Dining in the Dark

Article by: William Lee Adams, August 2007

The problems started when I put down my fork. Unable to find it among the plates, wine glasses, and baskets of bread, I resorted to shovelling steak into my mouth by hand - but I didn't worry about offending the well-mannered Parisians seated nearby. They couldn't see a thing.

I turned my napkin into a bib: it promised to be a messy evening.

Opened in 2004, Paris' Dans le Noir (In the Dark) has attracted more than 100,000 visitors to its dining room. Diners fork out €41 for a three-course 'surprise' menu served in absolute darkness. The restaurant believes that sight deprivation heightens its guests' other senses, intensifying smells and flavours. And one more thing: the entire wait staff is blind.

In a rare reversal of roles, sighted guests depend on the visually impaired waiters to escort them to and from their tables. During the meal, however, guests must fend for themselves. Before my appetiser arrived, I felt around the table: plate, fork, knife, bread, bottle of wine and a stranger's hand. Clutching the bottle with one hand I tried to locate my glass with the other, but was left grasping at air. When I finally did find it, I curled my finger over the brim to gauge the level of the wine. Even then I spilled some. My friend tried to pass me the bread, but she punched my shoulder instead. I turned my napkin into a bib: it promised to be a messy evening.

The dark-dining concept originated in Switzerland. Jorge Spielmann, a blind minister from Zurich, blindfolded dinner guests to give them a taste of his daily struggles. In 1999 he opened Blindekuh (Blind Cow), the world's first restaurant staffed exclusively by visually impaired waiters. Besides providing a unique dining experience, the restaurant created work opportunities for the blind, a group that faces 70% rates of unemployment in many developed countries.

A decade on, restaurants from Berlin to Beijing are blacking out their windows. Dans le Noir now has offshoots in London and Moscow, Blindekuh has a second branch in Basel, and Germany's Unsicht-Bar (Invisible Bar) has franchises in Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg. Even chic West Hollywood - where diners go out to see and be seen - has embraced the trend. Its stylish Opaque restaurant recommends booking several weeks in advance and will soon open branches in San Diego and San Francisco.

In a rare reversal of roles, sighted guests depend on the visually impaired waiters to escort them to and from their tables.

Elsewhere, restaurants have modified Spielmann's original formula. Berlin's Nocti Vagus entertains diners with a 'dark theatre' where performers play live music, tell ghost stories and recite erotic poetry. New York City's Dark Dining Projects organises private dark parties where sighted waiters serve four-course meals to guests wearing featherweight 'meditation masks'. And at Beijing's Whale Inside, waiters serve food wearing night vision goggles. Since January its owners have opened five franchises in China, with 15 more expected to open in Singapore, Tokyo and other Asian cities by 2009.

'Dark Dining' restaurateurs believe that their guests see food in a new light. 'When you have a plate with white fish and veggies, you tend to think that white fish has the stronger flavour,' says Stephanie Baudoin, a manager at Dans le Noir, London. 'But in the dark, you may find the opposite: white fish doesn't have a lot of taste but vegetables have strong and specific flavours.'

My meal in Paris certainly tested my senses - but also my patience. I jabbed at the plate in vain, missing my elusive targets. Out of desperation, I began feeling around with my fingers: first to find the food and then to check if I had any left. I dipped my finger into a small bowl and tasted hoisin duck sauce, which I hate. I chewed the fat off my meat and spat it back on my plate (it's not like anyone could see). After the meal, our waiter escorted us back to the lobby and a hostess presented us with pictures of our dinner. The steak turned out to be lamb and the hoisin duck sauce was watermelon soup.

As for the overall experience, my strongest feeling was one of loneliness. My friends' disembodied voices offered little comfort and I was eerily attuned to footsteps and the hum of distant conversations. Apparently such frustration is common. 'People sometimes leave because they can't stand the dark and no one blames them,' says Benjamin Uphues, the owner of the Opaque restaurants in California.

Neither I, nor my wine-stained shirt, will forget the meal in a hurry - but I'm in no rush to go back. My entry in the visitors' book said it all: 'That was a great experience. But now I have a headache.'