Dining in the Dark

I had heard all about the experience of 'dining in the dark' so when I was invited to experience it for myself  I was really intrigued. Then I saw the date and discovered that I couldn't make it! Gutted I asked my friend Colette to report back....

Here is what she found -
I was invited to a secret product launch at London Restaurant DansLe Noir. If you haven’t heard from it before it’s a restaurant where you dine entirely in the dark as they believe that by dining in the dark you will take part in a unique experience that will shake up your senses and make you re-evaluate your perception of taste and smell.

When we arrived there was a bar which was light- a relief to be honest! There was definitely a buzz of anticipation between us all as we arrived and when everyone was there we were asked to line up in a certain order and place our hands on the shoulders of the guest in front. We were then introduced to our waiters and waitresses who were all blind. They needed us to be in name order so they knew which guest they were dealing with – clever!

So hit the darkness we did, we were led through to another room through a curtain and ‘bang’ when that closed it was total pitch black. There were lots of nervous giggles as we awaited instructions of what to do next.

We were very reassured by our waiter/guide who you knew not only was familiar with the dark space we were about to enter but also totally comfortable with the darkness and knew exactly how to guide you and tell you what you needed to hear about the unknown surrounding you.

We were guided to our tables, finding the chair and not falling off it was the next challenge. We were then advised that in front of us on the table was cutlery, a glass and a plate. I literally couldn’t see my hand in front of my face which was such a strange feeling!

Plates of food were then brought out but we weren’t told what they contained – you had to find the food then try it! This took a while to master and your senses are left to do their thing. This encouraged lots of discussion about the food and ingredients and was interesting to see how different people perceive the taste of something when just left to their senses.

Lots of delicious mystery plates later we were then led back through to the light again to discover the surprise ingredient. Plates included seared Wagju Beef on curly kale and Jerusalem artichoke puree, purple sprouting broccoli with horseradish Mornay sauce, and for the main event the dessert Fruity chocolate-cherry and frozen yogurt made with our secret ingredient of the night – Alpro! In fact all the dishes had Alpro products in them using Alpro single soya cream, Alpro original soya milk and Alpro Fruity & Creamy Cherry soya yogurt. 

So the whole evening was about getting people to take a new look at Alpro.  Alpro have launched a healthy indulgence in the form of Fruity & Creamy twin-pack's which are made from soya (so are much more healthy than dairy) and come in either Cherry or Peach.

Each pot has only 125 calories and is also free from artificial colours, sweeteners or preservatives. They are really creamy (yes I picked up a pack when I came across them in the supermarket) and I will be buying them again especially as they are just £1.09 for a twin pack.