Dinner in the Dark: An Invitation to the Senses
Awakening the senses during a meal is the proposal of Ateliê No Dark Gastronomy, but for that it is necessary to do something quite different: to give up the vision. That's right! A good way to sharpen your taste, smell, hearing and touch is to blindfold.
The founders of the project, Elis Feldman and Maria Lyra, created the Dinner in the Dark from an experience they had in 2008 at a restaurant in Paris. They claim that because we live in an extremely visual culture, the goal of dinner is to allow people, by depriving themselves of their eyesight, to give way to new sensations that are unnoticed in the rush of everyday life.
The idea of doing activities in the dark was conceived by German Andreas Heinecke, a project that allowed visitors to be guided by the visually impaired through different spaces in total darkness. Anyone who has gone through this experience states that blindfolded, it is possible to see beyond, to perceive the world around differently, and to know oneself better.
How it works
At dark dinner, it all starts with sales. The chefs carefully close the eyes of all the evening guests and direct them to their seats. The first difficulty, besides the curiosity and anxiety that are shown while waiting, is to identify the plates, glasses and cutlery. Things like drinking a glass of water or putting the fork to our mouths that we do unconsciously take on an unexpected complexity.
The next surprise is the menu. Everyone goes to dinner without knowing what they will enjoy (but don't worry: chefs take into account the dietary restrictions of the public). Dinner is complete - starter, main course and dessert. Dishes are prepared to fully exploit the aromas, textures and flavors of food, creating unusual and thought-provoking combinations. And here is the time to explore taste along with touch. Sauces, syrups, pastas, leaves - a full plate to entertain the tact of visitors who, early in the evening, are advised to eat with their hands. The use of hands, according to Elis and Maria, is for the client to have freedom, go back to the days of childhood, when it was allowed to eat like this, and take pleasure in smearing and enjoy the sensations that food can provide.
But it doesn't end here! To complete the synaesthetic experience, quiet and peaceful live music is chosen to fill the ambience, which brings a light wind and the scent of flowers in the air. Bells are used to draw the attention of guests in the exchange of dishes. And most stimulating, poetry is recited at various times during dinner, leading some people to even cry.
At the end of the night, after taking sales, people have fun trying to guess what was tasted. Those responsible for preparing the dishes gather the public and satisfy the curiosity of the visitors. And they point out how difficult it is for people to get it right: there are customers who are surprised to find that they ate something they would never have imagined.
These meetings of gastronomy, music and literature take place in the city of São Paulo, in several restaurants, but the team also attends private and business dinners. To follow the agenda, see the Ateliê No Dark Gastronomy project website.
Service:
Atelier In the Dark Gastronomy
www.noescurogastronomia.com.br
Price: from $ 80 to $ 150
Approximate Duration: 2 hours
