Opaque – Santa Monica, CA
2020 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403
http://www.darkdining.com/index_main.php
310.546.7619
As sight darkens, the other senses heightens.
People think this is the reason for the existence for Opaque. We dine in the dark to heighten our senses and use all of our other senses to taste a meal. After dining with Opaque, I believe this to be only partly true. After walking out of Opaque, I realized one thing: This restaurant in itself is a statement not about tasting, but also seeing.
Have you even walked along a sidewalk, closed your eyes and walked? I did. I do it often, actually. You may wonder why, but I think we should all try it. Don’t try to guide your hand on a wall. Just walk. I tell myself “okay just 10 steps”, or “I see that light pole. Let’s see if I can pass that light pole without opening my eyes starting now”. Not an easy feat. I always give at 8 steps. Why? It’s not because I felt the end of the curb or ran into a pole. No, it’s solely because during those 8 steps, I was sure I’d hit something that by the 8th step, there was a large amount of uncertainty that made it impossible for me to go further. Now try doing that for the rest of your life. There is no miraculous 10th step and you can see again. We are so used to seeing everything sometimes we become blind to the fact that we rely on sight so much.
Before I begin, let me explain how Opaque works first, before I continue on with my experience. You first enter through a lounge called the “V Lounge”. Opaque is actually located within the lounge. Once you talk to the hostess, she will give you a Prix Fix menu for a 3-course meal to choose from. You get a salad, entree, and dessert. I had the Heirloom Tomato Cucumber Salad, Filet Mignon, and the Mango Panna Cotta. When you are ready to proceed, the hostess introduces you to your server for the evening. Opaque is very unique in that the servers are actually visually impaired. I really liked the idea of the blind leading the seeing. Your server is your guide and you must rely on him/her for everything. They bring your drinks, utensils, bring your food, clear your table, and also take you to the restroom. (Tip: go before you start) When you are lead in, your group forms a line with a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you. Your server will individually seat you to your chair as soon as you arrive at your table. He/she will take care of the rest. Once you are done with everything, you are lead back out by your server, and you pay your bill to the hostess. Before you get confused, the drinks are on a separate tab since it comes from the lounge.
As we entered the dining area, we were surrounded by pitch darkness. You only hear the groovy lounge music, and a lot of chatter. (To the yelper who complained that everyone is obnoxious and loud, it’s very common for people to speak louder in darkness. Your brain is too busy trying to take all the information it can to make up for your sight loss. Which means, you can hear louder first of all, but also your brain tries to process EVERYTHING that it doesn’t really control your voice level. Also, when people are in the dark, they tend to get a little nervous, hence, they have to constantly talk to reassure themselves and their party that there is nothing wrong. So shut the hell up, please).
As we sat down, the server tells you where everything is. There are no plates, but only utensils. I made sure to keep all my utensils to my left. After I was done using it, I’d put it back with the other utensils. Also, our server handed us our water glass to our hands. This is so we can place it ourselves and not knock over the glass. (To the other Yelp commenter who spilled his water and complained. Don’t be a clutz, you’re blind! You’re supposed to know how it feels like to be blind. Well, now you know how uncomfortable it is to be blind. Next time, don’t reach, walk your fingers along the table to your water.) This is where creating routines or habits helps. I placed my water to my far left near my utensils and always put it back at the same place so I don’t encounter any surprises.
We were given our bowl of bread and also our appetizer, tomato with goat cheese. They were nice enough to put the tomato and goat cheese onto a spoon to eat. However, even then I had difficulty finding the handle portion of the spoon. I ordered a glass of wine, which luckily was in a tumbler glass. (No stem, less likely to spill my wine. Top heavy glass is a no no when it’s completely dark) I soon encountered my first biggest challenge: Find the bread bowl. I forgot the server’s advice about walking my finger along the table, and reached for the middle of the table like how I’d normally do. Squish. Two finger straight into the butter. Well, looks like I don’t need a knife for the butter. I’ll just rub my fingers along the bread! Then came our salad. The salad posed three problems for me. One, you don’t know how much you have on your fork or what you have. Two, not everything you can poke with a fork. Three, it’s hard to tell when you’re completely done with the salad. I actually ran my fork across the whole plate to see if I missed a piece or two. Then I wanted to double check and slightly skimmed the plate with my hand (Without really touching it. Sounds crazy I know, but I found my super powers in the dark I guess).
Then came my Filet Mignon and to my advantage, it’s been pre-cut. However, the plate also had some greens and a rice dish (probably rice pilaf) This posed two problems, I didn’t know what I was putting in my mouth until it was in. I thought I scooped some rice with my fork, but I ended up putting in an empty fork several times. (I wonder if there’s someone watching us with an IR camera laughing at us) Then I thought I stabbed a Filet Mignong, to find a slightly bitter taste. It was the greens. And vice versa. The other problem I faced was that I kept putting down my fork occassionally out of habit on the plate. Yea, that was not fun trying to find where you left your fork.
I offered a sip of my wine to my friend because I felt like a pro at this point. It took us about 2 min. just to pass the tumbler. “The tumbler is on my hand towards your right side” “MY right or your right?” “Your right” “I feel your plate, where’s the glass?” “No I’m on your side, near your water.” “That’s not my water, my water is on my le.. oh wait never mind”
Luckily, we had no problems eating our dessert. It came, stayed, then was gone. At the end, I realized that we ate our meal fairly quickly. We were not rushed (you were not rushed by anyone but yourself Yelp commenter), but we did eat quickly. As much as it was an interesting experience, I think subconsciously we were feeling uneasy that we wanted to eat our meal and get out quick. Not being able to see even with your eyes open caused two physical strains on my body. First, I felt drained and tired. My body, especially my eyes were overworking trying to find clues to piece pieces together. Second, I forget the blink until it hurts since my eyes are not used to the dark.
To be completely submerged in darkness, and experience what it must feel like for a blind person to dine outside the comfort of their own home. Actually, I take that back, to experience what it feels like to dine as a blind person was truly an eye-awakening (no pun intended) experience. We live our lives not appreciating what we have or what we are given. I do agree with Yelp commenters that the food quality was probably not deserving of its price tag. Don’t get me wrong, the food was very good. However, if I were to dine anywhere else with that price and that food, It’d be a different review. However, since the price tag isn’t just reflecting the food quality, but also providing you with an experience that isn’t common, I say go try it. Don’t think of the price or if the food is amazing. It’s not amazing, but it’s def. better than a lot of restaurants. However, no other restaurant can provide this sense-awaring experience. You’ll be grateful of something you already have for once. I refrain from commenting on how each dish was, because my mission was to experience dining in the dark. And this entry seemed only fitting to explain the experience more than the taste.
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