The Infinite Table at ARTXNYC in Chelsea, NYC: An Immersive Oaxaca Dinner Enters Its Final Weekend

The Infinite Table is a new immersive dining company that fuses 360-degree video with a multi-course meal. Its debut chapter in New York, "Oaxaca: Tierra y Tiempo," looks at the people and foodways of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is staged at artXnyc, 409 W 14th St, near the Meatpacking District, inside a specially built theater space where guests sit at a long shared table.

The format is straightforward. The story behind each dish is projected on the surrounding walls, and when a dish appears on screen, the same dish arrives at the table. Scent is part of the script too. Founder Peter Kim worked with sensory adviser Paul Austin and perfumers Patricia Bilodeau and Elena Valdivieso-Ruiz of fragrance and flavor house Robertet to create three original scents: sun/maíz, fire/agave and forest/cacao. Austin told WWD that timing, intensity and duration are all planned against what guests see, hear and taste. Time Out's Rachel Askinasi, who reviewed the dinner, praised it as a feast for the senses and singled out the crunchy grasshoppers on the menu.

The residency began October 2 and, per Time Out, runs Fridays through Sundays until October 25. With today being Thursday, October 22, the remaining dates are this coming weekend. WWD reports tickets starting at $95 for a three-course lunch and $139 for a five-course dinner.

After the New York run, The Infinite Table plans to take this chapter and future ones to Los Angeles, Chicago and other U.S. cities, according to WWD. For readers curious about dining that treats a meal as a staged narrative, with food, film, sound and fragrance synchronized, this is a compact example of the idea, and the Oaxaca theme gives the programming a clear cultural focus.

(Details are drawn from points that agree across reports by Time Out New York, WWD.)