MONTREAL — Canadian Press Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2009 12:46PM EDT
Forget about a feast for the eyes at the new O.Noir restaurant opening Friday in downtown Montreal. The dining room is completely dark, so patrons will have to rely on their other senses. Call it a new way to connect with your food.
"It's a really sensual way to eat," said Moe Alameddine, the 37-year-old owner and general manager of the 50-seat restaurant. "And it makes an extraordinary ambience. It's crazy, yes, but it's fun."
Eating in the dark has already been a hit in Los Angeles, New York, Australia and Europe, Alameddine said. Obtaining a reservation at the London restaurant Dans le Noir? sometimes requires a two-week wait, he added.
O.Noir is the first such establishment in Canada. The meat, fish and fowl on O.Noir's menu of Mediterranean fare will be boneless (less fear of choking that way). Bite-sized portions will be served for the same reason. Soup, with its potential for hot, messy spills, is not available.
Adding to the experience will be the waiters and waitresses. Following the example set by other dark restaurants, Alameddine, who is not blind, hired 10 servers who are 50-to-90-per-cent visually impaired. "The unemployment rate for the blind is as high as 75 per cent," Alameddine said. "But if you teach them, they can do the job."
In what was as much a social experiment as a business venture, Alameddine worked with employment and rehabilitation services to hire and train the servers. The new workers practised talking with headsets to communicate with sighted kitchen staff, who work in a separate, lighted area.
During the meal, the servers will help sighted customers "see" what it's like to be blind. Diners will be greeted in the bar area of the restaurant, which is lit. They will leave any glowing cellphones and watches in lockers, get the key, order from the menu and meet their servers. Then, while resting a hand on their server's shoulder, diners will be led past black velvet curtains and to tables in the dining room's blackness.
If you need salt or to be escorted to the washroom (which is dimly lit), your server is your lifeline. "Just remember," Alameddine said, "we don't eat with our eyes."
O.Noir Restaurant: 1631 Ste-Catherine St. W.; http://www.onoir.com; 514-937-9727.
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