New Restaurant for the rich opens "UNDER the sea"!

File this under. "WHILE ROME BURNS"....

>> The World's First All-glass Undersea Restaurant Opens
>>
>The Maldives | 15 April marks the day that the first ever all-glass
>undersea restaurant in the world opens its doors for business at the
>Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. Ithaa* will sit five meters below the
>waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and
>encased in clear acrylic offering diners 270-degrees of panoramic
>underwater views.
>>
>> "We have used aquarium technology to put diners face-to-face with
>> the stunning underwater environment of the Maldives", says Carsten
>> Schieck, General Manager of Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. "Our
>> guests always comment on being blown away by the colour, clarity,
>> and beauty of the underwater world in the Maldives, so it seemed
>> the perfect idea to build a restaurant where diners can experience
>> fine cuisine and take time to enjoy the views - without ever
>> getting their feet wet."
>>
>> Created by MJ Murphy Ltd, a design consultancy based in New
>> Zealand, Ithaa's distinctive feature is the use of curved
>> transparent acrylic walls and roof, similar to those used in
>> aquarium attractions. "The fact that the entire restaurant except
>> for the floor is made of clear acrylic makes this unique in the
>> world," continues Schieck, "We are currently planting a coral
>> garden on the reef to add to the spectacular views of the rays,
>> sharks and many colourful fish that live around the reef near the
>> restaurant."
>>
>> The five-metre by nine-metre transparent arch, which spans the
>> entire room, seats 14 people and provides a feeling of being
>> completely at one with the underwater world while submerged beneath
>> the surface of the ocean. Set with the resort's renowned house reef
>> one side, and a clear lagoon on the other, diners enjoy their meal
>> within Ithaa's translucent shell as the underwater drama unfolds on
>> all sides.
>>
>> Naturally the food will be as spectacular as the underwater
>> setting, explains Schieck, "In such a unique restaurant we wanted
>> to create a distinctive cuisine, which is why we've decided to
>> offer 'contemporary Maldivian cuisine' as a theme. We take local
>> spices and traditional flavours and give them a western twist to
>> create a fusion cuisine that you could find in the best restaurants
>> in London or New York. Nobody else has done this before and we're
>> very excited about it."
>>
>> While the cuisine is dedicated to the fine balance of western food
>> items with a Maldivian flavour, the wine concept is equally
>> exciting; offering diners the perfect opportunity to discover the
>> wines of the prestigious Champagne house Louis Roederer.
>>
>> Ithaa is reached by a wooden walkway from the nearby over-water
>> Sunset Grill Restaurant. Diners begin their meal with drinks on a
>> specially constructed deck over the ocean and then descend to the
>> restaurant via a spiral staircase where the à la carte menu is
>> served. Seating only 14 people, Ithaa offers one of the most
>> intimate and exclusive dining experiences in the world.
>>
>> This innovative restaurant is the first of its kind in the world,
>> and is part of a US $25 million re-build of Rangalifinolhu Island,
>> one of the twin islands that make up Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa.
>> This re-build includes the construction of 79 of the most luxurious
>> Beach Villas in the country as well as the Spa Village, a self-
>> contained, over-water 'resort-within-a-resort' consisting of a spa,
>> restaurant and 21 villas.
>>
:nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

:shrug: It's world-class scuba diving there ... a place I'd love to visit, along with the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef.

....

I saw pics of the restaurant yesterday and I thought it looked really cool. :)

... how long before the favourite game of divers becomes
"Flash at your fine friends"?

Nothing quite like eating under the tropical "moon" is there?

:evilgrin:

Clearly, that's not an option for divers wearing wet suits but the water is warm enough for recreational divers without wet suits or skins. It wouldn't be the first (or one millionth) time a scuba diver mooned someone ... but I know I'd be sorely tempted. I have to wonder whether the dive operators will 'respect' those waters and stay away.

I still have to wonder at decompression. Five meters isn't that deep (it's the final decompression stop) but SWB isn't unknown. I wonder whether they'll prohibit anyone who's dived in the last 24 hours from dining there. I wonder about the staff working there. I wonder whether they'll warn people about flying the same day.

> I still have to wonder at decompression. Five meters isn't that deep
> (it's the final decompression stop) but SWB isn't unknown. I wonder
> whether they'll prohibit anyone who's dived in the last 24 hours from
> dining there. I wonder about the staff working there. I wonder whether
> they'll warn people about flying the same day.

Given that they get to it via a spiral staircase (from the OP), I can't
see any reason why 5m below sea level there would be any different from
5m below sea level in the basement car park or wherever. It would only
become a problem if they had to swim in there breathing pressurised air.

:shrug:

At least the presence of the "surface deck" would reduce the chance of
some dipstick dropping their anchor through the roof ...

... so we're not taking about 2 atm of pressure like it would be if diving. If the entrance were underwater and the interior air pressure were suffcient to hold out the water, or if the housing were flexible and pressurized, it'd be another story. IOW, it's not a caisson. :shrug:

Sorry. (D'oh!) :dunce:

...Hollywood would be feverishly trying to dream up a disaster movie based on this concept.

The world's hurting masses can dream enough for all of us...

Expose people to the beauty of nature, and they'll be more inclined to care enough to protect it. At least, so I would hope.

We can ALL enjoy nature!

If it wasn't for the entrepreneurs you would still be walking.
:sarcasm:

I would love to be able to do that!

Accumulating wealth is evil...that's why NO ONE here tries to get more money at work or save money - it should all be burned or given away, as everyone here does...


:sarcasm:

Doesn't ANY rich want to do something ELSE than the constent INDULGE myself competition?

that underwater architecture experience might come in handy some time down the road.

Don't forget parasites.

and drive their little Jack & Jill's to school in their SUV's and (most) will never give a THOUGHT to how 'they' might be impacting the environment. The ocean is in severe shock....the patient is flat-lining right before their very eyes. But, hey, as long as their stocks are doing good - they're doing 'good' and for those suburban republicans, well, that's all they need to know.

What's it going to take to wake these folks up? They're not "privileged" ~ they are CLUELESS!

(This isn't directed at you, btw......I'm just asking in general.....)

But even hate, takes a while to sink in!

but the people who have a lot of money (for now - ha ha) need to understand that their money doesn't insulate them from the realities that they are a part of this planet....and as such influential members (b/c of their money/influence that that money brings) need to be FOREFRONT in the solution to these issues/problems.....not just back, behind-the-scenes "bags of fat".

:hi:

just contribute to stopping this run-away corruption that's happening in our government RIGHT F*CKING NOW!

All is not lost, not yet.

Fight, DAMMIT!!!!

budget, we're trying to save social security, we're trying to get health care for the troops and they're building and UNDERSEA SUSHI BAR!

the tax cuts to the rich means that they have all this *extra* money to finance such things.....all private, of course. And not to mention that even if the rich gave EVEN HALF of their tax cuts back to fund Republican candidates that STILL would be in the range of at LEAST $150,000 EACH!!!!

McMansion folks are not that rich by definition. People with the means to go to this place live in places you can't see and certainly not in McMansions. They own pipelines, and islands and soccer teams etc.

So, will they "wield their influence" ..... I'm sure these people are smart enough to know that human activity is killing this planet that we ALL live on. (actually, we're never gonna 'kill' this planet....we may very well kill *most* of the human species, as you probably well know)

Oh wait....they're gonna be among the 500 million.

And I hear it's spectacular!


The Red Sea Star
Eilat, Israel



<>

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I was humming that tune to myself as I read this:)

The first verse always reminded me of what my granny used to say:

When you are leaning over that fence to see how green the grass is on the other side, be careful not to trample on the flowers in your own garden.

So true.

What good is a restaurant that has no video games? And what about the neon beer signs? Not like you can drill holes in the walls to mount them...

dining show on the Food Network. Wish I could go. I love aquariums, etc.

but I guess it's what you see through the windows that counts.

At five meters deep, it's only 15 feet below the surface -- hardly an "over the top" project.

. . . that's what we're eating.

nm

:hurts:

Kidding!

We share the same thoughts on this one.

We all know how those poor Hilton folks are struggling.. they could never have built it themselves, now could they? :puke:

We're all SACRIFICING!!!!!

typical home in the maldives.

:wtf:

"Octopus's Garden?" :wtf:

Who are the greediest people on earth?????????

:rofl:

while the rest of us wait for an 8.0 quake.

I can't believe what I'm reading here. Why don't you just advocate blowing them up or shooting them all instead of waiting for mother nature to do it for you?

:applause:

and I don't have to be politically correct.

That's the cry of someone who knows they've said something disgusting and is on the defensive.

It is not political correctness or any other bullshit term to not wish massive natural disasters upon people for whatever reason you feel they should be extinguished. As someone who's been through a 7.1 earthquake, I don't find the idea remotely funny or satisfying.

I see you note Al Gore in your sig line. With all due respect, I doubt if he'd share your opinion. We all share this world. Thanks.

They take and take and take and don't care about the majority of humanity.

:rofl:

of humanity is not rich. Yet, I doubt those with money don't necessarily care about that majority, just 'cause they themselves have money. I don't buy the class war meme.

some outrage. or are we beyond that?

Should we also be outraged when people build tall buildings, big sports stadiums, and elaborate concert halls?

Thanks.

They stomp over us all. Even the Fishes of the Sea!

Like the one that almost ate Captain Nemo's sub. Or maybe a giant tsunami would be more effective? Either way, I'm all for letting nature take its course.

wp

He's working security for Brittany Spears as she tries to slink around without people seeing that she's insane, talentless and bald.

to throw food at the fish :)

Instead of pigeons begging for your pizza you'll have fish begging for your, well, FISH :)

I'd be thinking the whole time I'm in there about entrophy and how all things made by man degrade, and how you just can't get good workers anymore, so this sucker is going to SMASH OPEN the minute I sit down, can't help it, I have a survival program 2.0 that runs in my background all the time..

I won't even sit under TV's in bars, because I KNOW that at some point one is going to give way, and the poor slob under it will be crushed. Guess being raised in Chicago where there's danger all around gave me paranoia and 360 degree vision.

Nice pictures, never catch my ass in there..

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! :scared:

I can sleep better now. :boring:

It is a remarkable structure, and an extraordinary view.

:shrug:

"Under the sea."

Dickens

That sucks that a whole lotta their GDP is based on tourism.

:sarcasm:

it's clear that this restaurant is being built to attract rich Western tourists. I hope (or is that hoping for too much?) that some of the tourist money benefits the Maldivian working class.

It's not wheelchair accessible. Fuck them.

:P

I must be a horrible person - I'd really love to eat there! Here's a pic: