U launches the world’s first ‘TV Dinners for U’ restaurant to satisfy the nation’s TV addiction…
By Jamie Hesketh on Monday, July 22, 2024
A recent study by UKTV’s new streaming service, U, reveals that we really are a nation of TV addicts, with Brits spend over three and a half weeks a year watching TV – totalling four and a half years in a lifetime…
The study revealed that 93% of Brits have eaten dinner in front of the TV… even traditional meals like Sunday roast and Christmas dinner aren’t exempt!
With all this tasty new research uncovered, U opened up the world’s first TV Dinners restaurant in London, offering a menu meticulously curated by food scientist, Dr. Stuart Farrimond, to pair with shows on UKTV’s new streaming service. The menu aimed to enhance the TV viewing and dining experience by combining food and TV shows to create an immersive escape.
His experimentation found that ‘Factual & Real Life’ paired best with calming foods that aid clear thinking, ‘Entertainment & Comedy’ went with a mood-boosting menu for sharing, ‘Action-adventure Shows’ were best when eaten with intense flavours for added excitement, ‘Comforting Classics’ needed comforting foods that feel familiar and finally, ‘Crime Drama’ were tastiest with foods that evoked intrigue and concentration… YUM!
As well as being serving up some perfectly paired meals and U shows, guests were also looked after by the hilarious Irish-Canadian comedian, Katherine Ryan and British TV icon, Shaun Williamson.
The restaurant provided diners with themed menus based on different TV genres available on U, such as factual & real life, entertainment & comedy, action-adventure shows, comforting classics, and crime drama. Guests chose from a variety of shows, including the new entertainment show Battle in the Box.
Dr Stuart Farrimond, Food Science Expert, said: “The fact that TV dinners were invented in the 1950s is testament to how, for as long as televisions have been in our homes, we have eaten in front of them. The combination of good food and a great TV show offers an immersive escape and a multisensory experience that Brits love to enjoy. By applying the latest flavour science research to the selection of TV shows available on the free streaming platform U, I have devised meals that, whether you’re watching a comforting classic or edge-of-your-seat crime drama, are designed to intensify and enhance the TV viewing experience.”
