In a single file, with the left hand on the left shoulder of the person in front of them, guests are then led into the dining area where they are served all meal courses in pitch-black darkness. They are then led into a lobby area where they’re introduced to their respective servers, who in turn give instructions on dining room logistics-how to get to the bathrooms, how to ask for anything etc. Guests who visit the restaurant, for example, place their orders and express any dietary concerns while in the waiting area outside. While Dark Table is like a typical restaurant, there are some technical differences. “Generally, we help the blind cross the streets outside the restaurant. “The whole idea is to empower the blind,” Mousattat explained. “He liked the concept so much that he decided to bring it to Canada.” Alemmedine would go on to open two additional Dark Table locations-one in Vancouver in 2012 and the other in Calgary in 2017.ĭark Table is a reservations only restaurant that aims to, “take you on a culinary journey through uncharted territory.” Like The Blind Cow, Dark Table employs blind or visually impaired servers-turning the tables on how sighted people interact with the blind. “He was visiting Europe and went to the original location in Zurich,” stated Sami Mousattat, Alemeddine’s business partner and general manager of Dark Table’s Vancouver location.

Six years later, Moe Alemmedine-founder of O.Noir-opened Dark Table in Montreal, after visiting The Blind Cow. The concept grew to be so popular that by December of 2000-a little over a year after its opening-reservations for The Blind Cow were booked through June 2001. The Blind Cow was staffed by the blind and operated in total darkness, The Telegraph reported. The idea for his first restaurant-which opened in September of 1999-began in his home, where he would sometimes “blindfold his dinner guests to immerse them in the world of the blind,” he told The Telegraph in 2000.įrom there he was able to raise £200,000 to open The Blind Cow, a restaurant dedicated to helping the sighted realize what it’s like to be blind.

Dark dining was popularized by Reverend Jorge Spielmann in Zurich, Switzerland.

NEW YORK-The concept of dining in the dark has become a tool for restaurants to give their guests an experience that keeps them coming back for more, but in fact, it started as a way to show sighted people what it’s like to eat while blind.

The dark table