Dinin' In The Dark

o·paque  [oh-peyk]: Adjective: 1. not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through; 2. hard to understand; not clear or lucid; obscure

Last night, I had a truly unique dining experience - eating in a pitch black dining room at Opaque, in the . With the denial of one of the 5 senses, the other 4 senses are supposed to be heightened (Daredevil style!), and so the theory is that diners can truly experience unique flavors & textures in their food.

The concept's been around for more than a few years. It certainly caught my attention when it was featured in the CSI Season 8 episode "A La Cart" (of course, in the TV show, the dinner experience ended with the discovery of a dead body, which, in reflection, was probably more exciting than the molten chocolate cake I had).

Overall, it was a lovely evening of course (how can any evening with the Missus not be?). Conversing in the dark was a bit odd - I thought it would lead to people using either hushed tones, or overly loud ones. It was like carrying on an extended conversation in my head (c'mon, who amongst us has not had conversations in their head? I see a hand raised in the back ... yes, you there ... yes, I regret to inform you that you are clinically dead.)

Unfortunately, the part of the evening that underwhelmed was the food itself. The amuse bouche and the crudite platter were quite enjoyable - bite sized morsels of finger food that were easy to latch onto. The other dishes were bulky and hard to handle, and were surprisingly not very aromatic. To me, "flavor" is a combination of "smell" and "taste"; that is to say, flavorful foods are often either aromatic or react strongly on taste buds. Thus, with the deprivation of sight, I had rather expected heady aromas along with interesting flavors, the wines to have strong bouquets or long finishes ... a sustained assault on the remaining senses, if you will. But alas, the dishes were clearly lacking on both fronts. What made things more frustrating was the fact that the food stuffs would not stay on the fork. All too often, the Missus and I bit down on our fork prongs.

So, bottom line? I enjoyed the experience, and would seek it again, but only if the menu were better thought out.

Take me home, Bruce!