“I want you to take a sip of your wine while we play this song, and think about how you feel,” Russell Jones instructed us as the class kicked off.
Immediately the room was bathed in a deep red color. The lights changed, and a dramatic instrumental track began blaring out of the speakers. I’m pretty sure it was “Requiem for a Dream.” As I took a sip of my white wine, it felt acidic and more viscous. I had a feeling that this may be the last time I ever drink white wine.
The music stopped.
“Now, take another sip and listen to this song.”
This time, green and yellow light danced around the room as we listened to Blondie’s song, “Heart of Glass.” It may have only been my second sip, but I felt giddy.
Jones’ experiment, he explained said that people perceived white wine to be 45 percent more zingy and fresh when they listened to the Blondie track.
We were in the “Southern Sensations” class at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, where Jones and his co-founder Scott King shared their research on the power of sound, color and texture, and how it relates to dining experiences.
Is there something to this? Jones, a former music producer and writer, teamed up with King, who had a background in branding and marketing, to form Condiment Junkie. Their appearance at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival was the company's first in the United States.
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
During one of the festival’s special events, the company paired with Paul Calvert of Paper Plane and Kevin Ouzts of The Spotted Trotter for an immersive experience. Calvert designed a cocktail while Ouzts prepared charcuterie, and room environments were manipulated so that guests could see how sensory perceptions change the South’s three flavor characteristics- sweet, sour and spice.
Calvert was interested in this aspect of sensory dining, but he would not want to do it daily in the restaurant, but rather as a multi-sensory event.
“People come to a restaurant to relax, drink and hang out. I don't think they want to be experimented on,” Calvert said. “I would want people to know when we did a sensory experience, but at the same time I wouldn’t want to tell anyone because then they would get a preconceived notion about what senses they think they should feel.”
But sometimes, a sensory experience is just what diners are looking for. The London restaurant, The Fat Duck, is at the forefront with their “Sound of the Sea” dish. It is the most popular dish in the restaurant.
According to Condiment Junkie’s case study:
We created an immersive, binaural sea-scape to accompany a dish of sashimi and edible tapioca 'sand'. The sound is delivered to the table on an iPod hidden inside a conch shell… (it) evokes sensorial memories of the seaside, which cross the threshold of consciousness and combine to strengthen the experience and heighten perception. The fish genuinely tastes 'fishier' and fresher. Guests have been overwhelmed by the experience, some being brought to tears at the table.
“Our research has led us to believe if you can recreate an ideal environment, one rooted in fond memories, then food and drink will taste better,” Jones said. He believes that tying in the senses will be beneficial for chefs looking to get the best experience out of their food. “Diners are really after that at the moment. They want their money to go further.”
Jones says that the more senses you are engaging, the stronger your memory and more positive your experience. The future is coming, and Jones hopes that their research will soon affect the whole process of food and drink products- from working with a beverage’s flavor profile, to designing the bottle and then creating an ideal glass to serve it in.
Ouzts is ready to pursue the idea with his upcoming restaurant, Cockentrice, that will open in Krog Street Market. He wants the idea to be approachable and reasonable to guests. “We want it to be a part of the environment and part of the daily routine, because that provides less stress on the staff. Certain senses like smell can be implemented easier, like using scented polishes on our wood.”
80 percent of your perception of flavors is scent, which was shown in one of our last tastes of the day. It was a shot of bourbon, which we were told to drink while holding our nose. The liquor burned down my throat, but not nearly as bad as when I unplugged my nose for the second sip. Coughs echoed around the room. The strength had doubled, or so it felt.
Our last taste was creating what Jones deemed an “aroma cocktail.” We rubbed gauze around the rim of our glass and took a sip. It was the same shot, but I tasted ginger and orange. Suddenly the edge was taken off the bourbon, just by this scented gauze.
It seems as if bartenders should take notice. Condiment Junkie could be on to something. No need for cocktail mixers, just start serving liquor straight.
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