The blind feeding the blind

LONDON - London foodies are expected to be falling over each other to get a spot in the city's latest culinary craze - a pitch-black room serviced by blind waiters.

Despite a bizarre approach to haute cuisine, the restaurant Dans le Noir has won over Parisian diners, and opens in London soon. Guests will be led into blackness to be served food that they cannot see. Guiding them will be a team of 10 blind waiters.

Those supporting the dining-in-the-dark concept, including charities for the blind, say it will open up diners' other senses and liberate tastebuds.

Traditionalists, on the other hand, insist that looking at a stunning creation before eating it is a fundamental part of haute cuisine.

Edouard de Broglie, the man behind the British venture after launching the Paris restaurant, said his interest was in the sensory, not the social aspect of dining.

"The preconception of what food tastes like because of how it looks is gone," he said. "All your other senses are abruptly awoken and you taste the food like never before."

Other top chefs were scathing. Marco Pierre White, who was the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars, said: "For me, the eyes must be used as well as the palate.

"Seeing top waiters in action is a key element of the service. It is not fine dining. I guess it saves on electricity."

The Royal National Institute for the Blind and Action for Blind People has praised the restaurant for creating jobs for the blind.

The 10 waiters are all officially registered blind (though not the chef and front-of-house staff), and have been subjected to rigorous training.

Nicolas Chartier, project manager of the London branch, insisted diners would have nothing to fear from blind waiters carrying hot dishes.

"It may seem, at first, a recipe for disaster, but the waiters are highly skilled," he said.

- INDEPENDENT