It’s normally nerves that make you lose track of your mouth when forking your food to your face on a blind date. It’s not usually the fact that you’re actually blind.
Dans le noir is a dining establishment that blows all the rules of etiquette out of its non-existent windows. Couples and groups of strangers alike have been gathering nightly in this new Farringdon hot spot since its opening a few months ago, for a multi-sensory experience that actually works by eliminating your most precious one. Sight.
With similar operations in Paris and Zurich, the concept of dining in the dark was designed initially to create awareness of disability. All the waiters at Dans le noir are either blind or partially sighted. Sitting in the lounge with post-work cocktails we looked nervously around at the strangers who were just as intrigued as us as to what lay beyond that ominous curtain. We’d heard the rumours of course, but would it actually be pitch black in there? Would we actually have to ask to go to the toilet? Would we really find new confidence in our ability to talk to a stranger, simply because we couldn’t see the judgement (or the pasta sauce) on his face?
Our waiter, Roberto, greeted us with a welcoming smile and lead us confidently in a train with our hands on each other’s shoulders, down the red-lit corridor and into the restaurant. It was instantly terrifying, if only for the fact that we could hear the scrapes of cutlery on china, the chatter of our dining companions, the animated conversation that accompanied the smells of their food, but we couldn’t really tell if we were about to walk into their tables.
Shut your eyes in any restaurant and an image of your surroundings is still imprinted on your eyelids. The light from the windows on your left, the colour of the dress on the lady sitting opposite, the flickering of the candles or the pattern on the wallpaper behind you. All of this creates a reason to dine out that doesn’t always involve the food. Dans le noir changes everything. There are no distractions. And where there is nothing else to divert your attention, you’re left only to think about your food. How funny this is when you can’t even see what you’re eating.
We opted for the surprise menu and tasted mashed potato that turned out to be hummus. We clumsily carved into pork that turned out to be veal, and let slices of warm baked apples slide across our tongues without realising they were actually peaches. With a glass of wine to accompany every course we had so much fun trying to figure out what was on our plates, without 
actually caring about anything other than the fact that it all tasted so good! I’ll admit to scraping what I thought was mash up with my fingers and tearing my meat with my hands to save stabbing the plate with my knife. One thing we all noticed, as we chatted away, was how quickly we ate, desperate for the next surprise to tantalise our taste buds.
By the time two guys approached our table, (one almost sat in my lap as he missed his chair), we were quite content in our new environment and had almost forgotten that outside it was 98 degrees and still sunny. We’d even discussed things we wouldn’t normally have mentioned, losing inhibitions as the darkness hid our facial expressions and focusing simply on words. That said, this place would be perfect for a first date, but even on a night with your friends, you’re bound to uncover a few surprises.
A world of total darkness is one that thankfully, most of us will never have to adjust to permanently. But experience Dans le noir just once and chances are you’ll walk away appreciating what a different world you would live in, not only if appearance didn’t matter, but if your ignorant taste buds were always this alive.
By Becky Wicks
Book our exclusive dans le noir social event. October 24th. Two drinks and tapas in the dark - £15 HERE
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