Dining in the dark
| Photo Credit: Sangita Rajan
You eat with your eyes first.
All five of our senses are interconnected when it comes to food, but first impressions are made when we look at what is put in front of us. How a dish looks, determines how we feel about the meal. This is one of the main reasons why restaurants meticulously plate the food, add garnishes, and other embellishments. It is a visual feast and in today’s Instagram age, your camera eats first.
But imagine a dining experience where this very important sense is taken away. At Park Hyatt’s Flying Elephant, in a dining roomplunged into pitch darkness you are served a five-course meal. This sensory experience begins unlike any other fine dining experience — with clanking forks and resounding laughter.
After a brief introduction and interaction with fellow diners, you are led into a dining space and all smart devices are confiscated. The lights are turned off, curtains drawn to a close and blindfolds go on. While your eyes are taking their time adjusting to the lack of light, every other sense is heightened. The carpeted floor muffles the host’s steps as he walks around the 10- seater table explaining what we will experience for the next 90 minutes or so.
Dining in the dark
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“Slowly reach out and feel what has just been placed in front of you,” says Jaspreet Singh, our host for the evening. The cold ceramic bowl holds the salad course. “I cannot smell anything,” says one guest, while trying to find their cutlery. As the diners begin to taste the salad, they start sounding out their guesses. Apples! Olive oil! Cucumber! The guesses are neither being confirmed, nor denied by Jaspreet, who seems to be having a blast at the diners’ expense.
Each course is punctuated with fun activities to keep the diners engaged. There are no awkward silences. In the dark, everyone is a friend, and everyone’s guesses are being seriously considered.
The soup course comes with instructions on how to eat. Served at a lukewarm sipping temperature, the aromas and tastes stump even the food critic in the group. “I planned each course keeping in mind that it shouldn’t be easily recognisable. If I put familiar flavours in front of you, it will not be a fun sensory experience,” says Chef Dhanraj Manogaran, Chef de Cuisine at Park Hyatt, Chennai, who took a month to curate the menu for this experience.
Dining in the dark
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The appetiser course is a play on familiar textures and tastes, but in a completely new form. While cutlery is provided, it is suggested that you reach out into the bowl (or plate) and feel the various elements. Do not be afraid to get messy because nobody can see or judge how you eat.
Before the main course reaches the table, a sweet, cheesy, savoury aroma wafts in the air. “I can smell garlic,” says a diner and everyone gleefully agrees. When a particularly difficult ingredient is guessed right, Jaspreet chimes in with a “wow, nobody so far was able to guess this”. Are we being lied to just to keep up the morale? We will never know.
A palate cleanser is served before the dessert course. The chefs manage to keep each course relevant to the region by using at least one local ingredient.
At the end of the meal, while you are squinting and adjusting to the light, Chef Dhanraj greets you and a screen displays the details of the meal.
While there are plenty of opportunities to sneak a peek at your plate , one must take it upon themselves to stay true to the experience even if the server’s light shines through the blindfold. Close your eyes, and eat with your other senses for a change.
Dining in the Dark at The Flying Elephant is at Park Hyatt, Velachery Main Road, near Raj Bhavan. For reservations call +91 893 9871128. The experience per person costs ₹4,200.