Dinner in The Dark

How does it feel to be blind? What are the problems you face when you can’t see? In Hamburg, I came across a restaurant called “Dinner in the Dark” that can give you a taste of the answer and teach you how to rely on your other senses when you eat.

The experience in a nut shell: You have dinner in a pitch dark room while served by blind waiters. What an amazing way to create a dialog between people who can see and those who can’t. Food is always a great ice breaker.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to eat there, but I definitely will next time I’m in Hamburg. The restaurant is part of a bigger project called Dialogue in the Dark, where blind people lead guests through a completely dark environment and where the visitors learn to interact by relying on other senses. (For locations around the world see here.)

How does a dinner in the dark create buzz? People talk about unique experiences, and this experience sounds pretty unique to me. It also involves some uncertainties and raises a lot of questions: is the cook blind too? (no he’s not) Do they serve drinks? (yes) Is the bathroom in the dark? (no). If you’re in Hamburg, the restaurant is located at Alter Wandrahm 4. (This is where trnd’s wom day took place.) As I said, I haven’t eaten there, but you can read what people said about the experience here.

This is a good opportunity to thank the folks at trnd and everyone who came for a terrific day. I was very proud that I was able to follow some of the conversations in German throughout the day and even to answer one of the questions that was asked in German without any translation (!) This would have made my grandma proud. The little German that I know comes from her talking to me as a child, and she didn’t talk much about word-of-mouth marketing or social media.