The authors of The Perfect Meal examine all of the elements that contribute to the dinerAs experience of a meal (primarily at a restaurant) and investigate how each of the dinerAs senses contributes to their overall multisensory experience. The principal focus of the book is not on flavor perception, but on all of the non-food and beverage factors that have been shown to influence the dinerAs overall experience.

Examples are:

the colour of the plate (visual) the shape of the glass (visual/tactile) the names used to describe the dishes (cognitive) the background music playing inside the restaurant (aural)

Novel approaches to understanding the dinerAs experience in the restaurant setting are explored from the perspectives of decision neuroscience, marketing, design, and psychology.

2015 Popular Science Prose Award Winner.