To succeed in today’s competitive restaurant industry, it takes more than just providing quality food and excellent service.
According to a survey from EventBrite, 75% of people believe unique dining experiences are worth paying more for. That’s a pretty impressive figure, and creates impetus for hospitality businesses to try something new. This is why restaurants are introducing experiential dining and playing with novel concepts like scenting to up the unique factor.
In August 2019, Mastercard introduced its first pop-up restaurant experience, PRICELESS, in collaboration with Spring Studios. The multi-restaurant venue brought three iconic restaurants and bars from around the globe to Manhattan, bringing an international flare to the New York dining scene. Among the chosen destinations were The Rock Restaurant from Zanzibar, Teruzushi from Kitakyushu, Japan and Lyaness from London. “With PRICELESS, we are reinventing experiential dining to create a feast for all your senses by completely immersing you in the environment of these world-renowned localities,” said Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard.
Air Aroma was delighted to partner on this event to create the multi sensory dining experiences at The Rock Restaurant and Teruzushi. Air Aroma’s subtle and distinct fragrances were well received by event diners and visitors, and provided a personalized experience that left a lasting impression.
Uniquely located on the waters of the Indian Ocean, The Rock offers guests an exclusive and local experience with a simple island style, local seafood, and panoramic sea views. At PRICELESS, The Rock provided diners with the exact cozy Zanzibar architectural style, windows showing a video of the ocean or land view that one would get at the actual restaurant, an on-screen production of the ocean waves, and much more. Air Aroma’s “Oasis” fragrance was diffused at the restaurant entrance to bring the sensory dining experience to life. Based around the warm ocean breeze, this fragrance is enriched with sea salt, water lily, white freesia, nashi pear, and blonde woods.
For over 50 years, Teruzushi was an ordinary sushi shop visited by locals. When Takayoshi Watanabe took over the family business, he was determined to make Teruzushi a top culinary destination. He has completely transformed the brand, providing diners with the highest-grade ingredients, innovative sushi techniques, and theatrical entertainment. Teruzushi is now visited by fans all over the world, and at PRICELESS, guests were able to experience his signature style. Air Aroma’s delicate “Sencha” fragrance, inspired by the traditional Japanese green tea, was diffused at the restaurant entrance to create a welcoming arrival experience to the more intimate and exclusive event. Infused with bright citrus and and sweet grassy notes, the tea based fragrance helped to further enrich the senses.
Smell has the ability to transport you to a different time and place, to a memory or an imagined fantasy, or somewhere in between. With experiential dining experiences, one can really relish in all of the senses. Air Aroma looks forward to experiencing the future sights, sounds and tastes of Spring Studios and Mastercard’s future PRICELESS destinations.