Dine in the dark dining concept may be already familiar in Jakarta, but what if you can experience it in Bali? This year, The Seminyak Beach Resort & Spa presented Bali’s first ever “Dine in the Dark” event, which is an exceptional six-course sensory dinner experience for which the Resort will be flipping the switch and inviting you to discover food in a whole new way – without seeing it.
The interesting part is, in the darkened dining room, without light or sight, your optic nerve will be overridden, and your remaining senses will be heightened allowing you to savour the aroma, texture, sensations and taste of your food more carefully, while at the same time trying to guess what exactly it is that you are eating. Sounds and movements will also come to the fore, encouraging you to pay closer attention to conversations at the table.
Deprived of your dominant sense, you will rely on your other senses to guide you through this exciting concept, which also brings awareness to the visually impaired of Bali. Specially crafted by Executive Chef, Joshua Job, the secret 6-course degustation menu has been thoughtfully designed to focus on texture, aroma and, of course, flavour, to make up for the fact that on this rare occasion, Chef Josh won’t be getting any points for visual presentation.
The varying flavours will give your palate and your mind an exciting challenge, while your intensified level of awareness will take you on a journey of discovery, enriched by fine wine pairings. You will be served and guided by a team of highly trained, visually impaired staff, reversing the traditional imbalance of power between those who can see and those who cannot.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Having a meal in pitch darkness is not a new fad – the idea of purposefully eating in complete darkness started in Zurich in 1999 with blind clergyman, Jorge Spielmann. When guests ate at his home, they wore blindfolds to better understand his world and discovered that without their sight, their sense of taste and smell was heightened – this made the meal more enjoyable.
DINE IN AND GIVEBACK
A percentage of the proceeds of this event at The Seminyak Beach Resort & Spa will go to the John Fawcett foundation, a humanitarian not-for-profit organisation that assists needy people in Indonesia, particularly in the field of sight restoration and blindness prevention. Donations are also accepted. The dinner will take approximately 1.5 – 2 hours and will be launched, appropriately, during Nyepi 2019.
“Nowadays, everyone is posting photos of their food on social media before they take their first bite,” observes the Resort’s General Manager, Michael Luible. “If we remove the sense of sight, and turn off all of the lights and phones, leaving diners only with their sense of smell, taste, touch and hearing, it will give them the chance to open up the conversation and their palates.
The experience also gives diners a taste of what life is like for visually impaired people, while raising awareness and funds for the John Fawcett Foundation. Guests will not know what food they will be served and will be asked of any diary restrictions and allergies prior to event. They will be asked afterwards what they thought they were eating.”
BOOK YOUR TABLE NOW!
Pre-bookings of tables can be done by emailing [email protected] or calling +62 361 730 814.
The dinner is priced at IDR 700,000++ per person. Wine pairing is available
for an additional IDR 400,000++ per person
