Earlier today, we posted some of the highlights from next month’s CB3/SLA Committee agenda. Eater picked up one of the restaurants mentioned — Dans Le Noir. The Euro chainlet had planned to go into a space on East 21st. Street, but Eater says opposition from the community has now prompted them to head downtown.
Here’s how the New York Post described the concept last year:
A Paris-based restaurant chain that hires blind waiters to serve diners in a pitch-black room, is seeking a spot in New York… Founded in 2004 by Edouard de Broglie and Etienne Boisrond, Dans le Noir was co-funded by the Paul Guinot Foundation for Blind People… The unusual gastronomic experience already has locations in Paris, London, Barcelona and Moscow. To keep servers from tripping on stray purses and umbrellas, patrons park their belongings in a locker. Menus are read and orders are taken in a lighted bar area. Diners are introduced to their server who then leads them conga style to their table in a pitch- black room. The entire experience is overseen by infrared security cameras… “You are creating awareness about someone who lives in the dark,” said (broker Amy) Murawski. “It’s kind of daring and while people have different feelings about it, New Yorkers are adventurous enough to try it. I can’t wait to make the reality here on the other side of the ocean.”
As we mentioned, Dans Le Noir hopes to open in 107 Norfolk, the old Tonic space.
