Kristen Baumlier

Our eyesight triggers our taste buds, working with our other senses.  So what happens when we stop using our sense of sight when we eat?  Dans Le Noir (In the Dark) is a series of restaurants that is a unique sensory experience, where diners eat in complete darkness.

When ordering, diners do not choose set entrees, but rather share with the guide (who is also the server) what type of foods they do not eat or are allergic too.  Before being guided to the eating area, visitors must place all bags, phones, lighters, and coats into a locker.  When the table is ready, diners are led to the dining room by their guide. At the restaurant, over 40% of the servers or guides have disabilities, and usually are blind.

In an interview I watched about the restaurant, one of the founders talked about how the experience provides several three unique experiences.   The first is the unique culinary experience, where diners use taste, touch, and smell instead of sight to experience food.  The second is a social experience.  At the restaurant, there is no single table, so diners are seated with others that they do not know.  In the dark, people talk and get to know strangers while eating in the dark.   The third is providing an experience that is similar to what others who are blind experience.  Eating dinner in the dark is an old idea used by various associations of blind people since the mid-nineteenth century to educate families and loved ones about visual impairment.

Over 75-855 of the information sent to our brain is visual.  Diners who have eaten at the restaurant report that they are not sure what they are eating, and often find out later that they were eating something different than what they perceived.

The food is spread out on plates, rather than being built up, or served in usual decorative arrangements.  In the interview that I read, the diner ate tomato with mozzarella, a Spanish smoked paprika potato and octopus, fried ravioli  filled with braised duck.  For dessert there was walnut bread pudding with orange bourbon butter sauce, lavender pana cotta and mango mouse with braised pineapple chunks.  She reported that she was able to recognize spices, but did not recognize some of the meats or types of foods.

The first Dans Le Noir restaurant opened in Paris in 2004, and was able to seat 57 people in its “dark room.”  It was founded and funded by Edouard de Broglie, a specialist in innovation and social responsibility with the help of a friend, Etienne Boisrond, former president of Young & Rubicam Europe.  They also worked Paul Guinot, who is blind, to develop the restaurant.

More restaurants were later created in London and Barcelona.    Today there are 5 restaurants, and others that are more temporary projects.  There was one in New York that was open for over two years, and served over 10,000 people.

I found it interesting to watch some interviews and videos about the restaurants.  Ones that featured the eating experience in London or at the New York restaurant, were interesting to see.

Image Source:
www.danslenoir.com/

Links:

www.danslenoir.com/

Video – Dans le Noir? In London

Video – Dans le Noir? In New York