By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor

It began with a mango-passionfruit martini.

Frozen with liquid nitrogen, its fragrant vapor wafted from the rim of the glass toward the faces of my dining companions at C/X Culinary Experience, a specialty restaurant at Chic Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Presented as an intimate six-course dinner and wine-pairing for a maximum of 12 guests, C/X Culinary Experience is just one of eight restaurants at the 18-month-old Uvero Alto all-inclusive resort, and is designed to be a singular event that’s both dramatic and delicious.

So while the dry ice impressed us out of the gate, there was still more to come.

The meal started with a mini Kobe beef hamburguesa topped with spicy sweet caramelized onions accompanied by a glass of champagne. It included a warm seafood salad with caviar; beef tartare with a truffle oil-laced mushroom broth; and melt-in-the-mouth osso bucco with purées of cauliflower and broccoli served in tiny paint tubes.

But the highlight of the meal was the fourth course, a tender filet of sea bass served with a sweet four-hour tomato and presented under a dome filled with a cloud of hickory-scented smoke. It truly was a moment worth savoring.

Here’s what it was like: