Montreal has a wonderful shopping district and some amazing restaurants too. The people we found to be really friendly so we met and spoke with many different folks. I think the most memorable meal we had was at a place called O.Noir, not that we could see our meal. This is a restaurant where the waitstaff is blind and the customers get to experience their meal in pitch blackness, it heightens your other senses and is truly something not to be missed. You can choose from a 2 or 3 course prix fix meal or the "surprise meal" which is what Dan opted to try. Another nice feature is that a portion of the proceeds go to foundations which help blind people find jobs.
So we made our reservation and were led into a pitch black dining room by our waitress, Sophie. She sat us down and helped us locate our water glasses and bread and butter. We were feeling bold so we ordered drinks too, because it's fun to get tipsy when you can't see a darn thing! Next I attempted to butter my bread, and butter it I did! ALOT of butter, it was delicious but very buttery because I couldn't determine how much I had scooped up.
Next up were our appetizers, I choose the watermelon, avocado salad with feta cheese, it was amazing. Such a wonderful culmination of flavors. I cheated and ate with my hands and was banking on the fact that no one could see me acting like such a barbarian. I actually recreated this dish a few days later when we got home, the only additional ingredient I added was some fresh mint. YUM! Dan's surprise appetizer was a scallop and pasta sauce dish, he said it tasted great and even correctly identified what it was which made him very happy.
Once finished we sat there in the darkness and chatted and drank our drinks, white wine for me (in case I spilled I didn't want to order red wine) and scotch for Dan. Sophie came around and collected our plates and then brought our main courses. I chose the lemon veal which had a side of potatoes and vegetable of the day. Dans surprise meal was veal marsala with the same sides. It was extraordinary, mine was light yet flavorful, Dan's was saucy with some great mushrooms on it. I have to say cutting veal in the dark is a real experience not to be missed. Also I learned the hard way that eating potatoes with your hands is not a good idea. I did eventually give up on the knife and just eat with my hands once more (shhhh, don't tell!) The potatoes were quite good and the veg of the day seemed to be red peppers, although I did eat a small piece of squash too so it's still a little up in the air.
Again we finished up and relaxed and chatted, it's amazing how hard our eyes were working to try to see through the pitch blackness, they were playing tricks on us. Sophie came around and whisked our dishes away once more and brought me my dessert (Dan skipped dessert and shared mine instead). I selected chocolate mousse cake......O...M...G! It was amazing!!! It was light yet heavy in flavor, it had different densities and textures to it and it was sticky so it stayed on my fork! We both thoroughly enjoyed it and although we shared there was no feeding each other so to avoid a random fork poking.
After that we sat and listened to those around us, we heard shuffling and knew that others who had finished before us were being led out to the dimly lit bar area and we waited our turn. It's a strange thing to feel so dependent on another person for something as simple as leaving a restaurant. Sophie was an amazing and patient waitress, she was very attentive and very available to make sure we were ok and having a nice time. We joked a little bit about food presentation, because really who would know if it looked nice or not? Regardless of the presentation the flavors, textures and just the experience in general made for an unforgettable evening.
There is one thing that I wonder about though, had this been the same exact meal in a restaurant where we could see the food would we have though it tasted as good?......I guess I will never know.
Till next time
~CM
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