Whats the best way to make sure your date is tall, dark and handsome? Why not dine in the dark? I mean that will at least have dark covered, results may vary on your imagination to fill in the rest. FYI Dark Table, owned by Moe Alameddine, provides the option for adventurous blind daters to meet for the first time completely in the dark.
I know this because I went last week. The sensation of sitting in the dark with a stranger was surprisingly easy to adjust to. The restaurant din was familiar and alien in equal measure, like a misplaced overlaying soundtrack for the scene. I found myself nodding only to smile to myself, knowing my date can’t see me and would have no means of feedback. If you have the take-everything-too-far gene like me, their menu has a “Surprise Me” feature. Main Surprise option can be requested vegetarian or vegan in advance.
The blind dining concept is commonly accredited to Jorge Spielmann—who blindfolded his guests to show them what eating is like as a blind person. Starting as an exercise to share his own experience, Spielmann’s guests claimed once their sight was veiled, taste, smell, hearing and touch were heightened, giving the social act of dining new depth. These dinners grew into a restaurant which included a dark dining room and blind servers - a tradition that Dark Table continues in Vancouver. In a society bombarded with visual communications, the blind face exclusions in many areas such as an unemployment rate of 70%. In a dark dining environment Alameddine states the tables are turned—the non-sighted servers guide the sighted in an unique, eye-opening experience.
Going into the experience found myself wondering if you can hear a smile from a voice you’ve never heard? How much our taste is affected by our perceived experience of a dish? Speaking to a few friends before the experience, I have heard mixed reviewed of the fare. Some calling it “bland” and not worth the hype. I am extremely curious about a) what the dishes actually looked like - is it traditional culinary setting and artistry when a cook knows it will never be seen? and b) how the same dish would have been perceived in a sighted environment, after all the actual mechanics of an experience matters little in the face of how it was perceived.
It gave me new awareness of the communications I usually count on as well as how I typically navigate a meal. For one I don’t typically accidentally stick my fingers in my food in search of a fork half as often. I also ate a lemon wedge, twice. I’ll let you do the math on that one. Our server, Justin, graciously guided our hands to the edge of the plate at the arrival of each dish. It was a pleasure to feel the silkiness of the plate, roughness of the cloth and my dishes coming to life beneath my touch.
Dark Table
“Visually impaired servers guide diners through an upscale menu & dining in complete darkness”
Address: 2611 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6K 1P8
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Happy Holidays !!