It’s not every day that we take note of a sensory loss. For most of us, being in complete darkness is nothing more than a scary situation we seldom have to cope with. We go about our daily lives without giving a second thought to the privileges we have, being able to make full use of all of our senses.
And while the visually impaired may not necessarily live their lives in complete darkness, one new Ottawa restaurant is using the concept to bring awareness to the experiences of the visually impaired community.
Dark Fork is Ottawa’s first dine-in-the-dark restaurant. The concept has been alive and well in communities in Paris, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver; and now Canada’s capital gets its turn to experience this unique way to dine.
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Dark Fork even takes the concept a step further, as the entirety of its wait staff is visually impaired.
Throughout all of the lit areas in Dark Fork, patrons will see phrases and prints that are geared toward education and promotion of the visually impaired community, such as the braille alphabet.
When you enter the restaurant space to claim your reservation you are given a menu. This is where you decide what you’ll be eating and drinking for the evening. There are a number of entrees to choose from, but I strongly recommend the two- or three-course “surprise menu” to fully immerse yourself in the Dark Fork experience.
After your order has been placed, you are introduced to your server. Our server Aaron was an absolute delight. Accommodating, witty and overall excellent at his job. You are instructed to put your hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you as you are led through two curtains into complete darkness. The server follows a carpeted path to your table and guides you by hand to your seat.
For my partner and I, an initial feeling of anxiety from not being able to see your hand in front of your face set in quickly, but just as quickly subsided as the night began.
We each started with a glass of chardonnay as we awaited our first course.
When Aaron set our first plates on the table, we immediately started relying on our other senses to determine the dish. Fresh, crisp and bright on the nose … and I’m not going to lie here, I absolutely started playing with my food to determine the contents of the dish.
After a short session of feeling up lettuce and cucumbers, we dug into our starters that we had determined were salads!
Course one was simple but tasty. The experience of dining in the dark started to really set in as I went to take bites of my food and was met often with an empty fork.
As the initial struggles subsided, our plates were cleared and shortly after the next course arrived.
Course two boasted some of the juiciest chicken breast I’ve eaten in a long time, darkness or not. The chef absolutely nailed the cook on the main course. As we blindly stabbed into our plates with our forks, we also found rosemary potatoes, asparagus, a cream sauce of sorts and what we believed to be sun-dried tomatoes.
I was thoroughly impressed with this dish. It wasn’t a re-inventing of the wheel by any means, and I doubt you’ll see it on any tasting menus anytime soon, but it was expertly executed. Here is a picture of my dish:
Throughout the entirety of dinner, my partner and I discussed how impressed we were with the execution of the concept. From when you first enter the building, being met with ways to educate yourself, to the friendly and impressive wait staff, to the execution of the cook, right down to the choice of music. Dark Fork is accomplishing everything it set out to achieve, which is impressive given that this was opening day.
After my dining experience, many people reached out to ask questions, and I want to take this opportunity to answer a few.
Was it gimmicky?
It truly was the furthest thing from a gimmick. It is easy for a restaurant like this to get lost in the novelty of the experience, but Dark Fork does a great job of delivering the message without over-delivering it.
Was it over-priced?
Maybe a hair. For the two of us to have two courses and a glass of wine each, after tax and tip was roughly $148. I don’t believe this is an outrageous price for two people, but I do believe a portion of that cost is wrapped up in the experience you’re getting. I generally wouldn’t pay $150 for two salads, two chicken breast dishes, and a couple glasses of wine.
In saying this, I still believe the value is there, and the experience was really incredible.
Would you go a second time?
I’m unsure at this point. I had a REALLY amazing time, but I’m curious to see how I’d feel after knowing what to expect. Perhaps if there was a one-off full tasting menu I’d make my way back.
Would you recommend it?
Yes. A thousand times yes, I think everyone should give this experience a go.
All in all, I was impressed by my experience at Dark Fork and I’m happy to see Ottawa continue to expand its culinary horizons.
Jordan Pizzuti has been a local Ottawa food writer, content creator and hospitality professional for over 10 years. Through his “best of” series, Jordan has cemented himself as an expert in Ottawa hospitality and nightlife. He continues to promote the Ottawa hospitality scene through his “Are We Having Fun Yet?” brand and his work with the Ottawa Business Journal.
