Dinner in the Dark

On Thanksgiving Eve I photographed a dining event that I had heard about and wanted to check out myself, called Dinners in the Dark. Put on by Camaje Bistro in Manhattan, diners don blindfolds before they even enter the restaurant so they have a full sensory experience while dining, minus their sight. They're led by restaurant staff to their seats and then have each aspect of their meal placed in front of them, where they carefully and slowly reach out, touch and eat their meal, with or without utensils.

A highlight of the meal was when they passed out a crunchy toast and told everyone not to eat it until they said so, and had everyone take a bite at the same time. The crunch was magnified around the space and must have seemed especially loud to those who couldn't see, but just hear the echoes of the crunch around the room.

Near the end of the evening, they played some singalong songs and one guilty pleasure song, in which it was amusing to see some of the guys really singing their hearts out when they knew no one else could see them.

Additionally, it was really fun for me because everyone forgot I was around taking photos. I heard a couple people mention they heard the shutter, but for the most part I went completely unnoticed by diners. I always say if I could have one superpower it would be invisibility (of course whatever I'm wearing and holding, like a camera, would be invisible too somehow), so this was the next best thing. I personally enjoyed taking the seat of diners who had gone to the bathroom and slyly taking photos of their companion who was unaware of my presence.

Check out these photos and more at Per La Mente.