[PRESSWIRE] Ragusa, Sicily – March 5, 2026 — There is a dining room in the Iblean hills of Sicily where guests arrive for dinner and leave having experienced something they struggle to name. Some sit in the garden longer than expected. Some cry. Most describe it as the most unusual evening they have ever spent at a table. A number describe it as the most important.
This is Five Seasons – and as of April 2026, it is open to the world.
Founded by Finnish chef and performance artist Mikko Rautiainen, Five Seasons operates from a private villa outside Ragusa, Sicily – a UNESCO World Heritage baroque city in southeastern Italy. Twelve seats. One story. Three nights a week. After 18 sold-out pilot performances and 100% five-star guest ratings, Five Seasons today announces its full commercial launch alongside the first edition of The Fifth Season Festival – five days of gastronomy, technology and Sicilian food culture running April 7-11, 2026.
THE EXPERIENCE
“The Requiem” – Five Seasons’ flagship offering – is a fully composed work: twelve courses of Finnish-Sicilian cuisine, an original score, designed lighting, and a narrated text delivered through wireless headphones. Food is the medium. The guest is the subject. The evening lasts approximately four hours.
“I removed the headphones once, briefly, to check whether the person next to me was having the same experience I was having. They were crying. I put the headphones back on.” – guest, February 2026
Spatial audio composition and AI-assisted sound sequencing guide each guest through a wordless sensory journey – fermented, cured, foraged, precise – a score you taste rather than hear. Tickets from €99 per person for April preview performances. Full season bookings open now at 5seasons.fi
THE FESTIVAL – APRIL 7-11, 2026
The Fifth Season is not a promotional event for a restaurant. It is the conversation the European food world has been waiting to have – and has been waiting to have in Sicily.
Five days outside Ragusa bring together international keynote speakers, Sicilian artisan producers, food entrepreneurs and young hospitality professionals for panels, workshops, technology demonstrations and the world premiere of The Requiem at 12 seats.
The programme includes a livestreamed keynote on AI, spatial audio and the future of dining – using Five Seasons as a live case study; a Supplier Showcase presenting Sicily’s finest olive oil, wine, aged cheese, ancient grains and ceramics to an international audience; an open public forum on employment and opportunity in Ragusa, free to all; the official launch of Five Seasons Academy, opening September 2026; and a closing Gala Dinner on Saturday evening.
Festival passes run from free press accreditation to €980 for two – including two seats at Thursday’s Requiem Premiere, the most limited ticket in Sicily this spring.
THE FOUNDER
Mikko Rautiainen (born 1979, Finland) trained in Michelin kitchens in Finland and Denmark before leaving traditional fine dining to build something that had no category.
He holds a Guinness World Record for the most appearances across national versions of the Got Talent franchise and received a Golden Buzzer on Finland’s Got Talent. A single performance reel reached 89 million views. He has performed alongside Lady Gaga and directed a secret immersive theatre production in London that sold out in under three minutes. In 2025, he moved to Sicily.
“You don’t book Five Seasons because you’re hungry. You book it because something inside you is starving.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
Press accreditation (The Witness pass – full five-day access, free) is available here.
Interview requests and high-resolution images available on request.
Five Seasons operates Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
April preview pricing from €99 per person.
Full season from €175.
Peak season €245–265.
CONTACTS
restaurant@5seasons.fi
+393444575790