{"id":390496,"date":"2026-07-08T12:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/390496\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:00:14","slug":"immersive-dining-goes-high-tech-but-will-l-a-eat-it-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/390496\/","title":{"rendered":"Immersive dining goes high tech \u2014 but will L.A. eat it up?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My dinner course is served. It is a Campbell\u2019s-inspired soup can, lightly angled so strands of broccoli are peeking out. I lift the can to uncover a slow-braised short rib and mashed potatoes. An American dish to represent an American artist, here Andy Warhol. <\/p>\n

The room is overtaken with projections, scenes of bustling New York traffic paired with bachelor-pad-like guitar riffs. Shown on a wall above a dinner table is a selection of Warhol silkscreens. It\u2019s a Friday night in West Hollywood, and I\u2019m surrounded by a mix of out-of-towners and those celebrating an anniversary. And while this is a special occasion, we\u2019re urged to get a little messy with our food \u2014 to use our hands, to paint with a salad, to draw on a cookie. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

The main course: A tomato soup can? \u201c7 Paintings\u201d is an immersive event that occasionally hides dishes in artist-inspired presentations. <\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Play is the primary side dish at \u201c7 Paintings,\u201d<\/a> a tech-infused dinner theater that aims to be a crash course in fine art. That selection of veggies paired with multiple mini cups of colorful dressings? Guests are encouraged to mix and match the vinaigrettes into a mess of hues, a nod to abstractionist Jackson Pollock. And yellowfin tuna with dashes of avocado and taro chips? That\u2019s an edible tribute to Banksy, of course. What does raw fish have to do with stenciled street art? It\u2019s bold, heavily angled and has a short shelf life? Maybe? Perhaps don\u2019t overthink it. <\/p>\n

\"Even <\/p>\n

Even the paper is edible.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever eaten a painting before?\u201d says Nadine Beshir, the Dubai-based creator of \u201c7 Paintings.\u201d \u201cWe try to get people out of their comfort zones and eating paper. I want to bring out the child in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c7 Paintings,\u201d held at Sunset House L.A. through the end of August, is the latest example of immersive dining to arrive in this city. These experiences often involve guest participation and are accentuated with advanced multimedia technology and sometimes theatrical elements. <\/p>\n

Worldwide, there have been standouts. For instance, Eatrenalin at Germany\u2019s Europa-Park, a dining room-meets-ride where participants are whisked around the space on trackless \u201cfloating chairs,\u201d has just received a coveted Michelin star. <\/a> Ibiza\u2019s Sublimotion <\/a>has similar haute ambitions, pairing 12 diners together in a room that will come alive with otherworldly projections and performers. At times, diners will win don virtual reality headgear. <\/p>\n

But tech-driven immersive dining experiences have never quite taken off in Los Angeles as a trend<\/a>. Last year, the Gallery, where fantastical cityscapes and projections<\/a> surrounded downtown L.A. diners, stood just a couple months before the concept was abandoned. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

\u201c7 Paintings\u201d pairs food with art and music. It\u2019s \u201cfun dining, not fine dining,\u201d says its founder. <\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\"Bartender <\/p>\n

Bartender Luca Famulari shakes a cocktail at the immersive dining event.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economics of a restaurant are not the same as the economics of theater and the challenge of combining the two lies in thinking outside the box with respect to pricing and cost structure, such that the customer perceives high value from both the food and the experience,\u201d says the Gallery co-founder Daren Ulmer. <\/p>\n

Entrepreneurs keep aiming for that careful balance. \u201cLe Petit Chef and Friends\u201d<\/a> is currently running at Deme at downtown\u2019s Hotel Figueroa, an event in which a fully animated film is projected on our plates and tables. Long-running pop-up event Fork N\u2019 Film leans more dinner and movie, pairing dishes directly inspired by what is happening on screen. Upcoming films<\/a> include \u201cRatatouille\u201d and \u201cLilo and Stitch.\u201d <\/p>\n

The field comes with challenges. \u201cThe costs are very high,\u201d says Joanna Garner, an immersive designer and former creative director with experiential art firm Meow Wolf<\/a>. Garner has been experimenting herself with communal, immersive dinner events, and her next, the flirtatious \u201cPlease Open Your Mouth,\u201d is set for July 11. (No tech there, as Garner is after a more sensual, adult-focused gathering<\/a>.) Tickets for her event are $150 and a spot in the \u201c7 Paintings\u201d dining room runs $175, priced on par with a number of city\u2019s most acclaimed restaurants. <\/p>\n

There is also the reality that all public dining is in some fashion immersive, usually requiring varying combinations of engagement, communication and presentation. And then, are all these added elements distracting? <\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

An animated Mona Lisa sits on the wall as guests enjoy their meals. Throughout the dinner, the painting provides factoids on various artists. <\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Throughout \u201c7 Paintings,\u201d for instance, an animated Mona Lisa, situated on the wall next to the main dinner table, will provide brief biographical details of each artist represented. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to nail the food, and nail the story, those are two very difficult threads to weave,\u201d Garner says. \u201cI do think, ultimately, people come to a dinner table to talk to the people at the table and to have intimate experiences. To have an experience where you\u2019re constantly being taken away from the food, I\u2019m not so sure if that\u2019s what people are looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food is framed as a star of \u201c7 Paintings\u201d but tasting it is just one component. At one point, we must uncover a cheese course in a tiny treasure chest, the code for the lock hidden in the projections (don\u2019t stress, it\u2019s not a hard puzzle). Beshir highlights the Pollock-inspired salad course, which is accentuated with a jazz soundtrack, as the thesis of the evening.<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"Projections <\/p>\n

1. A guest uses a silicon brush to apply sauces onto an entree, a nod to abstractionist Jackson Pollock. 2. Projections fill up the dining table during meals. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis course is really about getting people to free their minds from preconceived ideas,\u201d Beshir says. \u201cLike, you have to eat with a fork and knife, or the salad comes and then the dressing. No, the dressing comes and then the salad, and it\u2019s trying with big brushes to paint the way he did. A lot of people do not understand Abstract Expressionism, and they think it\u2019s people just splashing colors around. But when you understand the link between the rhythm of the music and painting, you live it. We give you time to paint with your salad dressing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In L.A., Beshir has partnered with nightlife impresario Kim Kelly, who is plotting a \u201cSleep No More\u201d-inspired walk-around theatrical show for the Sunset House venue later this year. \u201c7 Paintings,\u201d however, is fully seated, and purposefully a little silly. Beshir and Kelly have been evolving it during its L.A. run, recently adding a stronger painting component by giving guests their own canvas to work on throughout the evening. Each night crowns a winner. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone comes over to look at their art,\u201d Kelly says. \u201cIt just kind of changed the whole thing, to be honest. People are now being creative throughout the entire evening. Instead of just watching and occasionally painting, you\u2019re now painting the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what, perhaps, soba noodles with edamame and mushrooms have to do with Pablo Picasso, or why Salvador Dali gets an unexpected dessert course of a white chocolate potato souffle, Beshir clarifies the goal of the evening. While the animated Mona Lisa will provide backstories on each painter, this isn\u2019t an educational night. \u201cIt\u2019s fun dining, not fine dining,\u201d Beshir says. <\/p>\n

And by the end of my night, strangers were socializing, showing off their painted cookie creations, sharing Banksy tidbits and asking for recommendations on various vinaigrette combinations. Ultimately, it\u2019s an evening of discovery, packed with surprises like finding an entire course hidden under a canvas.<\/p>\n

\"Two <\/p>\n

Darryl Mayes of Charlotte, N.C., left, and Taylor Smith of North Hollywood, right, uncover their course. <\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try not to have too much sophistication, like fried ants or something. I\u2019m personally very adventurous in how I eat, but if I want to have this in 100 cities around the world, I cannot be too meticulous.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Beshir has big goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want this be your movie and dinner thing,\u201d Beshir says. \u201cI want people to be waiting for our next show, and to be able to afford to come every couple months.\u201d<\/p>\n

And to come home not with leftovers, but perhaps a painting of their own. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My dinner course is served. It is a Campbell\u2019s-inspired soup can, lightly angled so strands of broccoli are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[157254,1409,6946,23404,9576,1924,413,4080,157256,157257,48,52,51,47,50,49,1869,27635,592,157255,57847],"class_list":["post-390496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-beshir-highlight","tag-city","tag-course","tag-evening","tag-experience","tag-film","tag-food","tag-guest","tag-immersive-dining","tag-joanna-garner","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-night","tag-painting","tag-people","tag-projection","tag-salad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}