A restaurant in London called Dans le Noir certainly thinks so and it seems so do their customers, all of whom dine in complete darkness.
The original Dans le Noir was opened in Paris in 2004 and proved an instant hit, so a few years later the owners decided to bring this unique dining experience to London.
According to the founders, the idea of Dans le Noir was to take away one of the primary senses – sight – which often gives us an indication of what food might taste like even before we’ve tasted it. By removing sight from the equation, diners get to fully experience both the taste and texture of the food without any pre-judgements.
There’s obviously the tricky problem of bringing the food to the tables, but Dans le Noir solved this by using blind waiting staff – who better to be able to both share in the experience and assist the diners.
Another difference with this restaurant is that everything comes from the “surprise menu”. In essence, the staff check what you can not eat such as foods you are allergic to, and then prepare dishes based around other carefully chosen foods. This way they remove further pre-conceptions of what the food will be like when served.
The owners have also found that devoid of being able to see other diners, people tend to socialise more with complete strangers too.
Not all of the restaurant is in darkness – only the “dark room” where diners sit is actually dark, whereas the bar and other regions are all lit.
There’s more details on the Dans le Noir London web site.
We’d also like to know if you’ve been to Dans le Noir and how you found dining in the dark? You can comment by clicking here to jump down to the comment form.
More Links around Dans le Noir:
Hotels around Farringdon, close to Dans le Noir
Visitor attractions in Farringdon, London
