What defines a fine dining experience? Is it the stellar service or the meticulously prepared food? Regardless of your preconceived notions of a fine dining, McDonald’s, a name in no way associated with quality cuisine, rolled the red carpet out for a select few and treated them to the finest dining experience anyone has ever experienced beneath the golden arches.
The site of this anomaly was in the heart of Tokyo. Named “Restaurant M,” a lucky twenty diners were selected out of a staggering 8,300 applicants for this night of McCuisine. Hosted by famed chef Masayo Waki, McDonald’s was ready to take their lucky guests on an adventure. The five-course meal included a salad of farm fresh vegetables encased in gelatin, “Vichyssoise McFry Potato,” and five kinds of patty pincho served with toothpicks. For the main course, guests had their choice of Fresh Mac bacon lettuce burger, Fresh Mac Chicken fillet, and the Fresh Mac Filet-O-Fish. Plated and served with cutlery comparable to the finest dining establishments, McDonald’s spared no expense in this dining experience.
According to McAnalysts, the food was plated and prepared to present the refined look of McDonald’s, while still harking back to the menu so many have become familiar with. While not the first time McDonald’s has attempted to play with the dining feeling, this would be the most energetic show of potential the company has ever displayed. While met with a mixed reaction, no one is disputing McDonald’s renewed effort to deliver better quality, fresh-food for their menu.
While this event was obviously intended as a massive marketing strategy, it is no less of a shock to the system seeing the iconic “M” stamped across cloth napkins and printed on folding menus. While the restaurant makes no intimations of moving into the realm of culinary greatness, this early attempt is interesting, if not a little bit bizarre.
