New mobile fine-dining restaurant to pop up in unlikely places

(Absolute Blue/Park Associati)

It's the pop-up restaurant taken to new heights. In one artist rendering, the mobile, fine-dining restaurant is perched dramatically at the edge of a cliff, overlooking a deeply cut canyon in Switzerland.

Other photos show the pop-up pavilion set on the rooftops of the arcade in Belgium's Jubelpark and the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome; or tucked away in the snowy Alps and docked along the shore of a pristine, lakefront countryside.

Commissioned by Electrolux and conceived by event company Absolute Blue in Belgium, The Cube was designed to offer diners Michelin-starred meals "in unexpected and dramatic European locations."

The Cube will debut in Brussels atop the centerpiece of Jubelpark's triumphal arch between March 25 to July 3, before moving on to Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden.

The mobile dining room accommodates 18 people and was designed by Italian architects Park Associati. Laser-cut aluminum walls give the impression of steel mesh, while the glass enclosure offer diners peep-views of their astonishing surroundings.

During its first run in Brussels, diners will be fed by Michelin two-starred chefs Sang Hoon Degeimbre of L'Air Du Temps, and Bart de Pooter of De Pastorale, both of Belgium. Each week, the chefs will recreate a new menu in the open kitchen taking cues from their unique setting.

The total floor area is 140 square meters, 50 square meters of which will be an open terrace. A raised base is meant to accentuate the lightness and airiness of the structure and the dining table can also be raised to the ceiling to form a lounge area after dinner.

Lunch service starts at noon and costs €150 ($209 US) per person, while dinner starts at 7 PM and costs €200 ($279).

Belgium has been a hotbed for outlandish, elevated dining schemes. Dinner in the Sky is another Belgium invention, a dining experience where guests are suspended 50 m above the ground. The event has been hosted in 30 countries around the world including France, Canada, the US, Israel, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil and Russia, often at famous landmarks.

Reservations for The Cube can be made at http://www.electrolux.be/fr-be/Cube/Cube/