Overview
UPDATE, MARCH 1 2018: At present, Pitch Black will no longer be coming to Sydney in 2018.
If you eat a meal but don't upload a photo of it to Instagram, did it really happen? That might be the culinary question of the last decade; however one trend has been making food snaps irrelevant for a while now. Sorry, cuisine-loving shutterbugs — you can't take a picture when you're dining in the dark.
Indeed, light — from bulbs above, from flickering candles in the middle of tables, and particularly from your iPhone's flash — isn't part of the dark dining equation. Rather, on the menu is a sensory experience designed to heighten the taste, smell, texture and sound of sitting down for dinner. After kicking off in Europe in the late '90s, the concept has been doing the rounds in various forms ever since, and it's coming back to Sydney in January 2018.
At the aptly named Pitch Black, 50 guests will first enter a warmly lit space — but it won't stay that way for long. After everyone has had some time to get comfortable in their surroundings, they'll sit down to a three-course meal without the lights on. If the silverware is gleaming, you won't be able to see it (but you will be directing your attention towards flavour, aroma and mouthfeel). Patrons will attend in 90-minute blocks, with the waiting list for tickets now open before they go on sale within the next two weeks. Prices, dates and venues will be revealed at the same time.
This isn't the first time grabbing a bite sans illumination has popped up in Australia, or even in Sydney; The Dark Side of Hyde Park previously operated in the CBD, aiming to raise awareness of what it feels like to be blind, while Melbourne played host to a restaurant called Black Out, and Brisbane boasted Dining in the Dark. And then there's the spate of pop-up events that have graced most Aussie cities, often using blindfolds to ensure no one takes a sneak peek.
For more information about Pitch Black, head to the event website.