Today I take you to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bordeaux for a DANS LE NOIR restaurant ?. A concept that, boosted by its success, landed in Bordeaux, at Bassins à Flot.
Fair warning: I will not spoil everything, that would not be nice of me (I leave some mystery so you want to live the experience). ?
I would compare it to a tandem parachute jump: your "guide waiter" becomes the most important person of the moment. And if the experience is disorienting at first, sitting 8 or 10 at a table with strangers is strangely reassuring.
The dark room: the room is plunged into deep black, your senses are heightened, you fairly quickly feel some stress, some anxiety looking for a "lighthouse in the night". Laughs, fun and the good vibe quickly take over. And you handle the situation pretty fast. Your neighbours, your partners for the night are, in these moments, in the same state as you and I must admit that this thought alone was very comforting. ?
At the table: touching the bread, the cutlery, pouring your own water… And offering to serve your neighbour out of politeness, and he says "yes"!! What was I thinking?... Everything gets complicated actually… Risky even… (fingers crossed I aim for the glass and not the trousers!!) ... ?
And then… Things sort themselves out… You quickly pick up gestures while keeping a certain artistic blur in the art of striking up a conversation without really knowing who is answering… The scale of this experience is real. From the organisation to the guidance, everything is designed to give you a unique, incredible and powerfully sensory moment.
A special note, full of tenderness, for our "guide waiters". People do not really realise how much of a daily challenge it is to be plunged in the dark. That evening, you were our reassuring glow in this big dining room. Thank you! ?
In this crazy adventure we met Kevin and Jérôme, from ARL Radio, who the very next day shared this experience with their listeners. Here is the excerpt:
