Saturday, August 25, 2007

Dark Restaurants: The New in Eating without Light




Unlike some world travelers, we at TasteTV had never heard of these dark restaurants before, but it sounded like a great idea for a TasteTV dining and tasting event. If anyone else thinks this is a good idea, just post a comment. (do it with the light on, of course)

"The first dark restaurant in Asia is officially opened on the 23 December 2006. This restaurant, located in Beijing, China, has its interior painted completely in black. Customers are greeted by a brightly lit entrance hall and will be escorted by waiters wearing night vision goggles into the pitch dark dining room to help them find their seats. Flashlights, mobile phones and even luminous watches are prohibited while in this area.

The meal will be taken in this environment with the complete loss of vision. By starving one’s sense, your other senses are stimulated to full alert – all so the theory goes – and your food will taste like it’s never tasted before. In case you are wondering about the washrooms, they are all brightly lit.



The dark restaurants are initially a project of the Blind-Liecht (Swiss German for blind-light) foundation. The foundation works to create employment opportunities for blind and visually impaired people. Their first venture, the blindekuh in Zurich, opened in 1999 and is claimed to be the world's first dark restaurant. Since then, the restaurant concept has been subsequently replicated elsewhere, including Paris, Berlin, London and multiple cities in Canada, United States, Russia and Australia. The one located in Beijing, China is the latest addition."Via Spluch
Not quite...San Francisco is the latest addition, with TasteTV's SF DARK - Dark Dining (www.SFDark.com)

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Thursday, August 09, 2007

TasteTV Announces Dark Dining in San Francisco


DARK Dining in San Francisco by TasteTV and Million Dollar Dinner takes you into another realm of dining, one where all of your senses are expanded and focus on the food, the taste, the sound, the company and more...because you are dining completely in the dark.

Dark dining is not low light dining, it is no light dining! TasteTV's food, wine and lifestyle editors have tracked this growing culinary experience across the globe and are now bringing it to Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. During the evening, for two entire hours, guests will eat, drink, talk, and enjoy entertainment in complete and total darkness. The flavors and textures of thir food will take on an entirely new dimension, as will the quality of their conversation (or perhaps of their dates).

The launch chef for these events is Chef Lisa Hines, owner of the Bella Cucina Cafe, and associated with Bravo's Top Chef program.

A TasteTV Dark Dining Dinner experience includes:
  • A delicious Three-course meal
  • Wine carefully paired to go with your meal
  • Some of the best dinner companions you can imagine
  • TasteTV TasteMaker status for you and your food, wine & restaurant loving friends
  • Entertainment in the form of music, spoken word, and more
DARK Dining SF will take place in September on Friday evenings at 8pm, in San Francisco. Location information, and reservations, menu, and the chef's bio, can be found at the Dark Dining SF site, http://www.SFDark.com. For information about TasteTV's San Francisco International Chocolate Salon, go to http://www.SFChocolateSalon.com.

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Saturday, August 04, 2007

Jason Priestley and 90210 Wine Tasting?



Amy Rosen of the National Post in Canada reported:
Jason Priestley and Terry David Mulligan do some swishing and swilling at various wine regions as co-hosts of Hollywood and Vines, a new show on StarTV. The Barenaked Ladies' Steven Page is a Canadian oenophile who owns a piece of Canada's Vines magazine. A handful of Canadian celebs are dipping into the wine business. It all raises the question: Is this a recipe for deliciousness or are they corking disaster? Amy Rosen investigates

Jason Priestley's involvment in such a wine show is confirmed by Celeb Talk, Wine Expression, and TV Guides. The website for the program, which airs apparently now on the Travel Channel or Star-TV - maybe - is here www.hollywoodandvinestv.com

By the way, Wine Expressions has their own version of this type of show, which you can see here.



This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com


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