- Title: FRANCE: NEW PARIS RESTAURANT SERVES MEALS IN COMPLETE DARKNESS.
- Date: 20th June 2005
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 20, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) EXTERIOR OF RUE QUINCAMPOIX AND PAN TO EXTERIOR OF "DANS LE NOIR" RESTAURANT CLOSE OF SIGN FOR "DANS LE NOIR" PAN FROM MANGOES TO STAFF WORKING BEHIND THE BAR TO PEOPLE SITTING AT THE BAR PEOPLE SITTING AT THE BAR, SEEN FROM BEHIND CLOSE OF CHAMPAGNE BEING POURED INTO GLASSES TO MAKE KIR ROYAL GUIDE DOG BLIND WAITRESS STANDING WITH HER GUIDE DOG CHATTING TO ANOTHER MEMBER OF STAFF (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOUNDER OF THE RESTAURANT "DANS LE NOIR", EDOUARD DE BROGLIE, SAYING: "Well the principle is that people come to eat in total darkness, and they are guided and served by visually handicapped staff in a totally dark room. So it's a fairly gripping experience, for you go into a room which is totally dark, but where all the same there is an atmosphere, noise, smells and tastes like in a real restaurant." MENU ON A BOARD ON THE WALL BOTTLES OF ALCOHOL (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOUNDER OF THE RESTAURANT "DANS LE NOIR", EDOUARD DE BROGLIE, SAYING: "On the other hand people are much more unrestrained in the evenings. They come here in a group and have fun and laugh, which makes the room even more surprising, as you have a room where there's noise, where there's laughter, where there are discussions. People speak a bit more loudly than normal because they can't evaluate the distance between them and the person they are talking to. So there is really... I'd say that it is generally much more uninhibited in the evenings. On the other hand, it's very calm at lunchtime." SUSANNAH DE BRITO, A BLIND WAITRESS, SITTING AT THE BAR CHATTING TO SARAH CLUZEL, PRESS AND MARKETING MANAGER AT "DANS LE NOIR" (SOUNDBITE) (French) A BLIND MEMBER OF THE SERVING STAFF AT "DANS LE NOIR", SUSANNAH DE BRITO, SAYING: "I think that all of us learn a lot. We understand the environment of sighted people a bit more and how they think and the reasons behind many of their reactions. They understand us a little bit better. I think that people tell themselves straightaway that a handicapped person isn't capable of doing lots of things and there they realise that they are capable of doing lots of things which they simply hadn't ever thought about before." DINERS STANDING DRINKING AT THE BAR BEFORE GOING INTO THE DARKNESS TO EAT MEMBER OF STAFF EXPLAINING TO DINERS THAT THEY MUST LEAVE THEIR POSSESSIONS IN LOCKERS BEFORE GOING TO EAT IN THE DARKNESS BLIND WAITER INTRODUCING HIMSELF TO THE DINERS AND ASKING THEM TO FORM A QUEUE AND TO HOLD EACH OTHERS' SHOULDERS BEFORE GOING INTO THE DARK DINING ROOM DINERS STANDING IN A LINE HOLDING EACH OTHERS' SHOULDERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) DINER AUDE NEVEU, ON IF SHE FEELS NERVOUS BEFORE GOING TO EAT IN THE DARK, SAYING: "Oh not at all, no. Relaxed at the moment, maybe that's wrong but we're relaxed at the moment.There's no reason that things will go badly, maybe we'll get stains all over our clothes, we're wearing white, it's maybe not a good idea. Well, it's not that important, we'll leave covered in stains but it's not serious." DINERS STANDING BY THE BAR AND HAVING THEIR ORDERS TAKEN DINERS LOOKING NERVOUS DINERS BEING LED INTO THE DARK DINING ROOM NIGHTVISION VIEW OF DINERS BEING LED BY WAITER INTO THE DINING ROOM IN COMPLETE DARKNESS NIGHTVISION VIEW OF WOMAN EATING NIGHTVISION VIEW OF JAPANESE COUPLE FEELING OUT TO TOUCH EACH OTHERS' HAIR NIGHTVISION VIEW OF WAITER PUTTING BOTTLE OF WINE ON A TABLE AND OF DINERS FUMBLING TO FIND THEIR GLASSES NIGHTVISION CLOSE VIEW OF DINER TRYING TO PICK UP FOOD WITH THEIR KNIFE AND FORK AND MANAGING TO EAT SOME FOOD FROM HER FORK NIGHTVISION VIEW OF BLIND WAITRESS PUTTING PLATES DOWN ON THE TABLE DINERS COMING OUT OF THE DARK DINING ROOM RUBBING THEIR EYES DINERS CHECKING THEIR CLOTHES FOR STAINS, AND ONE DINER FINDING A STAIN ON HER TROUSERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE DINER AT "DANS LE NOIR", ON HOW SHE FOUND THE EXPERIENCE OF EATING IN THE DARKNESS, SAYING: "Very well, using a knife and fork, yes it's difficult, it doesn't look it but..." DINER AUDE NEVEU AND HER HUSBAND OLIVIER RUBBING THEIR EYES HAVING COME OUT OF THE DARK DINING ROOM AUDE AND OLIVIER CHECKING THEIR WHITE CLOTHES FOR MARKS (SOUNDBITE) (French) DINER AT "DANS LE NOIR" AUDE NEVEU, SAYING: "We haven't got any stains on our clothes. (Olivier saying: "Oh good, well done.") It was, I think that an hour and a half is good, but afterwards that becomes a bit oppressive, you lose your senses, and so you lose your bearings a bit at first, but all the same it's quite funny to lose your bearings. I found that after a while I was looking forward to getting out of there, I was looking pleasant, it's an enriching experience and so it's interesting to do it." EXTERIOR OF "DANS LE NOIR" RESTAURANT AND FADE TO BLACK
- Embargoed: 5th July 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Business,Health,Industry,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAB2GOBUSNNBVHVGMDUGWNLFI9H
- Story Text: The concept of a new restaurant in the City of Light wants diners to know what it is like to be blind.
In most restaurants it is not the done thing to eat with your fingers, spill your red wine in your lap or drop your cutlery on the floor. However, there is one restaurant in Paris where this behaviour is the norm.
Then again, "Dans le noir" isn't your average restaurant. The dining area is pitch black, as the name "in the dark" suggests.
The restaurant is completely and utterly dark, and it is not a darkness that your eyes grow accustomed to after a while. Absolutely no light is allowed in to the dining room, and cigarettes, cigarette lighters, mobile phones and watches with fluorescent displays are banned. Diners are asked to leave all of their belongings in lockers before going to dine in the darkness.
All of the restaurant-floor serving staff are blind, and are responsible for guiding the diners to their seats, around the restaurant and even to the bathroom. Guests are not permitted to leave their seats without the aid of one of the "non-voyant" waiters.
Dans le noir opened at 51 rue Quincampoix, near to the Centre George Pompidou on 14th July 2004, and has welcomed 35000 guests since then. The restaurant seats 58 diners and offers two sittings for dinner at 8pm and again at 10pm.
The restaurant's founder, Edouard De Broglie founded the restaurant along with L'Association Paul Guinot, France's main society for the blind and partially-sighted.
He is currently negociating with the British authorities to open a similar restaurant in London.
Broglie explained the point of the restaurant to Reuters Television: "Well the principle is that people come to eat in total darkness, and they are guided and served by visually handicapped staff in a totally dark room. So it's a fairly gripping experience, for you go into a room which is totally dark, but where all the same there is an atmosphere, noise, smells and tastes like in a real restaurant."
"Dans le noir" generally hosts evening dinners in the darkness, but in January 2005 the restaurant started to offer lunches in the dark, where diners experience not only the pitch-black experience, but also receive neck and shoulder massages from the waiting staff. Broglie explained that there is also a pronounced difference in atmosphere between the dinners and lunches held in the dark: "On the other hand people are much more unrestrained in the evenings. They come here in a group and have fun and laugh, which makes the room even more surprising, as you have a room where there's noise, where there's laughter, where there are discussions. People speak a bit more loudly than normal because they can't evaluate the distance between them and the person they are talking to. So there is really... I'd say that it is generally much more uninhibited in the evenings. On the other hand, it's very calm at lunchtime."
Whilst all of the 10-strong serving staff are blind, other employees, including the chef, are able to see. One of the blind members of staff, Susannah De Briot, has been working at the restaurant since it opened. She told Reuters Television that the blind staff and the sighted guests can learn a lot from each other: "Think that all of us learn a lot. We understand the environment of sighted people a bit more and how they think and the reasons behind many of their reactions. They understand us a little bit better. I think that people tell themselves straightaway that a handicapped person isn't capable of doing lots of things and there they realise that they are capable of doing lots of things which they simply hadn't ever thought about before."
Guests can either choose their food from a menu before entering the restaurant, or they can opt for a "surprise menu" that can become a guessing game for many of the diners.
Some of the diners looked a little anxious before going to eat in the darkness. Aude Neveu, who had come to the restaurant with her husband Olivier to celebrate their anniversary insisted that she wasn't too nervous: "We're relaxed at the moment. There's no reason that things will go badly, maybe we'll get stains all over our clothes, we're wearing white, it's maybe not a good idea. Well, it's not that important, we'll leave covered in stains but it's not serious."
On leaving the darkened dining room, the Neveu's proudly showed that they hadn't got any dirty marks on their white clothes. Aude enjoying the experience of eating in the darkness, but found it rather oppressive to remain in the pitch black for so long: "I think that an hour and a half is good, but afterwards that becomes a bit oppressive, you lose your senses, and so you lose your bearings a bit at first, but all the same it's quite funny to lose your bearings. I found that after a while I was looking forward to getting out of there, I was looking forward to finishing because I don't know it's... But it's pleasant, it's an enriching experience and so it's interesting to do it."
Other dinners emerged from the pitch black rubbing their eyes as they grew accustomed to the light once more.
A two course meal in the dark costs 29 (35 U.S. Dollars) and a three course meal 37 (44.7 U.S. Dollars), without wine.
(1 = approx $1.21) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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