable in your
own skin. There was a controversial ad campaign on The Tube last year, when a
protein brand asked “are you beach body ready?”
‘I think to feel comfortable, you need
to experience that atmosphere, on the beach, or naked, and I think people want
the opportunity to do that.’
With a capacity of only 42, they will
only be able to seat around 3,000 of the 10,000 people on the list in the three
months it will be open.
Although a Breaking Bad-themed cocktail
pop-up that Lollipop created is going to Paris, New York, and may then return
to London on a permanent basis.
Mr Lyall added: ‘We have worked very
hard to design a space where everything patrons interact with is bare and
naked.
‘The use of natural bamboo partitions
and candlelight has enabled to us to make the restaurant discreet, whilst adhering
to the ethos behind it.’
No comments:
Post a Comment