Lego Stories and Food

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I’m a Lego fan. Maybe that’s because when I was a child the colorful bricks were almost impossible to find in communist Romania. Maybe because today the Lego world is a flight away from my hometown. Anyway, I’ve visited Legoland in Germany more than once. 

It took me some time to understand how the place is organized and what is the role of the food in Lego story. When I first visited I found no certain logic to the placement of the 15 restaurants and coffee shops. After some time, I realized that behind all the concepts, the decorum, even behind the chosen recipes was the story. Everything belongs to a concept in which the food represents a small part of a complete experience. The most interesting restaurants and coffee shops are the ones that have a distinct Lego theme. I enjoyed the Knight’s table, a restaurant right near the Castle Ice Cream coffee shop, The schnitzel Depot (which is right to the hotdog kiosk called Oasis in the Jungle) and the Asian pasta bar Ninja Kitchen (next to the wok restaurant called Asia chicken House). All the food service spaces are included within Lego-themed stories. The first two belong to the Lego Knights theme which includes the stories about knights and dragons. They are right next to the Knights’ Castle. The entire area dedicated to Lego Knights represents a combination in which every train experience and shop belongs to a medieval story of knights, princesses, wizards, and dragons. As part of the experience, visitors are offered menus which bring an added marketing value to the story. For instance, the Knights’ Table offers a “Damsel in distress salad”, “Little pieces of dragon meat” (a kids’ menu) or the “Fire Dragon” menu. Actually, the food comprises fast food dishes, with several types of hotdogs, sausages, chicken strips or burgers. The presentation, the whimsical names and the overall effect are superior to taste or variety. But I couldn’t help admiring the complexity and the obvious success of the marketing process which packs common dishes in a shiny story layer. The other culinary spaces are exactly the same. The Asian ones belong to the Ninjago Lego theme and the Schnitzel Depot and the Jungle Oasis belong to the adventure space in Legoland.

Legoland doesn’t have the best or the healthiest food. But the low nutritional value is compensated by the fantastic journey in the world dragons, of the mysterious Ninjas or of the exotic jungle. These are all experiences where food represents a mere part and which help bring Lego toys and their stories to reality.

Published in Zile si Nopti Magazine, 30 August 2019

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