Imagine youâre blind. You go to a restaurant and have to feel your way to the table, and to the seat. You find your seat, but then canât see the napkin, or the fork or knife. Whereâs the water? Is there water in my cup? Whoâs next to me? These are just a few of the questions I asked tonight.Â
Dans le noir is a restaurant that was started in Paris, but its increasing popularity has caused it to pop up in many other cities varying across Europe. Dans le noir or in french, âIn the dark,â is a restaurant in the complete dark. Waiters and waitresses who are blind, serve you and you cannot see anything within the restaurant. I had heard of this type of restaurant from a blog post I had read awhile back, but had heard of it in Toronto and thought the concept was pretty cool, but did no further investigating. Katie had been wanting to check out this place for a while now, and since we only have 4 more days left, we decided to try it. We booked our reservation for 8:00 pm for 3 people and waited for what was in store for us.Â
We got to the restaurant, which was conveniently located in the 4th arrondissement, and it looked like your average restaurant. There was a hostess stand and a large bar, but there were locked cubbies in the corner and a black curtain that housed... something? We approached the hostess and told her our name and she asked if we were familiar with the concept of the restaurant, to which we nodded. She then asked us to put our belongings in a cubby (anything that would have light specifically) and to use the bathroom beforehand. We then were escorted to the black curtain and before entering, were asked how many plats we wanted (2 or 3) and whether we had any dietary restrictions. We went with 2 plats (a main and dessert) for Kt and I, Nat got an entree instead, and I told the woman that I do not eat meat (in fear for getting served lamb or something). We then were greeted by our blind waiter, Gamba, who was incredibly sweet and then were told to hold onto the person in front of us and walk into the dark abyss. Upon first entering the room, I was totally confused. I legitimately could not see ANYTHING. I felt like I was bumping into things constantly. For what seemed like 5 minutes, I finally felt a chair and Gamba kindly led us into the seat. I was sitting at a table and could not see who was next to me or what was in front of me. I felt for the napkin and placed it on my lap, until Katie came up with the brilliant idea of using it as a bib because no one can see you, so I did that. We sat there, in complete darkness. It was weird, but really cool. We chatted, but couldnât see facial expressions or body language. It really showed how important sight is. There would be times throughout dinner that I thought someone was talking to me, but they werenât because I couldnât see who they were directing their conversation to. It was strange. We also were seated with random people, and a woman and man who were from Vancouver also became part of our meal, because we had to imagine what they looked like from their voices. We all agreed that this would be a perfect place for a blind date because you really got to know someone based off of who they genuinely are and looks cannot play a factor. Apart from being in complete darkness and not being able to see anything, we also did not know what we were eating, it was a surprise. Natalie got her entree and guessed it was some sort of brie with nuts and Katie and I tried some and got some of smoked salmon somewhere in there. Next came the main courses. Mine came out first because I was the âvegetarianâ option, which by the way doesnât exist in Europe, which is fine by me because I just donât eat meat. I smelled some sort of fish. When I tasted it and awkwardly stabbed at the plate, I tasted some sort of cod. Itâs really cool that when your sight is gone, other senses start to magnify. For example, the French family next to me were SUPER LOUD and almost nauseating to me because of how loud they actually were. My sense of smell and taste were also magnified and I could taste the broccoli instantly and the couscous. The most awkward part was trying to find everything on your plate and many times during the night I resorted to using my hands to feel around #sorrynotsorry. I finished my plate pretty quickly and I think that had to do with the part that I couldnât really talk to anyone cause I couldnât see them. Or I couldnât become distract with something. I ate so fast that at first I didnât even feel full upon devouring the plate. It was a strange feeling. After about 20 minutes, we were served our dessert. That was interesting as well. I tasted strawberries first, and then a whipped cream on top. Then I moved along the plate and got a sort of upside down pineapple cake with other fruit I couldnât decipher. I thought I was done with this when I felt around again and found a cookie sandwich type thing that tasted a bit alcoholic, wasnât sure what that was. I found myself becoming bored really easily at the table because I wasnât stimulated, which I found incredibly interesting. Because I wasnât really holding conversations with people and looking at things or engaging with people, I found myself fidgeting and playing with my face, trying to do something with my hands to make myself feel more comfortable.Â
After dessert, I felt a tap on my shoulder and knew it was time to go. I followed the train back outside and when I saw light, I was super relieved. During the darkness I couldnât tell whether I was seeing things or whether my eyes were closed and it was giving me a major headache so to finally see the light made me feel better. The hostess then approached us and asked how we liked the experience and then gave us the menu of what we ate. I think that was the coolest part, tasting something, guessing it, and seeing if you were right. Actually seeing what I ate in a picture was so strange. I had no idea thatâs what the meal looked like, especially the dessert, my idea was all over the place. It was also really interesting to see the Canadian couple leave. I had heard the womanâs voice and was expecting to see this beautiful blonde woman, but instead it was this....kind of hipster red head with a bunch of tattoos. Nothing against that look, just very different than I had imagined.Â
I learned tonight that I definitely take my sense of sight for granted. Yes, there are thousands of memes out there making fun of Helen Keller, but wow, her life was rough. I couldnât imagine not being able to see. I didnât realize how profound of a sense it was, it can even effect your appetite. I didnât realize that before. I loved this experience, but I donât think I would do it again. It was fun and incredibly eye opening, but I would much rather choose what Iâm eating than be given something. The dark part, ok, but the lack of choice, NOPE.Â
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