Restaurants at the End of the Earth

Some cooks seek adventure on remote islands and in remote woodlands. Some of these distant eateries offer a glamorous experience, with their livelihood dependent on cash-flush guests looking for an experience unlike any other.

Consider the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant. To get there, take a seaplane or motorboat to a Maldives island, then go down a pier and into a tunnel that leads to a restaurant 16 feet below sea level. Guests are rewarded with exquisite seafood and a panoramic view of the neighboring coral reef.

 

 

Tan Hill Hotel, on the other hand, is located at an elevation of 1,732 feet above sea level. The “highest” bar in Britain was built 400 years ago to service a coal-mining village that no longer exists.

Yet, it remains popular as a rest station for cyclists and hikers looking for sandwiches or a Sunday roast after exploring the Yorkshire Dales.

 

 

Several of these places don’t provide food, but merely simply refreshments. Although the bar at Vernadsky Research Base lacks meals, it does serve visitors to the South Pole vodka distilled on-site.

A future trip to Huashan Mountain, where a risky pilgrimage to the top of one of China’s most sacred peaks leads to a cup of tea at a Taoist temple, is on my own bucket list.

 

 

I’m not the only one who is intrigued by these remote dining establishments. Kristen Kish, Top Chef champion, Iron Chef co-host, and chef at Arlo Grey in Austin, recently spoke with me about her new show, which debuted this week on the National Geographic channel.

Restaurants at the End of the Earth bears up to its name, with Kish traversing the globe to visit locations ranging from a restaurant in Panama’s cloud forest to an Arctic bistro on a Norwegian archipelago.

 

 

Kish’s eagerness to assist restaurateurs in preparing exquisite cuisine in tough conditions and for diners dressed in everything from heels to hiking boots made me wonder what special problems and benefits come with setting up shop in the bush.

As it turns out, many chefs are drawn to this unique task by their sense of adventure, just as diners are enthralled by the opportunity to experience excellent meals after visiting glaciers and woods.

 

 

For clarity, the following interview has been edited and condensed.

Kish’s eagerness to assist restaurateurs in preparing exquisite cuisine in tough conditions and for diners dressed in everything from heels to hiking boots made me wonder what special problems and benefits come with setting up shop in the bush.

 

 

As it turns out, many chefs are drawn to this unique task by their sense of adventure, just as diners are enthralled by the opportunity to experience excellent meals after visiting glaciers and woods.

For clarity, the following interview has been edited and condensed. Whether it was to create a better life for their family, or [chefs] who had overcome a personal setback and refocused their attention on what they desired.

And, to be honest, some of them were just seeking for this object that was way out there, right? To experience the thrill of the adventure.

 

 

Did you notice any similarities among the chefs you met?

I admired their quality of giving up control over everything. Because you are operating in an environment over which you have no control. They are all of the mindset that “what will be will be, and everything will be fine.”

 

 

What types of diners and travelers frequent these establishments?

Individuals who are looking for something fresh and distinctive. Like, no matter how many restaurants we visit with various types of food, it’s still a restaurant, right? We go in, order from a menu, sit down, many courses are served, then you pay the bill and go. This is a journey that begins long before you get to the restaurant.

 

 

Some are presumably searching for adventure, with eating as a pleasant bonus, while others are traveling especially for the cuisine. I was with [chef Rogier Jansen] at Isfjord Radio and thought, these are the dream guests. “Whatever, let’s just try it,” they said. And if we don’t like it, that’s fine, too.”

So it was great to be surrounded not only by individuals who are really passionate about what they do in their restaurant, but also by diners who are up for anything.

 

 

Do you believe you’ll ever set up shop and cook at the end of the world?

It’s difficult not to be infected by that excitement and want that for yourself, as well as see the allure and allure of why they’re doing what they’re doing. I don’t know if it’s for me, as much as I’d want to think I could do it; [but] I’d happily visit any of the restaurants at the end of the globe.