Only 10 People Per Night Can Eat at This Michelin-Starred Restaurant

ultraviolet restaurant shanghai — The 20-course meal costs between $600 and $860 per person.

A restaurant in China only accepts 10 guests per night and offers a multi-sensory, high-tech dining experience through a combination of lighting, projections, sounds, scents, and of course, food.
The 20-course meal at Ultraviolet in Shanghai will cost you between about $600 and $860.
It's notoriously difficult to get a reservation at the restaurant, which has three Michelin stars.

An avant-garde restaurant in Shanghai offers an immersive, multi-sensory experience to only 10 diners per night.

Ultraviolet, opened in 2012 by French chef Paul Pairet, claims to be the first experimental restaurant of its kind. The dining room, which has a single table and bare white walls, is transformed throughout the meal by lighting, projections, sounds, and scents, transporting diners from an abstract otherworldly setting to an autumn forest to a rainy day in London.

The meal, which includes 20 courses and a drink pairing, starts at about $600 per person and can cost up to $860 on certain days of the week.

Ultraviolet seems to follow an emerging trend of defining luxury as a unique, exclusive experience rather than just an expensive one. CEOs are paying to go on extreme adventure retreats for soul-searching; the ultra-wealthy buying permanent apartments on cruise ships that travel the world following major events including the Olympics, Wimbledon, and Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

Although anyone can book a seat at the restaurant and reserving the entire table isn't necessary, it's notoriously tough to get a reservation, according to Eater.

The restaurant attracts foodies, both locals and travelers, a representative for the restaurant told Business Insider.

Here's a look inside Ultraviolet.

Ultraviolet is a multi-sensory, immersive dining experience in Shanghai, where only 10 people can eat at a time and reservations are notoriously difficult to secure.

Source: Ultraviolet, Eater

Ultraviolet was created by famous French chef Paul Pairet. The walls of the restaurant's dining room are bare and white, with no décor, paintings, or windows — only a single table and 10 chairs.

Source: Ultraviolet

But during the meal, the room is transformed by light, sounds, and scents. This version of the room, called "Autumn Soil," resembles an enchanted forest.

Source: Ultraviolet

"The experience unfolds as a play. Food leads. Each course is enhanced with its own taste-tailored atmosphere: lights, sounds, music, scents, projection, images and imagination... and food," reads Ultraviolet's website.

Source: Ultraviolet

The technology, which includes lights, projectors, dry scent diffusers, infrared cameras, and a surround sound system, is controlled remotely from a "Techno Room."

ultraviolet restaurant — Another version of the same room, aptly called "Carrot."

Source: Ultraviolet

Here, the room is transformed into a shadowy forest in autumn colors.

Source: Ultraviolet

Another room evokes a rainy day in the United Kingdom.

Source: Ultraviolet

In another scenario, "Pop Center" displays rows of brightly-colored, familiar pop culture images.

Source: Ultraviolet

Unsurprisingly, the restaurant attracts foodies, both locals and travelers, a representative for the restaurant told Business Insider.

Ultraviolet claims to hold one of the world's record ratios of employees per guest, with 2.5 staff members to each guest.

Source: Ultraviolet

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni ate at the restaurant in 2013 and found the food to be excellent, writing "... just when all of this starts to feel too gimmicky, too fast, too much, [Pairet] slows everything down for three relatively straightforward main courses — of sea bass, rack of lamb and Wagyu — that have a classic French pedigree and leave no doubts about his mettle as a cook. They’re a pivotal breather, and they were breathtaking."

Source: Ultraviolet, The New York Times

Opened in 2012, Ultraviolet is advertised as "the first restaurant of its kind uniting food and multi-sensorial technology."

Source: Ultraviolet

Pairet, the chef, wants the restaurant to be anything but pretentious. "Ultraviolet is hopefully about doing things seriously without taking oneself too seriously," he wrote on the website.

Source: Ultraviolet

A meal at Ultraviolet, which includes 20 courses and a drink pairing, starts at about $600 per person and can cost up to $860 on certain days of the week.

Source: Ultraviolet

The dishes appear to match the originality of the restaurant's concept.

Source: Ultraviolet

This "chicken in a jar" is made up of chicken, foie gras, and "vineyard smoke."

Source: Ultraviolet

This "crunchy fierce salad" includes crisps of rice, a bread roll, cheese and potato, mushroom, arugula, and turnip.

Source: Ultraviolet

Katie Warren

Senior Features Reporter

Katie is a senior features reporter at Insider, covering some of the most talked-about companies and individuals like SoulCycle, CrossFit, and The Points Guy. Before joining Insider in 2018, Katie was an intern at NBC-owned TV stations, Chronicle in Cape Town, South Africa, and The Local in Paris, France. She has a master's degree in International Reporting from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Selected stories:

Only 10 guests can eat at this Michelin-starred restaurant per night, where a meal costs $600 and the dining room is transformed by high-tech lights, sounds, and scents throughout the evening

Ultraviolet is a multi-sensory, immersive dining experience in Shanghai, where only 10 people can eat at a time and reservations are notoriously difficult to secure.

Ultraviolet was created by famous French chef Paul Pairet. The walls of the restaurant's dining room are bare and white, with no décor, paintings, or windows — only a single table and 10 chairs.

But during the meal, the room is transformed by light, sounds, and scents. This version of the room, called "Autumn Soil," resembles an enchanted forest.

"The experience unfolds as a play. Food leads. Each course is enhanced with its own taste-tailored atmosphere: lights, sounds, music, scents, projection, images and imagination... and food," reads Ultraviolet's website.

The technology, which includes lights, projectors, dry scent diffusers, infrared cameras, and a surround sound system, is controlled remotely from a "Techno Room."

Here, the room is transformed into a shadowy forest in autumn colors.

Another room evokes a rainy day in the United Kingdom.

In another scenario, "Pop Center" displays rows of brightly-colored, familiar pop culture images.

Diners can either share the 10-seat table with other guests or reserve the whole table as a group.

Unsurprisingly, the restaurant attracts foodies, both locals and travelers, a representative for the restaurant told Business Insider.

Ultraviolet claims to hold one of the world's record ratios of employees per guest, with 2.5 staff members to each guest.

Opened in 2012, Ultraviolet is advertised as "the first restaurant of its kind uniting food and multi-sensorial technology."

Pairet, the chef, wants the restaurant to be anything but pretentious. "Ultraviolet is hopefully about doing things seriously without taking oneself too seriously," he wrote on the website.

A meal at Ultraviolet, which includes 20 courses and a drink pairing, starts at about $600 per person and can cost up to $860 on certain days of the week.

The dishes appear to match the originality of the restaurant's concept.

This "chicken in a jar" is made up of chicken, foie gras, and "vineyard smoke."

This "crunchy fierce salad" includes crisps of rice, a bread roll, cheese and potato, mushroom, arugula, and turnip.