Daring diners will have a chance to take in one of Toronto's most unique eating experiences in the name of a good cause when Dining in the Dark comes to O.NOIR.
The downtown Toronto restaurant, which boasts a full complement of visually impaired wait staff, will host the fundraising event on Sunday, June 6, with all proceeds going toward DeafBlind Ontario.O.NOIR provides diners with a chance to eat in a pitch-black dining area, effectively losing the use of their eyes throughout dinner and relying on their other senses to guide them through their meal."It's not like a usual restaurant where people can come and see the food," said O.NOIR spokesperson Alejandro Martinez. "They have a waiter guide them through the dining room where they can't see anything."The experience gives diners a brief glimpse as to what it is like to be visually impaired, even if that glimpse only lasts as long as it takes to eat their meal."People understand how it is (to not have their sense of sight,) even though it's just for a two hour journey or an hour-and-a-half journey," Martinez said. "For our wait staff and people who are visually impaired, they have to get on the subway, pay their bills, cook their food that way."Given the unusual dining atmosphere and the wait staff's visual impairment, O.NOIR's partnership with DeafBlind Ontario was a natural fit. DeafBlind Ontario assists more than 40 individuals across the province who have lost some or all of both their vision and hearing.About 7,000 Ontarians live with deafblindness, and most have additional physical disabilities and medical issues.The individuals live in group homes where they are provided with the supports they need to live as independently as possible and benefit from life skills, work and recreational programming."When we heard about O.NOIR, we thought what better way to raise funds and awareness than by having people eat in the dark," said DeafBlind Ontario spokesperson Susan Manahan.Those who use DeafBlind Ontario's services receive individualized care from intervenors, who cater their care to the specific needs of those with whom they work."If someone's completely blind, they may use a tactile form of sign language where they communicate hand-over-hand and can feel the sign, or maybe through finger-spelling, where (the intervenor) spells out letters on their hands," Manahan said. "Some people might have some residual sight or hearing, so (intervenors) can use some sight or verbal cues."Dining in the Dark coincides with the province's Deafblind Awareness Month, with proceeds from the evening's meals going to support DeafBlind Ontario. Additional funds will be raised through a blind auction and raffles.Dining in the Dark will feature two limited-space dinner seatings at 5 and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 6. Tickets to Dining in the Dark are $55 each or $100 per couple and can be purchased at www.deafblindontario.com