eat + drink

appetite for culture

Great places to go for dinner and a show

Theatre seasoning

Imagine dining on the stage of an avant-garde theatre, where you’re actually part of the set itself and the food is the main performer. Madeleines Madteater bills itself as the world’s only “food theatre”, with shows and menus that change every two months.

Located in a former industrial building, this is a venue where all of the surroundings – including the chefs and the service staff – contribute to the adventure.

The cuisine defies definition, but it’s delicious and daring, mixing tried-and-tested favourites with bold culinary experiments. The number and style of the courses on the fixed menu changes along with the shows. Recent dishes include duck and blue grapes served with an anise “cloud”, and a “side of tartar sauce with words and fingers”, which means the sauce itself is used to spell out the word “sauce” on your plate, and it should be eaten with your fingers. If he was still alive, Salvador Dalí would surely choose to dine out here. 1,200 DKK (€160) covers the set menu plus wine, as well as the performance.

What’s on now: The 7th Sense (7 November – 6 January) is rather intriguingly billed as “a surrealistic drama, where sound and light alone create a framework for modern dance on the taste buds”.

Madeleines Madteater
Drechselsgade 10, Copenhagen
Reservations via BilletNet, www.billetnet.dk
or call +45 3314 0555, www.madeleines.dk

One to note

Ronnie Scott’s in Soho, London, has recently reopened after a makeover. With legions of diehard fans to please, who liked this world-famous jazz club just the way it was, French designer Jacques Garcia aimed for a subtle transformation. On the ground floor, where big names perform every night, a new lighting scheme makes for a slicker look. Upstairs, Garcia (who designed the Hôtel Costes in Paris and New York’s Spice Market restaurant, among others) has created a decadent and intimate private members’ bar in plush velvet and gilt.

The menu has had a tasteful makeover too, with the original brasserie standards replaced by a more British menu: roast duck with parsnip purée, smoked salmon and asparagus, British cheeses and puddings such as steaming rhubarb crumble, chocolate fudge pudding and a wonderfully old-fashioned lemon posset made from sugar, cream and lemon juice. £23 (€34) for two courses. Live music performances range from £25-£45 (€37-€67).

Ronnie Scott’s
47 Frith Street, London
+44 (0)20 7439 0747
www.ronniescotts.co.uk

Eats meets West

Amsterdam’s dusky new dining spot Chang-I is the place to be seen right now. Designed by the same team behind the hip, opium-den chic of Jimmy Woo’s, the restaurant serves inventive Chinese food and is just around the corner from the Concertgebouw and the Museumplein. Extra handy for culture lovers, the concert menu runs from 5pm – 7.45pm. €34.50 for three courses.