Last week, I was invited to a blindfolded dinner organized by the Dark Dining Projects at Camaje, a bistro located in Greenwich Village, serving French-American cuisine.
Dark Dining Projects started in 2005 from the imagination of Dana Salisbury, a New York City based artist / choreographer. She stepped down in September of this year, being replaced by Amy Baumgarten who was hosting this event, helped by Breanna Gimble.
The principle seems simple: you eat while wearing a blindfold, adjusting it so you do not see any light. Well, the only moment during the event where you could see the light is if you go to the bathroom. You would then raise your hand and somebody would guide you to the bathroom, holding your hand and moving them to make you understand which direction your body should follow. Once the door is closed, you can then decide to remove the blindfold or not. When you are done, you put it back, knock at the door, and they bring you back to your table.
Not only it forces you to trust the Chef for the food you are going to eat, but also the wait staff who will not only serve you but also help. I think that lots of people are freaked out that there will be something weird or disgusting in their food, so imagine when you cannot see! It is also a way to heighten your senses; don't we say that we first eat with our eyes?
So we put those blindfolds outside the restaurant, before entering, and were guided inside by the organizers. I cannot imagine what people in the street were thinking when they saw this line of blindfolded people (in fact, I can imagine...). If you look in the mirror in the photo above, on the left, you can see people being seated with one hand on the shoulder of the person preceding them. And yes, the photos in this post have been taken blindly, so to speak, by myself and Jodi for the one above. I later discovered that taking photos blindfolded would also prove to be a challenge!
So, as I mentioned previously, we put the blindfolds before entering the restaurant and, as the windows were covered by thick drapes, I only discovered how the place was when looking at the photos (by the way, did you notice the guy on the left of the photo above?). However, when seated, I tried to imagine the space, listening to the people around us and thus placing tables in my mind. Coincidently, our neighbors, Valerie and Joe, lived few blocks from us and we spent the evening chatting together.
The event was not just about the food and at some point, we could feel some movements, objects or hands on us, adding a bit more to the mystery.
We started off with a hot towel for our hands.
Then they served us a glass of wine.
Amy asked us to first smell it, feel the temperature and the shape of the glass. As it was cold, we guessed right away it was a white wine.
After that, they brought us the crunch course that I just called garlic bread at that time...We received the menu few days later and I included the description of the dish that was more appealing than mine...
It was a toasted Stirato (Italian baguette) with extra virgin olive oil and garlic. We immediately smelled the garlic and could hear the distinctive noise it made when people where eating it, the bread being toasted and crunchy.
The second appetizer was a caramelized onions and goat cheese tart (the menu says: "Caramelized onion and goat cheese puff pastry tart with Lucknow Fennel & Kohlrabi sprouts):
The crust was made with a puff pastry. I was able to guess what it was at the first bite, although I did not guess the micro greens that were on top.
The first two dishes were perfect to start because they can naturally be eaten with our hands. The next ones proved to be more challenging. It started with a fish dish, made with Arctic char and sea scallops (menu: seared Arctic char with a sauce of sea scallops, tomatoes, chipotle, cilantro, fish broth over mixed greens).
I did not recognize the Arctic char and thought it was halibut because of the flakiness. It was also disturbing because each bite was different. I think that the first one was the fish and then the second one was the sea scallops, two different tastes that threw me off!
One of the challenges in eating these dishes was to know when to stop, meaning when the dish was empty. I admit that I brought few times an empty fork to my mouth, thinking that anyway nobody could see me, except the staff who was probably used to it...
Then I got another glass of white wine:
The next dish was oxtail with a creamy polenta (menu: red wine-braised ox tail over Polenta with Parmigiano):
I knew it was a meat dish from the smell and then identified the oxtail after trying a first challenging bite of the meat. It was definitely slow cooked in red wine and I even tasted a carrot, cooking process that was later confirmed by the Chef and owner Abigail Hitchcock.
As I was struggling to eat the meat, I heard "You do not need to eat with your utensils" and, like many people, I ate with my hands. At that point, I it was really all about the taste, the touch and the smell. People were laughing about the fact that they had to use their hands and all inhibitions that they would have if they were not in that situation were gone. Their family, friends or dining neighbors would not tell them that they had no table manners as they could not see.
At that moment, we had a spill. Not a big deal and treated diligently by the staff.
I tried to capture it, but unsuccessfully...
After this dish and before serving us dessert, they brought us some ginger beer:
This was interesting as I never had that before. Sparkling, it was a good palate cleanser with a nice ginger taste and smell.
Dessert was a chocolate cake with puffed rice and almonds (menu: flourless chocolate-almond cake with egg nog crème Anglaise and sprinkled with puffed rice).
It was light, chocolaty and not too sweet, with a nice crunch from the puffed rice. Because of the cream, I decided not to go with my hands, and I guess I did a good job eating it, although, without the blindfold, I would have probably finished that cream!
The evening finished with Chef Abigail Hitchcock telling us what we ate.
She described the regular menu served that night, but I have to mention that they took care of any dietary requirements. For instance, Jodi asked for a vegetarian menu (that I did not try as I did not want a fork in my eye), but others asked for no nuts or no seafood.
At $120 per person, you may think it is pricey, think about it: it is a 4 courses meal with wine pairing, but also a unique experience that I am glad I participated to, similar to a show. It can really be fun with family, friends or co-workers for a team building evening. The food was good, but I wonder how different my opinion of it would have been if I could see it. But this, we will never know...
Thanks to Dark Dining Projects and Camaje for hosting us!
Enjoy (I did)!
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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!
