Eurostar to offer its passengers a new dining concept

Moving beyond the confines of its role as a rail company, Eurostar has plans to launch a themed program based on the concept of a 36-hour weekend. The initiative will begin with a gastronomic theme.

Eurostar has called its new themed weekends "Interludes." Travelers are provided with a complete package based on the idea of discovery. They don't know the details of the package, so as to give it an element of spontaneous charm. The experience includes one night in a "chic and intimate" hotel as well as priority-access tickets to a museum exhibition.

Travelers leave on Saturday morning and return the following evening, with their own private space on the Eurostar train. For the first trial of its concept, Eurostar has decided on a gastronomic theme, provided with the assistance of some top Parisian chefs. Breakfast was concocted by Moko Hirayama and Omar Koreitem from the very trendy Mokonuts restaurant in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Travelers will discover who their chefs are on the day of departure. The chefs will prepare dinner in a Parisian apartment, sometimes even at the chef's home.

There will be an Interludes trial on November 18 and 19. Ten Parisian chefs will take part, including Bertrand Grébaut (Septime), Sven Chartier (Saturne), Taku Sekine (Dersou) and Giovanni Passerini (Passerini).

Another Interludes event is planned in London on January 20 and 21, 2018. Interludes package tickets are currently only available through a competition. In 2018, Eurostar plans to begin selling tickets for its new program and to include other themes.

Companies operating in the travel trade no longer want to offer their customers just one service. They plan to help travelers have the best possible experience throughout their trip. In November, Airbnb launched Trips, a range of travel concepts provided by locals. Recently, a few Airbnb customers were lucky enough to experience the legendary Roland-Garros tennis tournament and spend time with the French tennis player Gaël Monfils.