This dining experience originated at the Blind Cow in Switzerland. It’s called “eating in the dark”, “Sightless Dining”, “Dining in the Dark”, “Dark Dining”, or “where’d that meatball go?”. The concept is that you eat your entire meal in complete darkness. Either the diners are lead into pitch darkness, or you’re seated in light and then given a blindfold – you choose your multi-course meal beforehand and turn cell-phones off. You also only pay once the lights come on. The waiters in most of the restaurants are visually impaired or blind and trained to put you at ease. Other dining in the Dark restaurants use night vision glasses. The first restaurant was opened to create job opportunities for the visually impaired.
What’s it Like Dining in the Dark?
Some of the restaurants (Camaje, Blind Cow)also provide entertainment in the dark, like tap dancing, concerts, and readings. Others like Hunan Kingston attach rattles to the waiters so that you can at least know when they’re around. If you want to go to the bathroom or stand for any reason, you need to tell a waiter, and of course, it’s not recommended for people scared of the dark or claustrophobic.
