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Dining in the dark

www.theage.com.au: "Don't waste your little black dress on this venue. At Australia's first restaurant/bar in total darkness, you aren't going to light anyone's fire.

Black Out opens today, Friday the 13th, in St Kilda Road, and the A-list guests shouldn't worry about any hideous zits rivalling Mount Etna. But deodorant is recommended because when you lose one sense, others are heightened.

That is the aim of Black Out. It sounds like a gimmick but there is an underlying altruistic intention. Without sight, the remaining senses are rewired to savour the smell and taste of food, and focus on conversation and sensation. Bibs are worn to catch errant mouthfuls while the uber-cool Buddha Bar music plays.

Only waiters have dispensation to navigate the battleground in infra-red goggles. And when it comes to touching, naughty antics are banned. Remember: you can't see the staff, but they see you.

The concept sprang from dinner parties held in the home of a blind man who opened a restaurant in Zurich in 1999 staffed by blind people. The 'Dining in the Dark' theme moved to Germany, Paris and New York, and has now arrived in the southern hemisphere courtesy of theatre producer Paul Farrah. It will be run by Malcolm Bates and Mark Wicks.

'It's more of an event rather than a restaurant,' Farrah said. 'It's a theatrical experience.'

Black Out is coincidentally located near, and has an ally in, the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. The head of the RVIB's Burwood school, Garry Stinchcombe, who has been blind since he was 10, said the experience would help people understand the world of the vision-impaired. 'Hopefully it might demystify some of the misconceptions the public has,' Mr Stinchcombe said.

He said many parents of vision-impaired students wanted to go to Black Out to better understand the disability. 'If you add a bit of humour into what can be a fairly emotionally challenging and difficult situation to manage, I think it's a great way to lighten people up and try something different.'"

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