I recently had the chance to experience a phenomenon that’s sweeping across Europe – dining in the dark. Yes, that’s right, eating with lights off. Before you turn the page with a shrug of your shoulders, bear with me; it really is an amazing experience. Imagine your senses of smell, touch, taste and hearing magnified to an extraordinary level. Then, imagine enjoying some truly divine food.
So there we sat, a group of ten-or-so around a table in a room that shut out all light. We’d been stripped of luminous watches, mobile phones and anything else that glowed in the dark. Conversation started a little slowly, we’d been led to our table in a pre-ordained line but had got thoroughly confused by the time we reached our seats. After we’d figured out who was where the talk turned to the bizarre situation we found ourselves in.
There was quiet, serene music playing in the background as a maitre d’ emerged in a cone of light to announce our starter. To cut to the chase, it was a wild mushroom risotto cooked in white wine, and it was delicious. The sensation of eating without being able to see your food is, well, alien. Your taste buds seem more sensitive, the smell of the food is striking and you’ll suddenly notice the texture of the food.
The meal became a variety of flavoured textures, I suspect it had been designed with the visually impaired in mind. Creamy risotto was followed by seared tuna, noodles and finally, ice cream. It’s almost impossible to describe, but your heightened awareness means that every mouthful is eagerly anticipated. I hesitate at the idea of sounding like a culinary snob here, but the flavours really did explode in my mouth and I found myself picking out heady scents I’d otherwise have missed. It was a revelation in terms of experiencing flavour, scent and texture.
One of the amazing aspects of the experience is that blind waiters serve you, and I can attest to the fact that they were superb hosts. They had memorised the exact dimensions of the room and counted their footsteps as they moved around. They knew our names and our choice of drinks after their first trip to the table and, unsurprisingly perhaps, could find my missing butter knife much faster than I could. It was an incredibly humbling experience.
I thoroughly recommend sampling this unique style of restaurant if you get the chance; they’re appearing all over Europe and the States. Dining in the dark is sure to be in the region soon, it’s too interesting a concept to overlook.
