Is This Dining or Halloween?
Doesn’t my picture of last night’s dinner look yummy? We smoked those pork chops for an hour and a half and that Bone Suckin’ basting sauce really hit the spot. The corn-on-the-cob was some of the sweetest all summer. And the roasted cherry tomatoes and mushrooms were excellent too. Wait! You mean you don’t see the picture so you have no idea what I’m talking about?
Well, I’m not senile and I didn’t forget the photo. No, I simply wanted to give you a small taste of what dining would be like at the soon-to-be-opened restaurant in NYC, Dans le Noir. Those of you that remember high school French class have figured out that means Dining in the Dark. This restaurant is the first of its kind in the U.S. but has existed in Europe since 1999. Diners in this restaurant, which will open late this year or early 2011, will be eating in a restaurant so dark they cannot see their hands in front of their faces. The menu is a surprise that takes into account stated preferences and allergies, and the point is to guess what you’re eating.
This gimmick reminds me of the Halloween party game that sometimes we played with the kids at school. You put food into boxes and the kids need to reach in and guess what it is by touching. Of course, you would give it the Halloween effect by telling them the jell-o mold was witch brains or something disgustingly spooky like that.
Personally, I don’t understand why people would want to pay Manhattan dinner prices to do this. Enjoying a meal requires using all five senses, not the least of which is sight. Consider all of the artistry in recent years with towering food topped with dramatic rosemary sprigs. If chefs didn’t believe in the visuals of dining, they wouldn’t go to such heights.
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4 Responses to “Is This Dining or Halloween?”
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Anything to be different. And, hey, easy plating for the kitchen staff! Just throw any slop on the plate in any manner whatsoever. The visual aesthetic is gone. My guess is that it won’t last long.
I agree with you but I do think if you subtract one or more senses the remaining senses become more acute. Maybe that adds something. Another thought is to possibly take a camera with a flash and take a picture of your dinner. It will last longer that way.
Well, I guess my suspicious New York mentality is showing, but I would never put anything in my mouth that I couldn’t see first. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the virtues of enjoying the meal thru all 5 senses. It has everything to do with not trusting the kitchen staff completely when the opportunity to have a little fun at the expense of a trusting diner presents itself to a kitchen worker who might have an ax to grind. I know nasty things can happen in kitchens and diners in a well lighted dining room might never be aware of it, but to actually fork up some mystery food in the dark is crazy!
Wow Zoogirl! I hadn’t thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, I totally agree. Not just that, but you can’t even see how clean the dining room, table, or plates are. Yuk.