The Corvus Cruiser Culinary Experience

TEA@Florida Design Project, University of Florida

Overview

The Corvus Cruiser Culinary Experience was created from the design challenge of a “gamified dining experience.” The theme of gamification is integrated into the guests’ meal creation at the restaurant. The story goes that an alien named Ceres Hugo Eugene Fumer, or C.H.E.F. for short, was a chef travelling the galaxy to learn new recipes and add to his expertise. His ship crash landed on Earth, and rather than trying to return to space C.H.E.F. fell in love with earth and decided to remain here to share his love of cooking with all who would like to join him. He haphazardly repaired his ship with the natural elements of the forest around him and converted it into a restaurant. The restaurant has a steampunk theme at its core, and features alien and nature elements to support the story.

After making a reservation online or over the phone and finding your way to the restaurant, you will find yourself along the exterior of the Corvus Cruiser, the spaceship on which this dining experience takes place.

Entry Experience

Once inside, there will be a small waiting area from which you will board an elevator to enter the main body of the ship. The elevator will play a preshow to give guests the story of the experience.

Upon exiting the elevator, you will find yourself on the second floor where you will either check in at the front desk, head straight into the bar and quick service area, or wander down to the landing on the first floor to explore the ship.

If you take the elevator down to the landing, you will be greeted by a statue of C.H.E.F. and can explore the main gathering space of the Corvus Cruiser. Here guests can visit the demonstration tables or explore the landing’s various relics. There is always more to learn about Chef and his out of this world travels.

Corvus Bar – Quick Service

If you choose to stay on the second floor, you can hang out at the Corvus Bar. The Corvus Bar gives visitors the opportunity to grab a quick bite to eat or a casual drink. If you did not want to make a reservation for one of the three other main dining experiences this is the perfect space for you.

For quick service, you can grab a menu sheet and bubble in what you want in your bowl. Insert the sheet into an analog machine and it will read your chosen menu options and send it to the kitchen to cook.

Once your reservation is ready, your party will take the elevator to the floor of the dining experience you reserved. These options include the engine bay, which is an in-table grill, the assembly station, which uses the Corvus Cooker, and the steam stacks, which is a pot based cooking experience. At the outside of each experience, there will be a demonstration table where guests can learn about the experience before going in. Each of these experiences are made possible by team members providing food and ingredients to guests from the other side of the wall adjacent to their table. 

Engine Bay – In-Table Grill

If you choose the engine bay experience, you will head down to the first floor for your steam powered dining experience. You will pull levers and flip switches to open the in-table grill and operate the mechanical arm to deliver your food.

Assembly Station – Preprepared Food

If you choose the assembly station experience, you will head up to the third floor for your dining experience. You will order your food and your waiter will deliver dehydrated food for you to use in the Corvus Cooker. We chose to incorporate this demonstration video as the Corvus Cooker is the most complicated dining experience offered. The menu shows the different types of food options available to “cook” in the Corvus Cooker.

Steam Stacks – Fondue/ Hot Pot

If you choose the steam stacks experience, you will head up to the fourth floor for your dining experience. You will pull levers to operate multiple pneumatic tubes that deliver your food. A steam powered stove heats the large pot in the center of the table allowing you to cook your food through the method of boiling.

End of the Dining Experience

At the end of each dining experience, you will receive a postcard from different places chef has visited, including places from his home planet of Corvus. Once you have collected a postcard from each of the three main dining experiences, you will have access to a special tour of the bridge of the Corvus Cruiser and receive a fun dessert that will be only available in the bridge.

Team

Tim Dzwill

Zoe Todd

Benjamin Thompson