Test-tube treats to be ready for the tastebuds

As a starter, you could choose lab sweetbreads, friendly foie gras or in vitro oysters and then move on to a ravioli of cultured Bresse chicken or homegrown charcuteries for a main course.

The restaurant website - www.bistro-invitro.com - looks authentic, but it doesn't provide an address or a contact telephone number for reservations. It's only after scrolling down a bit that you find that the bistro does not yet exist.

"Bistro In Vitro is a fictitious restaurant with a menu of in vitro dishes that may one day end up on your plate," the site says.