People always say that eating should be a complete experience. Well, Dans le Noir ? is here to put your sense to the challenge. Imagine a dark, pitch black dining area where all you have to guide you are blind waiters, your nose and mouth. Also, to avoid the interruption of the experience your cell phones are checked at the door and there is no moving around unless guided by a blind waiter. Intense!
This unique dining experience of eating “dans le noir,” (French, for in the dark) will soon be open on December 2 on 246 West 38th St., New York’s Fashion District and just three blocks from Times Square.
Dans le Noir ? diners will experience eating in complete darkness, guided and served by either a visually impaired or blind staff. Using three of their five senses, taste, touch, and smell, patrons of Dans le Noir ?, can savor simple, fresh and hands-on cuisine in a pitch dark dining setting. This allows for the diner a unique sensory experience of diverse sounds, flavors, smells and textures. The unsighted diner is the one who ultimately takes control of the situation, depending less on their vision, they depend on their blind wait staff to guide them on their experience. Personal appearance and visual style do not play a part when dining at Dans le Noir, people get to know you through other senses based mainly on personality. Unlike other restaurants, this place is totally devoid from vanity.
“It is a place to open your mind and question yourself on taste, but also on your relationships with other people. It is a rich experience with many outcomes,” said Edouard de Broglie, founder of Dans le Noir ?.
Dans le Noir ?, will serve a prix fixe menu adapted to the theme of total darkness through four surprise menu choices: fish, meat, vegetarian, as well as a total surprise menu. Menus are freshly conceived by a local team of chefs with the support of Chef Tourangeau Olivier Romain, who has been working for more than 20 years for prestigious and international clientele. In addition, the wines are selected with the support of Dans le Noir ?’s expert, Christophe Garnier. Dans le Noir ? will also offer a late dinner on Saturdays and Gospel Brunch on Sundays. Prices range from $43 for pre-theater matinee and gospel brunch, to $57 for regular dining (without drinks), and a different pricing for private events.
In New York, Dans le Noir ? is working in close partnership with VISIONS/Services for the blind, as well as Lighthouse International to hire the staff. The New York restaurant will be able to seat 80 patrons in the Dark Room, with a bar lounge area to welcome people.
Dans le Noir ? has locations in Paris, London and Barcelona. Numerous other experiences have been developed in Moscow, Warsaw, Geneva, Bangkok.
As a stimulating and unforgettable dining experience, Dans le Noir ? will bring a lot of questions to mind as symbolized by the question mark in the logo. The first Dans le Noir ? was launched seven years ago in Paris to follow a program developed by Paul Guinot Foundation for the blind which started in 1997.
Dans le Noir ?
246 West 38th St.
New York, NY
What Do You Think?
-Phaon Spurlock, The Southern Gentleman
Follow me on Twitter – @Phaon
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