The Grand Expedition review: whimsier than Alice in Wes Anderson’s Moving Castle
The renowned Gingerline, beloved for its zaney blend of immersive dining experiences and interactive performance art, has made a triumphant return with its reboot of the eccentric Grand Expedition in March 2024.
Participants found themselves to be daring adventurers immersed in a picturebook narrative that is whimsier than Alice in Wes Anderson’s Moving Castle. A joyful fusion of creativity with gastronomy; We boarded our hot air balloons and took flight, carried by beautiful projection art to a different location around the world for each dinner course, including China, Norway and India.
Audience members familiar with Gingerline’s work may find this a more sedate “dinner and a show” affair than the more active Chambers of Flavour, which barely give you a moment to digest before spitting you out into the next activity. This makes it much more accessible for those that are less mobile and a great experience for the uninitiated. Nevertheless there’s plenty to ooh and ahh at including some impressive circus skills from the adorable minions aeronauts who you meet in each location along the way and lots of associated interaction and silliness. Highlights for me was running under a parachute which I haven’t done since I was in primary school, watching my friend have to do public press ups and elbowing my seat partner out of the way to get onto a swing.
The 5 course menu was delicious; savoury tea in London, Norwegian wedding inspired-salmon starter with tossed barley and inventive dessert that would charm even the sweet-toothless that tied locations together. The bao buns felt like the most disjointed course - I love a build-your-own when the lego pieces fit together but sadly not the case here. A particular shout out to the unusual beef curry with brutally hot pickled carrots and beetroot slaw which was stunning.
The space is a little smaller than the previous edition of the show (which had different locations) and it’s early in it’s run. So there’s a few teething problems to be sorted with amount of space for the activities and actor confidence. Nothing that can’t be sorted, but I do hope they ditch the booming reading of the riot act at the beginning that jars completely with the otherwise capricious evening.
It’s wonderful to see Gingerline back in it’s first post-Pandemic production. This is a beautiful show with excellent food and delightful entertainment that makes for an excellent “something a bit different” or “something a bit special” evening. And it’s so charming it would bring a smile the face of even the most die hard TV diner.
