Dining naked, from London to Tokyo and Melbourne

Once upon a time “au naturel” dining described simple cooking with little fuss. No more.

These days it means dining naked in restaurants from the U.K. to Australia, by way of Japan. The London naturist outpost – with a $100 five-course menu of raw food – says it received more than 46,000 inquiries before opening June 11, and the owners are already looking at venues in France and the U.S.

In Melbourne, the Noble Experiment was home to a nude night hosted by two disc jockeys.

They put 50 bums on seats, according to Yahoo. In Tokyo, tickets for the naked nights at The Amrita next month are selling out, although the overweight won't be admitted.

Neither will the over-60s or people with tattoos.

Luckily there's no such restrictions at the Bunyadi – or “fundamental” in Hindi – at a secret location in south London.

Diners first gather in a bar, before moving to a changing room and donning a bathrobe. The area is so warm it feels like a sauna, but that may just be all the fluffy white robes.

It was a good-looking crowd: I was the only one who would have fallen afoul of any overweight, overage rules here.

Once in the dining room, the young wait staff wear only flesh-colored knickers and a flower-wreath on their hips. The room is lit by candles, the tables surrounded by bamboo screens for privacy.

You don't have to disrobe, though most do. The layout and lighting mean you don't see a lot of flesh, but there is a buzz. Phones are banned, and yes there is etiquette for naked dining.

The naked theme follows through to the food, which is raw, vegan or non-vegan.

Carnivores start with salad, followed by cured salmon, seaweed salad with whipped spirulina mayo, goji-berry steak tartare, sweet-and-salt seasonal forage, blackberries, coconut and chia mousse, raw crumble.

Vegans are served asparagus, salted almonds, pickled red onion and melon, sundried tomato-stuffed courgette flowers, cauliflower couscous and seaweed flakes.

While you probably won't come for the food, the dishes are balanced, light and attractive. The wines start at 5.60 a glass and are 24 to 37 a bottle, unless you go for the 68 Moet Brut Champagne. The service is charmingly attentive.

Bunyadi grew out of a collective called Lollipop, which creates unusual experiences.

It was founded by Seb Lyall, whose previous success was with ABQ, a bar where guests cook cocktails in an RV based on the ”Breaking Bad” meth lab. ABQ has now moved on to Paris.

“We launch a concept,” Lyall says. “And if it works, we scale it.”

Bunyadi accommodates 42 guests at a time. There are three seatings a day, six days a week. Lyall says he expects to sell out the three-month run, and after that it will probably become permanent.

Or until the birthday suit goes out of style.

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 8:09 AM with the headline "Dining naked, from London to Tokyo and Melbourne."