Dinner in the Sky is a Belgian-based novelty restaurant service which uses a crane to hoist its diners, table, and waiting staff 150 feet (46 m) into the air.[1] Forbes magazine called it one of the world's ten most unusual restaurants.[2]
Dinner in the Sky has mobile services available in 60 nations, and has operations in various cities including Paris[3] and Las Vegas.[4]
History
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In 2007, David Ghysels, the owner of a marketing and communications company, partnered with Stefan Kerkhofs, a bungee jumping organizer, to create an aerial-based dinner for the Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe association. Shortly afterwards, Ghysels and Kerkhofs began receiving telephone calls from people around the world who wished to replicate their aerial dinner concept; the two men subsequently chose to franchise their idea.[5] Ghysels said, "People were getting bored with just going to the same old restaurants."[6]
In 2008, Las Vegas resident Michael Hinden and his wife Janeen discovered Dinner in the Sky during a trade fair.[5] On 31 December 2008, the Hindens tested the concept in Las Vegas as part of a New Year's Eve party for their friends and business partners.[5][7] In March 2009, Michael Hinden began operating a Las Vegas-based Dinner in the Sky on West Sahara Avenue during weekends.[8]
By August 2009, Dinner in the Sky operated in more than a dozen countries, including Canada and China. At that time, Hinden planned to move his restaurant to the Las Vegas Strip, at the site of a vacant building previously used as a sales office for the nearby Trump International Hotel. Hinden, who had 15 employees working for his restaurant service, hoped to begin operating six days a week at the new location. However, Steve Wynn, owner of the Wynn and Encore properties across the street, objected to the plan, calling Dinner in the Sky a "carnival-like attraction."[8] Boyd Gaming also opposed the relocation, which would place the restaurant near its Echelon Place project.[9] Hinden's relocation plans were rejected by county officials who noted safety concerns and felt that such a restaurant did not belong on the Las Vegas Strip.[10]
In January 2013, plans were underway for a new, permanent location in Las Vegas, near CityCenter. The new location was to cost $4 million, and would include the conversion of an office into a ground-based restaurant and bar.[11] A groundbreaking ceremony for the Las Vegas location took place in June 2013.[12] The Las Vegas restaurant was the company's first permanent location.[5]
References
edit- ^ Biesemans, Bart (16 September 2020). "Fifty meters up and two apart - Belgium's dinner-in-the-sky relaunches". Reuters. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "10 Unusual Restaurants Around The World". Forbes. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "Un restaurant au bord du vide" (in French). 20minutes.fr. 14 September 2009. Archived from the original on 22 September 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
- ^ "Dinner in the Sky Las Vegas".
- ^ a b c d Daley, Jason (9 January 2014). "Meet the Franchise Serving Dinner in the Sky". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ "Caviar? Golden cake? The world's most extravagant meals". Reuters. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "Desperately seeking DJ". Las Vegas Sun. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ a b Schoenmann, Joe (16 August 2009). "Dining while dangling above Strip proposed". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ Wyland, Scott (22 September 2009). "Crane-based restaurateur's attempt to move along the Strip thwarted". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ Wyland, Scott (20 August 2009). "County rejects Strip site for Dinner in the Sky". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ Shine, Conor (23 January 2013). "New restaurant to offer customers 'Dinner in the Sky'". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ "Dinner in the Sky Groundbreaking". Las Vegas Sun. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2017.