Dining In The Dark

  Apparently, there is a new trend where people pay to dine in the dark.  I am not talking about eating by candlelight but in total darkness.  This requires the waitstaff to use night vision goggles so they can "see" to deliver the food.

This idea began in 1999 when The Blind Cow opened in Zurich Switzerland followed by the Invisible Bar in Cologne, Germany.  These were opened to give sighted people the chance to experience what the blind felt when eating. 

Since then it has changed to become the thing to do.  Since most people cannot see what they are eating, food is served so that meat is in chunks rather than in whole pieces because its extremely difficult to cut something you can't see or vegetables are mushy like masked potatoes rather than green peas.  Thus places like this offered a more limited menu.

Often the menu shows a description of the item because its been discovered that people have problems distinguishing between flavors when they lack visual cues.  In other words, if I order a steak, I use some of what I see to tell me its been blackened and those visual cues provide my mind with what it needs to connect to its flavor.

In addition, the lack of lighting makes it more difficult to interact with people because we do not know where anyone is.  Most restaurants like this seat people on long benches so they are often sitting next to strangers.  Consequently, conversation often revolves around mundane things such as finding the silverware rather than a more intimate topic.  If you can't see people's reaction to your comment, how do you know if it was successful or they were laughing to be polite. No matter how great the dining experience was in the restaurant, they are not likely to want to repeat it at home. 

One reason it is thought the number of restaurants offering this experience is growing because of the "experience economy".  In other words people pay for experiences as well as services and products.  Although, many argue that eating in the dark, heightens our other senses thus making the whole dining experience even better because our smell takes over since we can no longer see.

On the other hand, it is argued that because we can't see the food, we are missing out on things like color which tells us when something is off or burned and those clues help the mind with expected quality. We use those clues a lot.   In addition, the claim that when a person cannot see, their other senses may not be correct because the limit data available indicates that is not true. 

I hear its the experience people are after but honestly, I prefer being able to see my food.  I want to enjoy the colors, see the composition of the dish, enjoy the presentation.  I also don't want to tentatively feel for my food and hope I don't get it in my lap.  I have enough trouble getting the food from my plate to my mouth, I don't need more in my lap.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.