Interesting Dinner Experience...

[ilovethiswebsite]

Just wanted to share - I had dinner in the PITCH black last night. It was a friend's 30th birthday, and we went to a restaurant who's concept is to eat in the darkness in order to heighten the sense of taste, and to experience eating like individuals who are blind do...

I have to admit, it was terrifying.. I almost had an anxiety attack when I first walked in... It's literally so dark you can't see anything - not even 1 inch in front of your face. You have to feel around for your utensils and you end up touching your food a lot to figure out where it is and in order to get in in your mouth. You pre-pick all your food choices before you enter the black out room, but you can also pick a "surprise" option for your appetizer, main and dessert... All the servers were either blind or visually impaired.

When I left I was very disoriented!

It was honestly one of the scariest, yet coolest experience of my life! Here is the linky if anyone is interested. I think they have similar restaurants in NYC and other parts of the US. Anyway - just thought I would share... And recommend you all try it once!

http://www.onoir.com/

 

[DiamanteBlu]

Wow! That must have been a strange experience! What kind of food do they have. I hope that not too much stuff is slathered in sauce!

 

[lyra]

This idea does not appeal to me at all! I would have felt terribly claustrophobic. I can see my youngest daughter (19) maybe enjoying this experience. I have too many phobias to feel comfortable eating in total darkness.

PS: What did you order, and how was the food?

 

[klewis]

Was there lots of laughter/chatter in the black-out room or was it more serious and did you find your sense of taste heightened in this darkened eating environment? It''s sounds like an it would be an interesting experience.

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 3:18:38 PM
Author: DiamanteBlu
Wow! That must have been a strange experience! What kind of food do they have. I hope that not too much stuff is slathered in sauce!

hehee. Well, I had a grilled portobello mushroom starter (which was tasty but a bit slimy), my main was a pasta (they also had chicken and steak but I was too scared to venture beyond pasta) and my dessert was a surprise, which ended up being a coffee flavored chocolate mousse cake... The food was decent - not bad at all!

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 4:03:02 PM
Author: klewis
Was there lots of laughter/chatter in the black-out room or was it more serious and did you find your sense of taste heightened in this darkened eating environment? It''s sounds like an it would be an interesting experience.

Actually - it''s funny you mention that... There was a lot of laughter and chatter in the background at first and then it quieted down... I do think it did heighten my tastes a little bit... It kind of heightened all your other sense like hearing, taste, and touch... I realized I become much more aware of my body positioning since you are trying not to bang things around like glasses and the people sitting beside you or in front of you.

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 3:58:43 PM
Author: lyra
This idea does not appeal to me at all! I would have felt terribly claustrophobic. I can see my youngest daughter (19) maybe enjoying this experience. I have too many phobias to feel comfortable eating in total darkness.

PS: What did you order, and how was the food?

To be honest, I was soooo scared to even go - but it was a good friend''s birthday so I sucked it up! It was actually even more challenging and made it more worthwhile since I knew it was so scary for me, so it was almost like exposure therapy or over coming a fear of blindness! It was nuts! I almost ran out right when I walked in cause I was starting to feel my heart beat fast... But I stuck with it and man - was it ever an experience I will never forget!

As for what I ordered, please see my reply above.

 

[lyra]

LOL! As soon as you mentioned the food you ordered, and the fact that there was enough noise around you, it changed my view quite a bit. I think I would try this simply as an experiment on what it is like to be blind. My uncle went blind, and certainly it didn''t stop him from doing things like eating out! When he was over for dinner, my mom would explain what was on his plate and he''d orient the plate himself so he had a good idea where everything was. I imagine though, that I would spill food and drink on myself while eating in the dark. Heck, I do it when I CAN see!

 

[monarch64]

Wow! I would LOVE to do the "blind" dinner experience. It sounds amazing. Scary/disorienting, but AMAZING.

 

[makemepretty]

I wouldn''t feel comfortable putting something in my mouth I haven''t seen first. It has a certain ''yuck'' factor for me. I could only allow someone I trust to feed me something without me being able to see it.

 

[rainwood]

What an interesting experience! I''m not sure I''d be up for this. There are some foods I cannot eat without gagging, and I''d hate to end up putting some of those in my mouth (I''m ''looking'' at you, blue cheese).

And I wonder if not being able to see heightens your sense of taste or confuses it. The reason I''m wondering is that the show ''Top Chef'' does a Quickfire challenge where the cheftestants have to taste various food items blindfolded and guess what they are. Even on the Top Chef Masters version of this, the chefs didn''t do very well and you''d expect them to know flavors better than anybody. I can see where blindness might cause you to have more sensitive taste buds over time, but a one-time experience might just be confusing.

 

[atroop711]

Date: 8/23/2009 3:58:43 PM
Author: lyra
This idea does not appeal to me at all! I would have felt terribly claustrophobic. I can see my youngest daughter (19) maybe enjoying this experience. I have too many phobias to feel comfortable eating in total darkness.

PS: What did you order, and how was the food?

DITTO THIS..I also have too many fears to try this..and that surprise appetizer? That would worry me

 

[atroop711]

Date: 8/23/2009 7:29:33 PM
Author: makemepretty
I wouldn''t feel comfortable putting something in my mouth I haven''t seen first. It has a certain ''yuck'' factor for me. I could only allow someone I trust to feed me something without me being able to see it.

yup...I would have the fear of creepy crawlers being on my plate and going into my mouth

 

[MonkeyPie]

If I didn''t have atrocious morning sickness, I would LOVE this. I once tried to eat with a blindfold on for a class project and it was soooo hard! The worst part was finding my drinking glass without knocking it over. I would put my hand flat on the table and crawl forward with my fingers until I touched it.

My husband would hate it, though. He eats in a very particular way and HAS to have enough light when eating or he gets frustrated.

 

[princessplease]

Wow, how neat does that sound!!!!! It had to make for a very messy dinner, though!

 

[luckystar112]

I think it sounds fun!

Something I''ve always wanted to do is a murder mystery dinner.

 

[TravelingGal]

Sounds like fun. However I would need a bib and bandaids because I know I would poke several holes in my face with a fork.

 

[kama_s]

I recently heard about this. It''s really not something I''d like to do though, because for me going out to dinner is something I enjoy and look forward to. I like to sit and have a long dinner with the beau, polish off a bottle of wine and just talk all evening! No cooking or cleaning either! So this dinner in the dark would make me feel out of place and anxious - I''d probably be waiting for the meal to be done with!

If friends/family were to have some sort of a celebration there, then I''d definitely love to experience it.

 

[paeony]

Very interesting... Did the waiters/busboys have nightvision goggles? Just curious about the logistics! I would like to know that everything was sanitary

 

[kama_s]

Date: 8/23/2009 10:14:06 PM
Author: paeony
Very interesting... Did the waiters/busboys have nightvision goggles? Just curious about the logistics! I would like to know that everything was sanitary

I doubt it; especially since ILTW mentioned most were either blind or visually impaired. I think they would have to know the area around them pretty well though.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I think there was a CSI (or some other show) about dinner in the dark. Aside from the murder it looked awesome!

I would totally do this!!! Did it heighten your sense of taste or smell?

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 7:46:25 PM
Author: rainwood
What an interesting experience! I''m not sure I''d be up for this. There are some foods I cannot eat without gagging, and I''d hate to end up putting some of those in my mouth (I''m ''looking'' at you, blue cheese).


And I wonder if not being able to see heightens your sense of taste or confuses it. The reason I''m wondering is that the show ''Top Chef'' does a Quickfire challenge where the cheftestants have to taste various food items blindfolded and guess what they are. Even on the Top Chef Masters version of this, the chefs didn''t do very well and you''d expect them to know flavors better than anybody. I can see where blindness might cause you to have more sensitive taste buds over time, but a one-time experience might just be confusing.

Excellent point - I can see how vision may enhance taste because it feeds cues to your brain... Interesting... I think it enhances taste a bit because you really have nothing else to concentrate on but the food since you can''t see anything at all! You end up talking a lot to ease the anxiety but when you are actually eating the experience is very different than when you see.

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 8:44:29 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Sounds like fun. However I would need a bib and bandaids because I know I would poke several holes in my face with a fork.

hahahaha... I thought I would bring a bib too but in the end I actually managed not to spill ANYTHING on myself. I did good!

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 10:08:35 PM
Author: kama_s
I recently heard about this. It''s really not something I''d like to do though, because for me going out to dinner is something I enjoy and look forward to. I like to sit and have a long dinner with the beau, polish off a bottle of wine and just talk all evening! No cooking or cleaning either! So this dinner in the dark would make me feel out of place and anxious - I''d probably be waiting for the meal to be done with!


If friends/family were to have some sort of a celebration there, then I''d definitely love to experience it.

ehhehe. yeah totally not something i would do on a regular basis... but to be honest, the fact that it was something scary and unusual made the experience even more interesting...

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 10:14:06 PM
Author: paeony
Very interesting... Did the waiters/busboys have nightvision goggles? Just curious about the logistics! I would like to know that everything was sanitary

Nope - they were all blind or visually impaired... Our waitress was the coolest too! I loved her!

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 10:42:38 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
I think there was a CSI (or some other show) about dinner in the dark. Aside from the murder it looked awesome!


I would totally do this!!! Did it heighten your sense of taste or smell?

Lol - my husband also mentioned that CSI episode! ahhaha. He was just trying to scare all of us!

I think it heightened my sense of taste more than smell.... And it really was because there was nothing else to pay attention to but what you were eating... Very strange I tell you... very strange...

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 8/23/2009 8:06:33 PM
Author: atroop711

Date: 8/23/2009 3:58:43 PM

Author: lyra

This idea does not appeal to me at all! I would have felt terribly claustrophobic. I can see my youngest daughter (19) maybe enjoying this experience. I have too many phobias to feel comfortable eating in total darkness.

PS: What did you order, and how was the food?

DITTO THIS..I also have too many fears to try this..and that surprise appetizer? That would worry me

Yeah... at first I was scared of ordering the surprises because, I too, am a picky eater. I ended up ordering the surprise dessert though because I figured it was the safest bet. A friend of mine was more adventurous and ordered surprise everything. He ended up getting pasta as an appetizer and chicken as his main. The food was actually surprisingly decent... Not a 5 start restaurant by any means but I think they try and keep the menu simple so the guest/clients aren't too terrified or disappointed. My pasta main entree was very plain, but tasty. It was penne in a tomato sauce with some grill veggies on top. It was fun trying to figure out which veggies were in my mouth!

 

[litebrite]

That sounds intriguing, thanks for the report back! I think for my friends with food allergies, that experience wouldn''t work, but I''d be game to go myself. Or to do a Halloween dinner where my guests have to eat in the dark.

 

[gwendolyn]

That sounds like a hoot! And yeah, the first thing that came to mind for me was also the episode of CSI that takes place in one of these restaurants.

Hmmm, wonder if London has any...?

 

[Erin]

Since it was pitch black, did you find yourself sitting there with your eyes open or shut?