Dans Le Noir

It’s lights out at this global dining phenomenon, where you’ll eat dinner in complete darkness

DANS LE NOIR challenges you to eat a multi-course meal in complete darkness, forcing you to rely on your other senses. In the well-lit lobby, we are introduced to our guide, Margaret, who was born without sight. Margaret gets us to shuffle single file into the dining room, guided by the sound of her voice and our hands on the shoulders of the person in front. She takes us to our seats and helps us sit down, helpfully explaining where we can expect to find cutlery, napkins and our water glasses. Margaret comes back throughout the meal to deliver and remove plates, her calm voice letting us know where she is and what she’s doing. One of my companions is gluten free, and some of her courses come on square plates, differentiating them from our round ones. We have opted for five courses with matched half glasses of wine (beer is an option too). Without sight, it’s very difficult to tell what we’re eating. Are those flavours meant to be together? Sweetness in particular seems to be magnified by not being able to see, and a jus seems almost jam-like. We aren’t told what we’re eating (we’ll be shown pictures of the dishes after the meal), and people shout out jubilantly when they identify flavours: “Ricotta, I think?” “I have something crunchy here, OK, and it’s smoky…” “This is meat for sure, maybe beef? Lamb?” Everyone seems very friendly and keen to chat. Somehow removing the lights has broken down barriers as well. Strangely, time goes much faster without watches and mobile phones – what I think is an hour turns out to be more like three.

701 Swanston St, Carlton 3053. 03 9347 7811. www.melbourne.danslenoir.com. Thu-sat 6.45-7.45pm start.