MYSTERY MEAL

Jorge Speilmann is a blind man who lives in Zurich, Switzerland. In the late 1990s, he opened the restaurant Blinde Kuh which served food to its guests in complete darkness. He won many awards for his interesting business idea, but Speilmann did not start the restaurant to win awards. He did not plan to make a lot of money. Speilmann had two simple goals. He wanted to create jobs for blind people and he wanted to show people what it is like to be blind.

Today, there are many restaurants like Blinde Kuh, where people eat in the dark. There are many differences between them, but all of them work in a similar way to Blinde Kuh. In an ordinary restaurant, a waiter usually takes orders and serves food. However, at the dark dining restaurants, the waiter is the guide for the guests although he is blind. A complete dark room meets the guests when they enter the restaurant. That’s why, while entering the restaurant, one guest holds the waiter’s shoulders. Then, the next guest holds the shoulder of the first guest. Soon the guests form a line behind the waiter. Then, the waiter begins to walk. He leads the guests into the dining room. Here it is dark, too. The guests cannot see anything, yet the waiter never gets lost. When the guests are seated, they order their food, or buy drinks. In some of these restaurants, guests can choose a 'mystery meal'. They will not know what they are eating so they have to use their other senses to recognize it. They concentrate more on hearing, smell or touch. Some of the guests even say that the food has a different taste!

At many dark dining restaurants, guests do not eat alone. The tables are very large. Everyone sits together. So, people may sit next to someone they have never met. Many people find it difficult to eat and talk with strangers, but while sitting in the dark, they feel different. People feel that they can speak without being judged as no one can see at all. So, people sometimes do things that they would not normally do. They find a kind of freedom in the dark room. Apart from being a different experience, there are many difficulties of dining in the dark. For instance, guests may spill food or drink and may drop their forks or knives. Also, some people cannot easily find their own mouth. Sometimes, people even feel afraid of the new, strange situation. It is a new experience for the guests to depend on their blind waiter for everything, but most people regard it as a chance to learn.

After eating, guests often talk with their waiters. In some restaurants, waiters even tell stories to the whole group of guests. They talk about their experiences at the restaurant. Normally, blind people are often treated like they are less able than people who can see. However, the darkness of the restaurant changes this. While dining in the dark, everyone is blind, and here, blind people are the experts because they know more about living without sight than anyone else in the restaurant.

Jorge Spielmann achieved his goals as these restaurants give blind people jobs, and in these restaurants people have a chance to experience the world the way blind people experience it. They give people who can see a new way of thinking. But most importantly, they give blind people something they do not get enough of – respect!