If you’re a fan of David Attenborough, you’ll know that bioluminescence refers to the production and radiation of light by creatures such as jellyfish and fireflies. And if you like a G&T, you’ve probably noticed that your drink glows blue under a night-club glare – those are the phosphors in tonic’s quinine, from the bark of the cinchona tree, reacting to ultraviolet waves. But what most of us won’t have seen is fluorescent food.
Back in 2013, a collaboration between Wall’s ice cream and Bompas & Parr, the flavour experimenters behind London’s most whimsical, Willy Wonka-esque edible experiences, resulted in a luminous-yellow Cornetto made for the cinema using a UV-responsive vitamin mix. Then, in 2017, London pop-up Lostacos served ghostly tacos drizzled with a gleaming house-soured cream. But taking things to a new illuminated level is Nakamura.ke (pictured above), which has nudged a whole dining experience under the black light with its lumen-ramen mobile kitchen. It’s the brainchild of Ami Sueki, a former industrial designer at Coca-Cola, ounder of the avant-garde design studio Zoo as Zoo, Courtney Hammond, co-founder of the art agency Dashboard, and London's Bompas & Parr. The six-seat shop debuted in Atlanta in January, dazzling curious diners with neon noodle soup, dumplings and sake cocktails.
For now, the magic ingredients are being kept quiet, but our money is on lemony-pigmented vitamin B2 as a key component (crucially, everything is natural). Keep an eye out for the space, which has plans to travel from Los Angeles to Seoul via London and Tokyo this year. It offers strict 30-minute slots, inspired by Japan’s hyper-efficient ramen bars, but there will be a party option, too. Glow sticks not included.
Tickets for LA, July 2019 available at exploretock.com/nakamura-ke