New dining in the dark experience comes to Scotland

The internationally renowned ‘Dans Le Noir?’ sees diners enjoy a meal in complete blackout darkness – served by blind guides.

The team of award-winning chefs at the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa is inviting guests to see them in a different light as they prepare to host this unique event on March 26 and April 6 – plunging guests into a world of dining darkness as each enjoys the outrageous sensory and social experience.

The culinary side of this adventure is headed up by the resort’s executive chef Martin Hollis. Martin said: “We’ve been working closely with the experts at Dans Le Noir? to discover which ingredients will give our guests the most incredible sensory experience, and we’ve also had to adapt our cooking methods as the rules of presentation that surround and govern award-winning cuisine are replaced by the total dominance of taste, texture and temperature.”

David Scott, director of operations is “very excited” to be hosting the hotel’s first pop-up dining experience: “This promises to be a never-to-be-forgotten event for all who attend – outrageous, fun, engaging … a real ‘bucket list’ activity.

“When our sight is taken away, much of what we know about how we enjoy food is lost, and we rely on completely different senses to feed us the information on the plate. It’s an incredibly exciting and valuable opportunity to showcase Scottish food and drink in a whole new light – and to have a brilliant time in the process.”

Dans Le Noir? is the largest permanent and private operation of disability awareness for the blind: over 40 percent of the company’s workforce are blind – including their waiting and ‘guide’ staff who will be leading the restaurant experience for guests at the hotel this Easter.

There are no known menus. Guests simply choose their meat, fish or vegetarian preference – and only get to know what they have eaten once they return to the world of the sighted after the dining experience. Martin Hollis says: “This is part dining, part theatre. Each event is timed to perfection as we are relying on blind servers to welcome, seat and serve our guests. The whole operation is phenomenal and we can’t wait to welcome guests at Easter.”

Three different Dining In The Dark experiences are on offer beginning with a whisky tasting on Thursday, March 24, and lunches and dinners running from Friday March 25 – Wednesday, April 6inclusive.

Whisky tastings at £35 per person, lunch from £45 and dinner from £85. Book by calling 0800 085 3275 and for more information, visit www.dininginthedark.co.uk