Italian Restaurant Serves Vegan “Fried Air” 

Fine-dining restaurant Feva Ristorante in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy is currently serving a thought-provoking vegan dish: Aria Fritta, Italian for “fried air.” Michelin-starred chef Nicola Dinato creates the dish by boiling tapioca skin that is then baked and deep fried before being infused with low concentrations of O3 (known as “ozone gas”)—which is meant to create a sensation that mimics taking a breath of fresh air. The restaurant serves patrons the dish as a free appetizer with the mission of provoking a conversation about life’s complexity, or lack thereof. “Aria Fritta is idiomatic, an expression, the equivalent in English for ‘full of hot air’ like someone who’s talking a lot, especially without saying anything of value or meaning,” restaurant manager Leonardo Romanello said. “Looking around us, in this particular moment in history, we wanted to send a message to our guests, transforming this expression into something of gastronomic value. As we are living in an era in which the core values of life are being progressively replaced by frivolous and shallow contents without real meaning.” The dish is seasoned with blue salt, served on a bed of cotton candy, sprayed table-side with a quince-infused vinegar to create a “frying” effect, and meant to be dipped in the accompanying vegan white sesame seed mayonnaise.