Waiter, I can't see my food!

Carolyn, Kevika, and I love to have culinary adventures. We had reunited previously in Chicago to partake in the cuisine of Alinea. It ended up being perhaps the most fabulous dining experience of my life.

So, we wanted to try something new in Berlin. Better yet, we had a lead. A new kind of restaurant had started in Berlin and the concept was spreading across Germany. A dunkelrestaurant, or dark restaurant, is one in which the dining room is completely, pitch-black dark. You cannot see a thing and so must rely on your other four senses to eat.

We went to the granddaddy of them all, the inventor of dunkelrestaurants, unsicht-Bar Berlin.

Here's how it works. We walked into a bar and reception area. There we were greeted and sat at a table. All was well-lit. We received these menus which presented five set course options for us: vegetarian, river and sea, beef, poultry, and "surprise."

The dishes themselves were cryptically presented as little rhymes, where one could make out some of the ingredients but still be a bit perplexed as to the actual dish. For example, the starter of the beef menu was listed as "Berlusconi's young choice of arugla potency." Huh?

I went for the surprise menu, letting my taste buds figure out each little bit. Kevika and Carolyn went for the tasty sounding beef menu. Our waitress, a blind woman, led us to our table (all of the waiters are sight-impaired).

My first dish was Tranchen von der Putenbrust mit wurziger Guacamole und sommerlichen Blattslaten Uberraschung in einer Vinaigrette von Balsamico (translates as an hors-d'oeuvre with fish oil on turkey breast with spicy guacamole and summery green salads in balsamic vinagrette). The experience of receiving a plate in front of me and having no idea whatsoever what was on it or even where the food was located was fascinating. I would discover the turkey breast, and have to figure out what it was. Of course I thought it was chicken. At the end of poking around with my fork, I began to use my hands on the plate, just to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

The second dish was a soup course of Pastinakensamtsuppchen mit Rauchfleisch (or parsnips soup with smoked meat). This was served in a cup and oh-so-much easier to eat. The first bits of smoked ham proved awfully surprising, and also a good contrast to the root vegetable taste of the soup.

The third dish was Lammruckenfilet unter einer Thumiankruste dazu zweierlei Spargelragout und Salbeignocchis (or lamb back filet under a "thumiankrust" with asparagous ragout and "salbei" gnocchis). Imagine being confronted with a large piece of meat! How do you get it into bite size pieces so you can actually consume it? Very challenging, it turns out. I was successful on my first attempt to slice off a piece. From there, though it went downhill. Unable to find the edges, I would cut pieces either way too big or too small. So, down went the fork and knife and out came my hands. Much easier to tear into a steak with my teeth. The other great moment of this dish was when I found the asparagus. Asparagus! What a lovely surprise!

The fourth and final dish was Parfait von Jagermeister an Waldheidelbeeren und einer Creme von Zartbitterschokolade (or a parfait of "professional hunter" with forest blueberrys and plain chocolate cream). Coming on a long rectangular plate, this presented new challenges in eating while unable to see. A little glass in the middle full of chocolate cream. A spread of blueberries all around the plate (imagine eating blueberries when you can't see them to find your fork).

All in all, the food was just ok. The asparagus was excellent as were the gnocchi that came with the lamb. Also, the parsnip and ham soup was quite tasty. Other dishes just muddled through a bit. The first salad was poorly composed and I had no recognition I was eating guacamole. The last dish had blueberries that were too tart.

Carolyn and Kevika had largely the same experience with their meal, though, on average, it was superior. A starter of antipasti led to lots of fun guessing games. And a dessert that included pop rocks was the perfect unexpected surprise. Well, partial surprise: at one point early in the meal, Kevika, being highly perceptive, said that she'd love to have pop rocks in this setting. With no knowledge whatsoever of what was to come, she got her wish. Other dishes of theirs, particularly the meat main, fell down.

But, the amazing thing is, it didn't really matter. Sure, I would love for the taste and flavor to be better, and they can certainly improve. That said, though, as a culinary experience, it was amazing. The tastes were new, each new ingredient a splendid reintroduction to something I've had before. It felt like a whole new way of eating. And that way had so much to offer in terms of getting us to recognize food differently.