Where culinary art and technological innovation come together
What does a Michelin star chef do with Barco technology? Create a multisensory experience of course! At least that is what the world-renowned Spanish chef Paco Roncero – a 2-Michelin star holder – did. At school, Roncero wanted to be a biologist. That’s why, after he became a chef, he started working for Ferran Adrià at El Bulli, the Catalan restaurant where the kitchen was also a laboratory. Since setting up his own restaurant in the center of Madrid in 2000, however, Roncero started using that scientific knowledge to play with more than just taste. In June 2012, he launched Paco Roncero Taller, his personal culinary workshop.
Unprecedented emotional experience
The concept: combine culinary art with technological innovation to stir all five senses. Using projections and sounds as well as tastes and smells, Roncero creates a complete and unprecedented emotional experience at his Taller. More recently, the concept was copied in SubliMotion, the exclusive restaurant of the brand-new Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza. Barco partner BNC Montajes Audiovisuales followed up on the design and the installation of the project. When entering the SubliMotion space, the guests see a contemporary-look room flooded intermittently with aromas, scenic views, sounds and music, thanks to state-of-the-art technology and clever design. Throughout the dinner, they travel in a world of sensations from the North Pole (where they taste a cold snack carved out by themselves from their own iceberg) to the baroque Versailles (where the subtlety and elegance of a rose melts in their mouth). Or they experience how fluttering butterflies appear on the side of their plate just before real butterflies flutter down out of the ceiling.
State-of-the-art technology
One of the protagonists in the room is the long table, which acts as a projector or blackboard and has hot and cold areas that change depending on the type of dish. Above, a line of tubes project audiovisual elements as the dishes are presented and the atmosphere becomes warmer or cooler, more humid or drier complement the presentation and put the finishing touches to each creation. The secret behind the projection on the table is … Barco technology.
A dream come true
Paco Roncero and his team chose Barco projectors for a number of reasons. An important one, was the seamless projection: while the table is very long, the team absolutely wanted to avoid image blending. The six user-friendly 6,000 lumen PGWX-61B projectors with G lenses, a CRPN-52B panorama projector with its wide aspect ratio and a 10,000 lumen Present-PJWU-101B projector – the brightest one-chip DLP projector available – display high-quality images with unmatched levels of detail and contrast. Just what Roncero was looking for to help make his SubliMotion dream – and that of everyone visiting the unique place – come true. It’s hard to explain the experience that Roncero offers. Watch the video to get an idea … or travel to Madrid or Ibiza to feel the real thing.