Cavan restaurant to 'Dine in the Dark' for NCBI

Pitch darkness. You're told someone has placed a plate in front of you but you can't see it. The freshly cooked food hits your olfactory system setting off a series of intuitive yet confused alarm bells. A glass clinks somewhere to the left as the vulnerabilities contained within the blackness hit home.

For some attending the NCBI's 'Dine in the Dark' event this coming Friday at Virginia's St Kyran's Country House and Restaurant, it will be an absolute and perhaps poignant relief to remove the mask blinding them once service has concluded. For others, that enduring darkness will remain, as the national charity for blind people in Ireland uses the nationwide event to raise both awareness and vital funding for potentially life-changing sight loss services.

“It's definitely going to be interesting,” laughs St Kyran's head chef Eddie Attwell, the Great British Menu Northern Ireland contender adding: “The whole idea behind it, from a dining point of view, is that because you're blinded, all your other senses are meant to kick in and compensate. So we're going to putting forward our best efforts and play with that as much as possible.”

Borrowing inspiration from the trend, which started in Paris in the early 2000s in association with the blind foundation Paul Guinot, the novel experience of dining in the dark has spread, with restaurants opening worldwide, many of which employ only blind or partially-sighted staff. Otherwise illuminated only by candlelight, diners at the St Kyran's 'Dine in the Dark' evening will be provided with night mask-style blindfolds in order to heighten the sense of obscurity.

Launched nationally by chef Neven Maguire, St Kyran's is the only restaurant in the county taking part in NCBI's 2017 'Dine in the Dark', with three venues in Monaghan also set to dim their lights for the fundraiser.

Coy as to what culinary innovations diners can expect, Eddie tells the Celt: “We're looking to mess with people's senses even more, beyond being blindfolded. There will be a lot of play with textures, or how you might say the feel appearance of what is actually in front of them. The way we've done the menu at the minute is how it's expected to appear to be visually, but that might no necessarily be the case at all.”

While it might be different for the diners, what is set to be laid on is not all that different for those leading the show from within the kitchen, when Eddie and his team thankfully won't be among those being blindfolded on the evening. “That'd make things tricky alright. What we're doing is not a million miles from what we do anyway, in how we try to play with textures, and exploring different ways to present things. As chefs it's a natural thing that we utilise produce to its fullest, but we might plate that then as a jam, pickled, powdered, you name it. I can't even begin to imagine what it'll be like for people sitting down, so we have to consider that too. In that regard it's a bit like the blind leading the blind.”

Eddie added: "With the NCBI 'Dine in the Dark' its a great cause and something new to bring to our customers. We're really excited about it and great credit to Patrick and Helena (Keenan, proprietors St Kyran's) for providing the space to do that.”

* The five course tasting menu is €55 per person, including €10 donation to NCBI. Places are limited and booking is available by contacting 049-8547087. Dinner starts at 7pm.