[Nfbk] Dining in the Dark, Louisville

Wed Jul 17 07:18:29 UTC 2013

This cracked me up. What happened to the stereotype that blind people have
better hearing? This poor sap lost his hearing because he couldn't see.

I don't know about other blind people, but I tend to know what my food is
because I ordered it. These patrons must now be under the assumption that
blind people are not capable of ordering their meals and have no idea what
they are eating (that only happens to me at convention banquets where there
is only one meal option and no menu listed).

It is a wonder that they could identify any of the foods with the amount of
alcohol they were being served (at least they didn't get the impression that
blind people don't drink).

Cindy Sh.

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbk [mailto:nfbk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Pearl
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2013 12:12 PM
To: NFBK
Subject: [Nfbk] Dining in the Dark, Louisville

This article was found at Louisville.com. I'll put a link to it at the
bottom of this email. 

Dining in the  <http://m.louisville.com/content/dining-dark-mayan-cafe> Dark
at Mayan Cafe

July 6, 2013 - 3:21pm
by Colette  <http://m.louisville.com/users/colette-henderson> Henderson

Last year, a friend of mine forwarded me an article
<http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/at-dans-le-noir-dining-in
-the-dark/>  in the New York Times Diner's Journal about a new trend of
eating without seeing. I was intrigued but the concept soon flew away from
the front of my mind as many things do. 

Fast forward to 2013 when I had the fortune of being surprised with dinner
atMayan Cafe <http://m.louisville.com/restaurants/mayan-cafe> . However,
this was not the normal dinner at this popular Market Street eatery. We were
to eat while blindfolded.  I had to admit, the closer we got to the start of
the meal the more nervous and excited I got. Naturally I worried that I
would end up throwing delicious food all over the room and missing my mouth
with regularity. 

Surprisingly this was not the case. Servers gently guided your hand to your
silverware or cocktail and informed you where the plate was. With some
gentle searching, it was really manageable. 

The meal was four courses, each paired with a cocktail. I would tell you
about the presentation but we all know now that I didn't see it. I really
didn't. I have no idea what the meal looked like. I didn't dare peek. I
wanted to have the full experience.

First thing I noticed was the effort it took just to have a conversation as
we waited between courses. Without being able to see my dinner mate's mouth
and facial expressions, it was hard to understand what he was saying and to
be certain of his tone. Everyone else in the room seemed to compensate by
talking louder which made it even more difficult. 

The first cocktail came out and we were able to ascertain that the dominant
flavors were cucumber and mint. We didn't pick out the gin but we both
agreed we probably couldn't have regardless of sight. We were then served
our first course which was soft, mousse-like, and topped with something
crunchy. When we were asked what we tasted, a variety of answers came out,
none of which were accurate. My guess was a mild white fish mousse. Imagine
my surprise when I discovered it was an eggplant flan topped with candied
hazelnuts.

Our second course was served with what we initially guessed was a blood
orange cocktail. We were close, it was in fact a blood orange sangria. While
we couldn't determine that the second dish was shark, we did guess something
along the lines of swordfish. Having never eaten shark in my life, I was
satisfied with my guess. It's delicious by the way. It was firm, but soft in
texture and very delicate in flavor. 

We were then served a red wine which was pretty obvious to all of us as we
tucked into course three. We agreed it was likely a roast of red meat,
perhaps a grass-fed beef. We proudly correctly guessed the sauce as some
variation of mole. Turns out the meat was goat, but again, having only had
goat a few times in my life, I was happy with our guess.

We closed the meal with a chocolate raspberry goat cheese roulade with
zapote-goat cheese ice cream. A few people guessed lychee ice cream but I
imagine it's because they haven't had zapote often. What got us was the
accompanying drink. It was a Ca'rossa Birbet sparking red and it was divine.
We assumed it to be a sparkling cocktail, perhaps soda water with a home
made shrub. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

If you are looking for something new to try, I really recommend trying to
grab a spot at the next Lights Out dinner here in town. It definitely puts a
new perspective on multiple aspects of dining. From conversation, to your
palate it can reinvent the act of eating for you. Keep an eye out for future
opportunities by liking the Mayan Cafe's facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/TheMayanCafe?fref=ts>  page. 

http://m.louisville.com/content/dining-dark-mayan-cafe?utm_source=feedburner
<http://m.louisville.com/content/dining-dark-mayan-cafe?utm_source=feedburne
r&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+louisvillecom+%2528Louisville.com%2
529>
&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+louisvillecom+%2528Louisville.com%25
29

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