Black Cafe (CLOSED)

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by Stephanie Sherrill
on Monday, February 23, 2009 12:00 AM

Shuffling along in utter darkness with one arm on the blind waiters shoulder as if in a conga line, I wondered, "Whose great idea was it to eat at the Black Cafe?" Upon sitting, my husband and I reached for each others' hands under the table and ordered a bottle of wine, both as attempts to calm our nerves. After a few minutes my husband declared, "I think I can barely see you." A quick game of "How many fingers am I holding inches from your face" determined that he was only fooling himself.
Orders are placed before entering the pitch black dining room. To make this experience complete we went with the Mystery Dinner. (Part of the fun of dining here is guessing what you are eating.) My first attempt at using silverware in the dark was less than successful, as nothing stayed on my fork. So I proceeded to stab at my plate to fill my fork. This worked, but unfortunately I could not determine until too late that I had skewered almost the entire salad on that one bite. While my mouth was full trying to chew this ambitious bite, I heard my husband say, "Wow, this is chicken salad. Oh, I just ate an apple slice. Yuck, there was a tomato." Meanwhile I contemplated my bite and thought, "Chicken? No... He's crazy. This tastes fishy, like tuna." After a short discussion of "Who has the worst palate?" we determined that we were served different salads.
As the courses continued, so did the games. The food wasn't fabulous, but it was decent enough, and the games entertaining. I must confess, after my fiasco with the salad we ate the remaining courses using our fingers. We were in the dark; it's not like anyone could see us!
Come to this restaurant for the experience, not for the food, but definitely come. It was a unique, fun and by times challenging evening that we will always remember.
The Bottom Line: Although the food wasn't memorable the experience was. Come to this restaurant for the dining adventure of eating in the pitch black.