[ food + drink ]
DREAM THEATER Immersion at London House injects phantasmagorical whimsy into the molecular tasting menu genre BY FAIYAZ KARA
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ust when you thought the last flashfrozen nail had been hammered into the dehydrated coffin of molecular gastronomy, along comes Rikku Ó’Donnchü to siphon-whip a bit of deathly whimsy into the genre and give it some life. I mean, when was the last time you saw a chef wheel an intravenous drip stand into the dining room? Been a while, right? I suppose if there’s anything a stage at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck will teach you, it’s that tricking the palate in theatrical
fashion can open the eyes, and Ó’Donnchü revels in theatrics at Immersion. Fun? Yes. Educational? No doubt. Costly? Hell yeah. I’m not exaggerating when I say Immersion’s tasting menu is the priciest in town ($360.50, not including beverage pairings), but there’s also nothing quite like it either. Set aside the restaurant’s air of exclusivity (it’s situated inside the members-only London House, though Immersion is open to non-members), and one can truly appreciate Ó’Donnchü’s ethic. But not without signing a
Photo by Rob Bartlett
waiver first. Agree not to take furtive pics of room before it’s all gobbled down in secmembers membering inside London House, onds. Then we’re presented with a teacup and you’ll be ushered into a swank drawing and saucer. Inside the cup lies truffle pearls, room where Katie Zamulinsky, Immersion’s lacto-fermented potatoes and gold leaf. A fine dining and etiquette manager, picks a tempura-fried shishito leaf sits on the saucer. basil leaf off a plant, flash-freezes it in liquid Salty white miso soup is then poured into the nitrogen, then asks you to place it on your cup and ta-da! Ó’Donnchü’s take on “Tea and tongue before handing you a test tube filled Biscuits.” And don’t worry about that salinity with crisp, herbaceous St. George Botanivore — it loses its potency after bites of the crispy blended with nitroleaf and crunchy muddled basil. little potatoes. “Oh, it’s going “The textures to be one of those replicate fruit shortIMMERSION AT LONDON HOUSE bread biscuits,” kinds of nights,” BY CHEF RIKKU says the wife after says Ó’Donnchü, 7728 W. Sand Lake Road taking a swig, and and then I realize 407-734-0000 we’re off to another that the bits floatlondonhouse.life/immersion ing in the liquid are room where chef de $$$$ cuisine Alexandria reminiscent of my Wubbolt offers us teacup after a propcigars. Only they’re er cookie dunk. not cigars, but Music inside the onion seed bread rolled to look like cigars room shifts. Plunderphonic sound bites of and served with a covered “ash tray” filled “dig-dig-dig-dig-dig” are heard and a “Book with “embers” fashioned from a black garlic of Truffles” is set before us. It’s opened, and emulsion, smoked paprika and black garlic sitting inside the hollowed-out core appear ash. Lift the cover off, and smoke billows to be two dessert confections — a chocolate upward. Dip the cigar into the emulsion and it looks like a lit cigar. We hear oohs CONTINUED ON PAGE 21 and ahhs inside the intimate eight-person orlandoweekly.com
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MAY 4-10, 2022 ● ORLANDO WEEKLY
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