World’s highest restaurant opens in Dubai
Posted on 23 January 2011 with no comments from readers
At 442 metres, the At.mosphere restaurant that opens today on the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the highest restaurant in any building in the world.
The $123 minimum price tag for dinner, and $82 for lunch drew gasps of disapproval in the columns of The National. This correspondent can recall the opening of the restaurant at the top of the Post Office Tower in London in 1966 and my father thinking that five pounds a head was outrageous.
Room with a view
Still even aged six the view with its matchbox sized cars made an impression and it did seem a lot for a steak. Fast forward through many years of inflation and devaluation and At.mosphere is probably charging rather less.
Whether At.mosphere is up there with the greats of modern cuisine will require a proper review and not a press conference. Readers may recall the ArabianMoney review of the highest restaurant in Europe, Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne up the Eiffel Tower (click here). High places and haute cuisine can work together.
From a PR point of view having the world’s highest restaurant is something of a coup. Indeed, the whole zone around the Burj Khalifa has become a magnet for global tourists since it opened a year ago and the Dubai Mall is full of the leading designer shops and their customers.
Dubai Shopping Festival
Last night ArabianMoney watched the fountain light show from the vantage point of The Mango Thai restaurant on the Old Town island. It is a spectacular free show for visitors to the 15th edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival this month.
The crowds could have been from Venice and the shopping looked serious with GCC nationals buying the expensive stuff like in Paris or London and others being content with fast food.
At.mosphere is sure to be a big success and getting a table will soon be far more of an issue than the price.
