{"id":40551,"date":"2017-11-30T14:16:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T21:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=40551"},"modified":"2017-11-30T14:16:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T21:16:46","slug":"heres-something-different-a-restaurant-with-servers-food-but-no-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2017\/11\/30\/heres-something-different-a-restaurant-with-servers-food-but-no-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s something different: A restaurant with servers, food, but no lights"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he city of Calgary has been introduced to its first ever, dark dining restaurant, where those brave enough, can experience their meal in complete darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The room is so dark that your eyes never adjust,\u201d said Mireille Evans, a first time customer of the Dark Table restaurant.<\/p>\n

She was excited to hear that Calgary was finally opening this diner, as she has heard different things about it in the past, and wanted to try it out for herself.<\/p>\n

Evans was aware that the people who would guide her to her seat, and serve the food, were all visually impaired.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe staff is completely in their element, whereas we are the ones who need their assistance for everything,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n

She also said that guests would need assistance if they needed to get to the washroom, as there would be no way to find their way there by themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only glimpse you ever get is the exit light, or a quick flash when the curtain is drawn,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n

Owner and founder Moe Alameddine came up with the idea for the restaurant after going on a trip to Switzerland, where he saw how different it was over there.<\/p>\n

He has successfully opened Dark Table in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, and said at first everyone thought that he was crazy.<\/p>\n

Alameddine had worked in fast food for most of his life, and knew that this idea would be a huge risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of restaurant we transfer the trust,\u201d said Alameddine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trust the blind people to do the job, as they\u2019re the ones guiding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dark Table was first opened 11 years ago, in downtown Montreal, close to McGill University, which helped bring in many curious students.<\/p>\n

Three years later, Alameddine decided to move to Toronto and try to open up another one.<\/p>\n

All visually impaired servers are hired through the Canadian Institute for the Blind (CNB), and go through training, in order to properly navigate around the restaurant, as well as bring over the correct dishes.<\/p>\n

When people arrive, they are given the menu at the bar that is dimly lit, so they know exactly what they are ordering.<\/p>\n

According to the website Darktable.ca<\/a>, the goal is for those dining, to use their other senses, such as smell, taste, and touch to help them enjoy their meal.<\/p>\n

Sandy Tavares, the restaurant manager, explained that she has dealt with customers who have not been able to handle dining in the dark.<\/p>\n

She recalled an incident two weeks after the opening in Calgary, in which a girl who needed to be removed.<\/p>\n

Tavares said that the girl was located in the far back corner of the restaurant, and could not see any light.<\/p>\n

Sitting close to the door usually helps people who are scared, said Tavares.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will always try to accommodate if we can,\u201d said Tavares.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can\u2019t handle being in the room, we bring them back into the light.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a protocol to follow when this happens, in order to make the person feel comfortable, and it is up to them later on, if they would like to go back and try again.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The dark room: <\/strong>Still very dimly lit, this photograph has been exposed, to show what the bar looks like as it is the only area where there is light in the restaurant, besides the washroom. It is nearly impossible to take photos, as the restaurant focuses on people using their other senses, and not their vision. All the guided servers are visually impaired, and are trained to let customers feel comfortable, while they guide them to their seats. (Photo by Jennifer Gorrie\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dark Tables restaurant, has recently opened in Calgary, and has caught attention as meals are said to be eaten in complete darkness. This is so people can focus on conversation, as well as use other senses that are usually ignored. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":439,"featured_media":40599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S4 Dark Table","footnotes":""},"categories":[711],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-40551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-image","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"post_format-post-format-image"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/439"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40551"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40956,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40551\/revisions\/40956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}