R.I. Historical Society will host “Dining in the Dark” experience

Funds raised to benefit accessibility at museum sites

WOONSOCKET — The public is invited to join the Rhode Island Historical Society and explore the limits of their senses at Dining in the Dark, a sensory culinary experience to benefit accessibility at the RIHS’s museums: Museum of Work & Culture and John Brown House Museum.

On Friday, Sept. 21, the RIHS will host an evening at Savini’s Pomodoro Restaurant featuring a 6 p.m. cocktail hour, a threecourse meal beginning at 7 p.m., a silent art auction, and musical entertainment.

Originating in Paris, Dining in the Dark is a culinary experience that has swept across the world as curious diners and adventurous chefs sought opportunities to heighten the interplay of the senses through food. After sitting for dinner, guests are asked to don blindfolds before the first course is served to start a unique and entertaining dining experience.

Chef Luis Alicea will design a menu focused on textures, scents, and fresh flavors for guests to enjoy “in the dark,” relying on touch, scent, taste, and sound to determine the contents of the meal they are savoring.

This event, along with a challenge grant from Ocean State Charities Trust, will make it possible for the Museum of Work & Culture and John Brown House Museum to make exhibit content accessible for those who are blind and visually impaired and deaf and hard of hearing. The interactive and educational Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island’s mill towns in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Dietary restrictions will be accommodated upon request. Notice of these restrictions must be given at time of ticket purchase. Tickets are $60 and are available now at shop-rihs.com.