Bound to Happen

Nero’s Rotating Banquet Hall Could Be the Best Theme Restaurant Ever

Photo: YouTube

Looking to get in on the current Roman food trend? Well then, hear this — Archeologists have uncovered the nearly 2,000-year-old remains of a dining room in the emperor Nero’s Golden Palace. The banquet hall was equipped with a water-powered wooden floor that rotated, night and day, to match the Earth’s movement. (So, sort of like the restaurant at the Marriott Marquis, except you could be executed if you looked at someone funny.) According to the Telegraph, the room had a panel in the ceiling (which also may have rotated) that dropped flowers and perfume on guests. This somehow reminds us that the Wild Salmon space is still available. Chodorow might want to look into getting it back, because this could be just the concept for it: Waiters in togas! Baked peacock brains! And a signature cocktail called “The Room Is Spinning”!

Nero’s Rotating Banquet Hall Could Be the Best Theme Restaurant Ever