I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels an even greater sense of gratitude and appreciation for her health when suddenly something goes wrong – it could be as simple as a tooth ache or an ingrown nail to an actual illness (all pain is equal at the moment it takes place). Only then do you realize how much you miss feeling good and promise yourself not to ever again take your health and body for granted! But as humans do we forget about it and move on with our lives, until a new pain shows up!
But what does this have to do with dinning you wonder (and rightfully so!)? Well, everything.
A couple of evenings ago, I got to experience, for the second time in my life what it’d be like to be blind. Thankfully it was only for a couple of hours and not because of something that went incredibly wrong with my eyes! I intentionally placed myself in an environment in which I couldn’t see anything at all and had to be fully reliant on my senses (especially my hearing) and our hostess for the night.
Ok I’ll end the suspense! I had dinner at a restaurant called Blindekuh in Zürich. And as you have figured out by now, it isn’t just a restaurant where you show up, size up the competition and sit at the table you carefully and strategically selected. Oh no, this isn’t how things work at Blindekuh! You show up, get greeted by a lovely man at the reception area who politely asks you to leave all your belongings, especially phone and camera behind, pick your menu and wait to be picked up. Side note, the reception did not live up to my expectations at all. It looked a bit run down in dire need of fresh love. We’ll get back to this in a little while.
We waited and a lovely lady named Anyia came out, wearing big dark glasses. She was obviously blind and seemed pretty cool about it. She asked us to stand in a row, hold each other by the shoulder and trust her! She helped us into the main room where all we saw was total darkness, with zero glimpse of light picking through anywhere. No cell phones, no candles, none of it. We were at the mercy of Anyia, our intuition and our senses. This promised to be an experience that one cannot just walk away from and forget.
By the sound of people talking and laughing we could tell that the tables behind and next to us were fully booked. It took me a few minutes to adjust to this new way of being. I kept closing my eyes for some strange reason. The first few minutes (which felt like an hour) were challenging. I felt an extreme pressure in my head and felt exhausted. I learned very quickly to really pay attention, relying solely on my intuition, hearing and feeling. It wasn’t as easy as one may think! I had to take a moment and remind myself of how lucky and privileged I am to be able to see all the wonders our world has to offer. I also learned that what we perceive as a limitation may become a strength, allowing us to “see” with a different and unique perspective.
But once you get passed the adjustment stage, you can really have fun with it (hint to the naughty ones out there. LOL). Not the ideal place for introverts on a date though. But fun idea for a real blind date!!
The true challenge came with the food! I had no idea what I was getting, what it looked like and where any of the ingredients were on the plate. After a couple of miserable attempts to feed myself correctly, I got the hang of it and it became a guessing game – how well do we know our food? What is this smell? Cury? Garlic? Is this a tofu or cheese? ….
As we were finishing up with dessert, the big table behind us left which created a huge wall of silence. It wasn’t as fun anymore but interesting in a new way. All along our lovely Anyia made us feel safe and heard. She took amazing care of us all along.
What a great initiative than giving blind people and visually impaired people the opportunity to work, socialize and be of service in a world where they probably get forgotten often. Today, Blindekuh has 30 employees, 15 of whom are blind or severely visually impaired.
This year Blindekuh, the world’s first dark restaurant, is celebrating their 20th anniversary. As mentioned before they have to upgrade and remodel their facility if they want to survive and secure jobs for their employees. They need our support to be able to pull it of. You can find out more on ways to help them out by clicking here.
A simple click will change many lives and open new opportunities for people who need it the most.
Featured image by alimentarium.org
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