Gourmet Dinner Party for 25 on Mount Everest? No Problem

Well, there actually were problems, but chef James Sharman and his team still pulled it off
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 30, 2017 2:09 PM CST
Gourmet Dinner Party for 25 on Mount Everest? No Problem
Hope they made a reservation.   (Getty Images/hadynyah)

For a chef who's filleted and flambéd in some of Europe's top restaurants, planning a dinner party for two dozen people shouldn't present an issue—unless that dinner party happens to be nearly 18,000 feet in the air. Outside magazine outlines the challenges faced by James Sharman as he prepped for a gourmet meal at Mount Everest's Base Camp in December, an endeavor attempted at least once before but abandoned when the chef took ill with altitude sickness. Not only did Sharman and his team have to learn in general about Nepalese delicacies like goat spinal cord and yak yogurt, which they weren't terribly familiar with: They also had to figure out how to keep the victuals fresh during the nine-day trek to Base Camp and how to set up an entire kitchen and dining area on the icy landscape.

This wasn't the first unconventional meal Sharman and his crew had overseen. Since last year, Sharman and his One Star House Party pop-up restaurant have been roaming the world, feeding free-spending diners in exotic locales such as Bangkok and Beijing. The 15 or so paying guests for the Everest shindig, which Sharman calls "humbling," coughed up $1,050 for accommodations and food during the 14-day experience. "Looking back, I can't believe all the things that came together," Sharman says. Some of the next few destinations on Sharman's itinerary, which a September New York Times article noted will span a two-year period: Nairobi, Reykjavik, and, per Vogue India, a possible "Darjeeling Limited" experience in which Sharman whips up a feast on a train that's chugging through India's tea country. (Meanwhile, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver recently caused a kerfuffle with sausage.)

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