It famously took Phileas Fogg 80 days to travel around the world. Head over to new Shoreham arts venue West Street Loft and you can do the whole thing in a night – no passport required.

Around The World In Eight Courses offers a fresh twist on the pop-up restaurant trend, inviting diners to strap in for a “flight” through the flavours of the globe. On production of a boarding pass, passengers are welcomed onboard for pre-flight cocktails mixed by friendly cabin crew before being shown to their seats (complete with tongue-in-cheek safety leaflets). Then, seatbelts fastened for take-off, the plane begins its ascent, the view from the cockpit projected on the back wall.

Scotland is the first stop – represented by a “wild” Scotch egg accompanied by pheasant carpaccio – then there’s home-smoked salmon with mustard sauce in Sweden, pigeon pastille in Morocco and a palate-cleansing blood orange sorbet in South Africa. Live tango dancers set the scene for arrival in the sultry heat of Argentina, where cabin crew bring out plates of beef chimichurri. Then it’s on to the United States for dessert – an all-American chocolate brownie with salted caramel ice cream.

In Ireland, a cheese board compensates for the rain that’s started to lash the windscreen, then there’s a brief sojourn to France for coffee and petit fours before beginning the journey back to Shoreham. With an optional upgrade that entitles the ticket holder to a drink matched to each of the eight courses, we touch down well-fed and rather giddy just before midnight.

The monthly night is piloted by chef Tristan Dooley and his partner Tamar Carr-Martindale, co-founders of Hove’s Secret Service Events. After years of working as a chef in Australia and Ireland, and running outside catering for private clients, Dooley was after a new challenge. With Carr-Martindale’s background in events and a shared love of travel and good food, they decided to pour their passions into a joint venture.

The notion of a round-the-world culinary adventure came to them after visiting West Street Loft, which has a collection of cinema chairs they realised could easily double-up as airline seats.

“Once we’d come up with the concept it became really exciting,” says Carr-Martindale. “Tristan got out his maps and drew up a flight path before we decided what the menu should include. When you can choose from any cuisine in the world, the possibilities are endless.”

Keen travellers, the couple enjoy sampling traditional food in every country they visit. “We went to Morocco recently and ended up meeting some locals and being invited back to their house to make tagine – it took four hours!” laughs Carr-Martindale. Their favourite dishes often find their way on to menus they hope will introduce diners to new foods and flavour combinations. “Although we don’t want to challenge people’s palates too much, it helps to come with a spirit of adventure,” says Dooley. “We like to keep a certain element of surprise.”

There are four more round-the-world trips coming up before the couple move on to new projects in the summer. These include a “guerrilla kitchen”, which will involve a mobile restaurant popping up in an outdoor location only disclosed to diners on the day. “We’ll turn up with a van, ingredients and all the appropriate equipment, throw out the fold-up tables and invite people to come down,” explains Dooley. “Within 30 minutes, they could well find themselves in the middle of a field eating freshly-cooked food by candlelight.” The couple are keen to turn eating out into a talking point. “We want people to feel not just that they’ve had a great meal but that they’ve been on a journey.”

  • Around The World In Eight Courses, West Street Loft, West Street, Shoreham, 01273 770242
  • The next Around The World In Eight Courses takes place at 7pm on Saturday, April 12, at West Street Loft, Shoreham (weststreetloft.co.uk). Tickets cost £45 per person, plus an additional £20 for drinks upgrade. Visit www.secretserviceevents.com