A multisensory exploration of tomorrow’s food

We created an immersive tasting experience that invited participants to explore how food might evolve in a world shaped by climate challenges, new technologies, and shifting cultural values.

Hosted by Lichen Social Innovation and co-financed by the EU, the event brought together researchers, innovators, educators, community activists, and practitioners from across the food ecosystem. It was a space for collective reflection on what the food of the future should look like — accessible, nourishing, sustainable, and deeply human.

A tasting menu of transformation

We designed a five-course multisensory menu where each dish embodied a living process — fermentation, photosynthesis, mycelium growth, marine regeneration, or detoxification.

Each table combined taste, sound frequencies, and video to reveal how biological and ecological systems could shape future diets:

• Super Detox: fermented “caviar” of kefir grains and activated charcoal, paired with a lemon–charcoal kefir drink
• Brain Support: Lion’s Mane mushroom, celebrated for its neuro-supportive properties
• Plant-based Protein: blue spirulina and 3D printed shaped tempeh made from EU-grown soybeans and mycelium
• Minerals & Vitamins: a mineral-rich landscape of kombu, wakame, hijiki, and dulse in miso broth
• Probiotics: homemade kimchi as a vibrant ecosystem of living cultures

Together, these dishes invited participants to question and reimagine the relationship betweennature, technology, and nourishment.

A collective conversation about the Future of Food

Throughout the evening, guests reflected on questions such as:
Is healthy food becoming a privilege?
Has food become more formula than experience?
Can technology improve our relationship with food without disconnecting us from it?

The menu became a catalyst for dialogue, sparking insights about how we might build fairer, more regenerative, and community-centered food systems.