A new restaurant offers a gastronomical feast for your senses, by making you dine in pitch-black darkness.
Fumbling, I pick up dessert in the middle of my meal and bite into it. Twice. My fingers get messy when I inadvertently dip them into some gravy in my attempts to navigate around the platter, while my initial forays with the fork can best be described as random jabs. It’s not that I’ve temporarily lost control of my limbs or forgotten my table manners. But it’s rather difficult to exercise both when you’re eating in a blackout and that’s what I signed up for at Dark, a new restaurant in the city which has a section where you can dine in complete darkness.
Why would someone want to do something so bizarre? “When you dine in darkness, all your other senses become more acute. You are able to taste better, smell better... and you will be able to focus completely on your food,” is what I’m told repeatedly, before I enter in my guise of anonymous diner, while awaiting my food in the dark (by a Voice through the speakers) and the next day, when I ring up as curious journalist.
This is how it works: you make reservations in advance as the diners are allowed into this section in batches. After a host/hostess tells you what’s in store, you’ll be guided by a blind waiter to your table in a pitch-dark room. You’ll be served a platter of food about which you’ll know nothing beforehand, apart from the cuisine (you can choose from Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Indian). Once you emerge, you’ll be told what you actually ate.
Dark is not the first player to experiment with this idea, which reportedly originated at the residence of a blind clergyman in Zurich, whose guests used to eat blindfolded in an expression of solidarity with their host. Some guests, finding that their dining experience became enhanced rather than impaired, went on to start Blindekuh (Blind Cow) in Switzerland. The idea caught on and was replicated in different parts of the globe.
India is no stranger to the idea either. Hyderabad has Dialogue in the Dark, part of a global chain, which offers a four-course meal in the dark. And in Bangalore, posh restaurant Toscano used to offer patrons the chance to have a meal blindfolded. This no longer seems to be on Toscano’s menu, according to its spokesperson, who only mentions a one-off event a couple of years ago when the restaurant was darkened completely for a group of diners. Lack of enthusiasts, perhaps?
Felicia Oluwa Yemi Oluwa Tuyi, the director of Dark, says she came across the concept in Paris and decided to launch something similar in the city. “It’s an adventure, more than anything. And it also makes you aware of what the blind go through.” The food in the blackedout section, she confirms, is the same as that served in the rest of the restaurant.
More From This Section
But back to dinner. I’m led to my table by Sadiq, one of the three blind waiters at Dark who have been trained by the National Association for the Blind. It’s a strange feeling to be in total darkness. There’s none of the “eyes adjusting to the darkness” stuff because even after blinking several times, it’s all still pitch black. My platter arrives, and after the initial fumbling, I think I acquit myself creditably. I had asked for Thai but I seem to have got Chinese. I identify fried rice, noodles, a dry, spicy starter (turns out to be fish), a variety of cauliflower manchurian, a gravy that has chunks of something alien (tofu, I’m told later), a helping of chicken in a coconut milk-lemon grass gravy (Thai?) and the date dessert that became part of my main course. I can’t say that my senses have become “more acute.” I tend to focus more on getting forksful into my mouth without any spillages than on any aroma. And the food is hardly outstanding; the fried rice and noodles are definitely of the food court variety. The enthusiastic staff outside, which wants to know if I liked the experience, forgets to tell me what I’ve eaten, though, and I call back later to find out.
“If you are eating in total darkness, how would you know you are not swallowing a fly with your food?” a friend asks on being told about my dinner. Luckily, that had not occurred to me before I went and, to be fair, that could happen anywhere, if the horror stories of what goes on in some restaurant kitchens are true. The experience was interesting, partly because of the novelty factor, and the giggles of the diners at the adjoining table hint that it could be something fun to do for a group of friends. And at Rs 300 for a non-vegetarian platter, it’s hardly exorbitant. But to get customers to return, Dark would need to improve its food. After all, diners are hardly likely to keep coming back just to eat in darkness.
Dark is located at Jeevan Bhima Nagar
Main Road, above the TVS Showroom.
Call 080-25200017 for reservations
