Mixing construction equipment with gourmet cooking, two Belgian entrepreneurs are trying to elevate haute cuisine.

布鲁塞尔─比利时的两位经营者将美味佳肴与建筑设施结合在了一起，从而将高级美食提升到了新的高度。

Their effort began here as a stunt six years ago, when publicist David Ghysels and crane specialist Stefan Kerkhofs seated 22 people around a chef and hoisted everybody 180 feet into the air for a meal. Today, the Dinner in the Sky franchise has tables dangling in more than 40 countries, serving about 1,000 people each month.

营销专家大卫•吉索斯(David Ghysels)和起重机专家斯特凡•克尔克霍夫斯(Stefan Kerkhofs)的实践始于六年前的布鲁塞尔，最初这只是作为宣传的噱头。他们让22名食客围坐在大厨周围，并把他们吊到55米的空中用餐。如今，“盛宴长空”(Dinner in the Sky)已经通过特许经营把他们的餐桌挂在了40多个国家的上空，每月接待约1,000名顾客。

'It's just a table hanging from a rope,' says Mr. Ghysels, who has been surprised at the entertainment possibilities of extremely conspicuous consumption.

这种极端引人注目的用餐方式也能有休闲娱乐的作用，吉索斯对此感到十分意外，他说：“这不过是用钢索把餐桌吊起来而已。”

Now, having demonstrated that certain people around the world will fork over up to $500 apiece to dine strapped in like babies in car seats, the Belgian duo are trying to outdo themselves with acrobatic catering. Their latest brainstorm: cocktails served by tightrope walkers.

世界上有些人愿意像婴儿那样被绑在汽车座椅上用餐，并且能够接受高达人均500美元（约合人民币3,060元）的消费。在证实了这一点后，这对比利时搭档尝试继续自我超越，以杂技的方式提供餐饮服务。他们最新的创意是：让侍者走着钢丝端上鸡尾酒。

But finding spinoffs that fly can be tricky. Marriage in the Sky 'seemed great on paper' but flopped with Europeans, who balked at spending $15,000 for 20 guests, says Mr. Ghysels. He hopes the concept will take off with adventurous Americans or perhaps in India, where it could serve as one element of lavish, extended wedding ceremonies.

但是开发出成功的衍生服务并不容易。吉索斯说，空中婚礼看上去很美，但对欧洲人来说行不通，他们不愿意为20个客人花上15,000美元（约合人民币92,000元）。他希望这个概念能受到爱冒险的美国人或者印度人的欢迎，它可以成为婚礼庆典中画龙点睛的奢华元素。

Some meals can become nail-biters. When the team dangled a musical duo to serenade a nearby table of elevated diners, the piano player got scared that his bench would slip off the airborne stage, recalls Mr. Ghysels. But he calmed down.

有时这样的晚餐可能让人神经紧绷。据吉索斯回忆，一次当运营团队把两名乐师吊在餐桌旁为食客们演奏小夜曲时，其中的钢琴师就担心琴凳会从空中舞台上滑下去。但他还是冷静了下来。

Even a Michelin two-star chef couldn't tempt some acrophobic invitees to an exclusive lunch overlooking the Belgian royal palace last summer. Organizer Pascale Dedonker, who is country manager for Switzerland Cheese Marketing, says the promotional event was actually no more disconcerting than a ski lift.

对于某些恐高症患者来说，即便是米其林两星级主厨和俯瞰比利时皇宫的特供午宴，或许都无法吸引他们前来。而瑞士芝士营销组织Switzerland Cheese Marketing的区域经理帕斯卡莱•德东科(Pascale Dedonke)去年夏天在此组织了一场宣传活动，他说这和乘坐滑雪场升降机给人的感觉差不多。

Joy Sinberg insisted that crane operators take her up before she would approve the attraction for guests at a casino complex in Coconut Creek, Fla. She also pressed the team to get a $10 million insurance policy.

在美国弗罗里达州椰子溪市(Coconut Creek)的一座赌场综合大楼，乔伊•辛伯格(Joy Sinber)坚持在批准这个顾客休闲项目之前，先自己上去进行体验。她还要求运营团队购买1,000万美元（约合人民币6,120万）的保险。

'It wasn't really as dangerous as it sounds,' says Ms. Sinberg, who manages risk and insurance for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, owners of the Hard Rock Cafe chain. 'It's like a big elevator.' A giant fire-spitting dinosaur spectacle at another of the tribe's casinos 'was a lot scarier' she says.

辛伯格在弗罗里达塞米尔诺部落(Seminole Tribe of Florida)负责风险与安全管理，该部落还掌管着硬石连锁餐厅(Hard Rock Cafe)。辛伯格说，“它就像一台大型电梯”，部落另一家赌场的巨型喷火龙景观“比这个可怕多了”。

Most guests quickly get in the mood, experienced diners say. Wine promoter Baudouin Havaux staged Cabernet tastings at a table hanging over the Formula One racetrack of the Belgian Grand Prix in 2007 to gin up publicity. The opportunity made jaded adults 'as excited as children at Disneyland,' he says.

老饕们说，大部分顾客都能很快融入氛围。葡萄酒促销者博杜安•哈瓦克(Baudouin Havaux)在餐桌旁举行品酒活动来进行宣传，而餐桌则悬挂在2007年世界一级方程式锦标赛比利时大奖赛的赛道上方。哈瓦克说，这次体验让倦怠的成年人们“像迪士尼乐园的孩子们一样兴奋”。

Some people get too comfortable. Mr. Ghysels recalls 'a very famous woman' who was irked by the shoulder straps and kept trying to remove them. After repeated requests to stop, he says, she was asked to leave the table. It descended first.

有些人会过分放松。吉索斯回忆曾有“一位非常有名的女士”受不了保护用的肩带，一直想把它们拿掉。多次劝说无效之后，她被请离了餐桌。当然是在先降下了的情况下。

As with expensive restaurants, location is critical. Dinner in the Sky has run meals with breathtaking views of Rome, São Paulo and Sydney, which help if the novelty of elevation wears off.

对于高档餐厅来说，位置至关重要。盛宴长空曾在罗马、圣保罗和悉尼的良辰美景中开餐，这一点大有帮助，特别是当客人对于升到空中不再感到那么新奇的时候。

'I've never heard anyone say, I'd really like to dangle from a crane and be fed,' says Scott Kennedy, co-owner of Candyfish, a sushi restaurant in Delray Beach that did catering for the Seminole casino.

寿司餐厅Candyfish合伙人斯科特•肯尼迪(Scott Kennedy) 说，“我从没听说过，我真的很想感受一下用升降机挂着用餐”。该餐厅位于德拉海滩(Delray Beach)，为塞米尔部落的赌场提供餐饮服务。

'It's a cool experience,' he says. But 'Delray Beach is not the prettiest city. And at night you can't see the ocean because it's pitch black.' His ideal location is Las Vegas.

“这会是很棒的体验”，他说。但是“德拉海滩并不是最美的城市，晚上一片漆黑，看不到大海”。他的理想地点是拉斯维加斯。

The owners of Victoria's Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas agree, which is why they are opening a permanent installation under franchise in a few weeks. 'It totally fits Las Vegas,' says spokeswoman Jennie Hendricks.

拉斯维加斯婚庆公司Victoria's Wedding Chapel的拥有者应允了这项提议，他们的特许经营设施将在几周内开始营业。公司新闻发言人珍妮•亨德里克斯(Jennie Hendricks)说，“它与拉斯维加斯相当合拍。”

In the city of nonstop glitz, nobody questioned the idea of two tables going up and down, offering eight 'flights' a night, she says. Other questions did arise.

她说，在这座浮华流转的城市，没人会对每晚起起落落“飞行”八次的两张餐桌产生质疑。但确实也出现了其他问题。

'A lot of people ask how do you go to the bathroom,' Ms. Hendricks says. The trip requires lowering the whole table, which takes about three minutes. 'We strongly encourage people to go beforehand,' she says.

亨德里克斯说，“许多人问要如何上厕所”。这需要花大约三分钟时间把整张桌子降下来。“我们强烈建议大家提前解决”，她说。

And an area on the ground below the table is kept clear in case a diner drops a fork.

餐桌对应地面区域也要清场，以防过程中有餐具掉落。

Handling such down-to-earth concerns was one of the challenges when the Belgian creators got started. Mr. Ghysels, who is 48 and owns a creative marketing agency called Hakuna Matata, around 2004 wanted to celebrate his daughter's birthday in the air but lacked lift.

如何处理好这种地面上的问题是比利时创世人起步时面临的挑战之一。48岁的吉索斯拥有一家创意市场营销机构Hakuna Matata。2004年前后，他很想在空中为女儿庆祝生日，但缺乏托举的一“臂”之力。

Mr. Kerkhofs, 43, separately hit on the idea of suspending a table. He had grown up playing around heavy equipment at his parents' construction firm and in 1990 started his own bungee-jump company. 'I know what you can do with a crane,' he says.

于此同时，43岁的克尔克霍夫斯也想到了让餐桌悬浮的主意。他是在父母建筑公司的重型机械周围玩耍长大的，并在1990年开设了自己的蹦极公司。“我很清楚用一台起重机可以做什么事情”，他说。

When an acquaintance connected them in 2006, 'it was like telepathy,' says Mr. Kerkhofs, who also owns an event company called the Fun Group.

2006年，共同的想法把他们联系在了一起。克尔克霍夫斯说，“就像心灵感应一样”。他还有一家叫做Fun Group的活动策划公司。

An early focus was on making the equipment safe and on assuring diners that they wouldn't slip off. Tables and seats have redundant attachments and an extra person is on hand at each meal to enforce strict procedures. The owners say they realize that an accident could doom their business. 'It's entertainment,' says Mr. Ghysels. 'It's not something necessary.'

早期的重点是让设施安全可靠，并确保食客们不会掉下来。餐桌和座位经过了多重固定，另有一人每餐都在旁边执行严格的安全措施。经营者们说，他们明白只要一次意外就能让生意毁于一旦。因为“这是休闲服务，而不是什么必需品”，吉索斯说。

After the first meal, in April 2007, drew attention, requests to replicate it arrived from the U.S. and Germany, so the duo began franchising. The tables' visibility meant they could be turned into floating billboards and thus attract sponsors to offset the high cost of an event.

在2007年4月的第一餐引起注意之后，从美国到德国都有人希望能够效仿，于是两人开始了特许经营。空中的桌子很容易引起注意，这意味着它们可以变成漂浮的广告牌，从而吸引主办方来举行活动并让他们的高昂花费得到回报。

Expanding into Saudi Arabia posed a problem because of rules against men and women mixing socially. So rather than offering a single table, the company developed a cluster of six four-person tables served by tethered wait staff. The arrangement is now being offered as Lounge in the Sky. Two tables can be removed to make room for musicians or dancers, who perform in tethers similar to parachute harnesses.

业务扩张至沙特阿拉伯时又引发了新问题，因为当地的规矩不允许男女在社交场合混坐。于是单张大桌的替代方案应运而生。公司开发出了六张四人桌组合，由系着保险绳的服务生提供服务。这样的方案如今被称为“空中餐厅”(Lounge in the Sky)。移走两张桌子即可为乐师和舞者腾出空间，他们会系上如降落伞背带一样的保险绳。

While Dinner in the Sky keeps trying new gimmicks─like wrapping a table in rough wood to resemble a beach bar, with palm tree roots dangling─the company has no plans to expand in other directions, like undersea dining. 'Water is great, but you need sponsors,' says Mr. Ghysels. 'Under water, nobody looks at you except fish.'

“盛宴长空”正在尝试各种新花样，比如用原木桌和根部悬空的棕榈树来模仿海滩酒吧，但他们并没有向其他方向拓展的打算，比如说海底用餐。“水中当然很棒，但是我们需要吸引活动主办方”，吉索斯说。“在水下除了鱼没人看你。”