Out of This World Culinary and Stargazing Experience "Taste the Stars"

The Taste the Stars culinary and stargazing experience at Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo allows guests to enjoy a unique fusion of astronomy and gastronomy featuring a seven-course tasting menu and guided stargazing session.

The Taste the Stars menu was developed by the Resort's culinary team in collaboration with Costa Rican-born astronaut Franklin Chang Díaz. Over the course of a 25-year career as a NASA astronaut, Chang Díaz flew a world record of seven space missions. His experiences in space taught him some of the challenges of eating and existing in space, including weightlessness, extreme temperatures and darkness. These factors and others were considered in developing the innovative menu.

“The feeling of being in space is something you never forget,” says Franklin Chang Díaz, who is Chairman and CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company. “Together with the chefs at Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica we created a unique dining experience - Taste the Stars – providing people a way to experience the wonder of being in space without ever leaving Earth. I can’t think of a better place on the planet to dine under the stars than in Costa Rica.”

Among the special ingredients used within the Taste the Stars menu is Meteorito wine, made by astronomer and winemaker Ian Hutcheon at the Chilean space observatory Centro Astrononomica Tagua Tagua. The wine ages with a 4.5 billion year old meteorite that crashed in the Chilean desert 6,000 years ago. It is used to create a flavourful and lively sauce for the beef served as the fourth course of Taste the Stars at Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica.

After enjoying welcome cocktails and creative food courses paired with your choice of wine in a gorgeous outdoor setting, Taste the Stars guests are led in a stargazing experience by an expert guide. Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica is situated in a location ideal for stargazing and also owns several high-powered telescopes including a Meade LX200 GPS that is used for Taste the Stars.

Costa Rica has been noted by Travel + Leisure magazine as one of the top places in the world to stargaze. The country is one of the few places above the Equator where Magellanic Clouds, two galaxies first identified by explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the 1520s, are visible.

The Taste the Stars experience must be booked at least 72 hours in advance via the Concierge at Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica. The cost is USD 275 for adults and USD 120 for children.