New restaurant trend: ‘Naked Dining’
Loosening your belt in preparation for a big meal out might be a common occurrence, but a new set of restaurants are asking its diners to take things to a whole other level.
‘Naked dining’, that is literally eating out with no or little clothes on, has taken off across the world in 2016.
Earlier in the year, London’s first nude restaurant, ‘Bunyadi’, opened with a huge number of people signing up to its waiting list.
Bunyadi is dimly lit with candles only and there are bamboo partitions between tables to help provide some privacy. Mobile phones are not allowed.
Diners can choose to keep their clothes on if they wish, with those behind the restaurant saying Bunyadi is more about letting people enjoy their night out without having to be surrounded by things like chemicals, artificial colours and technology like mobile phones, along with no clothes if they desire.
Naked dining reaches Melbourne
Inspired by the London restaurant, two Australian radio presenters decided to open a Melbourne naked restaurant for one-night called ‘The Noble Experiment’ in May 2016.
The restaurant catered for 50 diners and everyone was given slippers and dressing gowns to help create a comfortable experience. The radio presenters said they decided to run the restaurant to help promote positive body image.
Japan takes the experience seriously
Japan also joined the trend in June 2016 when a naked restaurant was opened in Tokyo.
Unlike the other restaurants, this one has less of a body-positive or health focus with overweight, elderly diners (those over the age of 60) and tattooed dinners are not allowed to eat at the restaurant. Those who are accepted must wear paper underwear.
What does the naked dining trend really teach food businesses and restaurant owners?
Although some may think the naked dining trend is perhaps just a bit of silliness, is there a lesson to be learnt for food businesses and restaurant owners?
According to a recent article by J. Walter Thompson Intelligence (JWTI), the fact that naked dining is spreading across the world is perhaps connected with a consumer want for products and experiences considered “pure” and “natural”.
As the restaurants also ban mobile phones, JWT also suspects diners could be after a sense of separation from the busy outside world.
