NEPAL: Unique restaurant where diners eat in the dark and are served by blind waiters opens its doors in Kathmandu

Record ID: 852527

  • Title: NEPAL: Unique restaurant where diners eat in the dark and are served by blind waiters opens its doors in Kathmandu
  • Date: 14th May 2012
  • Summary: KATHMANDU, NEPAL (MAY 12, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ENTRANCE TO IMAGO DEI CAFÉ TWO BLIND PEOPLE COMING INTO THE PREMISES OF IMAGO DEI CAFÉ (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) GANGA PARIYAR, BLIND WAITER, SAYING: "It is a new concept in Nepal, though these sort of restaurants are being operated in quite a few other countries. It started with the initiative of the Israeli Embassy to let us see how it works." BILLBOARDS ABOUT BLINDNESS IN NEPAL POSTER OF TWO BLIND WAITERS FLAGS OF NEPAL AND ISRAEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) NITZAN ARNY, PROJECT CHIEF FROM ISRAEL EMBASSY, SAYING: "We want to give people the experience how is it to feel that you can't see even if it is only for a moment." MENUS OF DINING IN THE DAR BLIND WAITERS TALKING TO NITZAN SIGN BOARD OF BLIND RESTAURANT NITZAN WITH THE BLIND PEOPLE WAITING TO RECEIVE GUESTS GUESTS ARRIVING - TWO ISRAELIS AND ONE COUPLE FROM SPAIN GUESTS ENTER DARK ROOM GUIDED BY BLIND WAITERS IMAGO DEI CAFÉ STAFF PREPARING FOOD DISHES BEING CARRIED THROUGH TO DARK SECTION GUESTS EATING AND CHATTING WAITER STANDING IN BETWEEN THE GUESTS DINING ISRAELI GUESTS COMING OUT FROM THE DINING HALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPANISH GUEST, MILCA HAMIKOGHU, SAYING "We wanted to do something special, and also we will experience something different and also we can contribute in a very small way." JOURNALISTS WAITING OUTSIDE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPANISH GUEST, MILCA HAMIKOGHU, SAYING "I think, the other senses are more, like you get from the other senses, it's from the sense of taste, it's from the sense of smell; at the beginning I was even scared, because it is complete darkness, so it was something very new but after you get used to it it's very special. You get to experience eating in a different way and conversing in a different way being in a restaurant not like - just being maybe freer even." PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE MAIN ENTRANCE LOOKING AT THE MENU
  • Embargoed: 29th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nepal
  • City:
  • Country: Nepal
  • Topics: Health,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAAECQWC7EOWZ0FIBT5QWEDYBCP
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: In an effort to allow darkness to open people's eyes, the Israeli Embassy, in cooperation with the Nepali Association of the Blind (NAB) and Imago-Dei restaurant in Kathmandu have set up Dining in the Dark -- a totally different dning experience.
    The temporary restaurant in the dark which opened on Thursday (May 10) offers a completely unique and very unusual dining experience where you cannot see the menu, you cannot see the food or table, you cannot even see your companions; visually, it does not matter if your eyes are opened or closed. In essence, for one meal, you are blind.
    "I think, the other senses are more, like you get from the other senses, it's from the sense of taste, it's from the sense of smell; at the beginning I was even scared, because it is complete darkness, so it was something very new but after you get used to it it's very special. You get to experience eating in a different way and conversing in a different way being in a restaurant not like - just being maybe freer even," said Spanish guest Milca Hamikoghu.
    Blind people serve as waiters, catering to the anxious guests.
    "It is a new concept in Nepal, though these sort of restaurants are being operated in quite a few other countries. It started with the initiative of the Israeli Embassy to let us see how it works," said one blind waiter Ganga Pariyar.
    "We want to give people the experience how is it to feel that you can't see even if it is only for a moment," said Nitzan Arny from the Israeli embassy.
    Dining in the Dark is open for the next two weeks at the restaurant.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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