Opaque

Last night we dumped the kids at the martial arts studio’s beach party and went downtown to eat at Opaque, one of those dining in the dark places. We were early for our reservations, so we sat in the lobby of the local W hotel and drank $10 cocktails.

The décor there was cool with some bright beachy colors and three giant rear-projection screens showing local surfing movies off-set by about 30 seconds each beneath a wall studded with surfboard fins. The neatest thing was the second floor walkway that ran along one side of the lobby. Every five feet or so, giant circles of a frosted translucent material punctuated the floor/ceiling. Whenever someone walked across, you could see the soles of their shoes fairly clearly and the rest quickly blurred.

We were also amused by small bowls of wheat grass that had been sprouted and left around the room. The seeds had been packed in the bottom tightly enough that you could grab some blades and lift the entire thing. Evidence that we were not the only ones to have tried this could be found on the table beneath the bowl: a few blades pulled up by their roots and left by previous guests.

Closer to our reservation time, we ventured upstairs to the waiting area for their “Great Room” and we passed a sign reading “BEACH ACCESS —>”. We looked at each other and shrugged. The harbor is 5 or 6 blocks in both directions and there’s really no beach to speak of along there. Turns out the have an “urban rooftop beach featuring heated sand, cabanas and a fire pit.” Pretty cool.

So we sat down on a pristine white couch with no arms and I nearly toppled off because I sat too close to the edge. The hostess was just pulling her laptop out and setting up on an acrylic podium. Another couple joined us and we waited. Someone came out from the back and to set up little oil tea lights around the area, including one on the hostess’ stand.

DH wandered off to find the bathroom and by this time two more couple arrived. Two women with white canes came out of the back. One trailed slightly behind the other giving directions. They apologized saying they usually do this orientation run earlier in the evening. Did I mention all the waiters for this event are legally blind? Anyway, the poor gal being oriented became tangled up on the first ottoman in front of the couches. I warned her there was another about 2 feet ahead of her and they wandered off down the hall.

DH came back and there was more waiting. He went to tell the hostess we’re there and she handed him two cards. Our menus. They’re these sleeves, with cut out windows and the inside card has things written on it like “Keep it a secret” in grey text on black showing through the windows. If you slide the card further out, four or five words of the description of each course, salad and dessert is revealed. I pulled mine all the way out. We both chose the steak and spring greens salad. I went for the chocolate decadence and DH chose the Bailey’s cheesecake for dessert.

About this time, the blind ladies returned. They made it past the ottomans this time, but the one in front got caught on the hostess’ podium. One of the other people waiting warned her about the fire on it and she joked about how she didn’t want to burn the place down on her first night.

The hostess was finally ready and began seating people. This involved calling a server out to the waiting area and introducing the guests to them by name. Then, the server asked the first member of your party to put a hand on their shoulder. You form a conga line and off you go through “The Maze.” This consisted of two or three turns through black fabric walls that help trap the light outside the room and you come out in complete darkness. There were plastic mats down on the floor to help the servers find the tables.

The first thing I did when I sat down was to explore the table, silverware, a napkin rolled up into a tight little package, and a bread plate. No centerpiece. Our waiter explained how things work, and went to get our drinks.

The music was interesting. The website plays this spacey-new age stuff, but inside it was Weezer’s Pork & Beans, Beastie Boys Sabotage, and other similar stuff. They also played the Beastie Boys’ Brass Monkey later. Bizarre. Haven’t heard that in nearly 20 years. We agreed everything was musically rich and multi-layered and more interesting than most new-age type stuff would have been. It also reminded us that we hadn’t really listened to music in the dark in a while. We used to put it on to get to sleep all the time in college and often used to do the same with new albums.

DH’s side of the table turned out to be more immersive than mine. I faced the doorway the servers used to come in and out of the room. It didn’t have it’s own maze. Although the light was dim and the outline fuzzy, it was still intrusive. The people at the table next to us kept turning on the light on a watch and opening a cell phone, which you were asked to turn off.

It was interesting how everyone except the servers mostly kept their voices to a whisper. I couldn’t decide if this was because they were in the dark or because they couldn’t tell how far apart the tables were set up and either didn’t want to be overheard or impose on the other diners’ spaces.
One of the servers had a couple of jingle bells on her. I guess she had someone run into once too many times. You could hear her across the room when she came back from the kitchens and she had a limp.
But really, how was the food, you ask? Did the dark really enhance the flavors? Buttering the bread was a challenge. The butter came in little balls on a plate. Yup. I dropped one in my iced tea. Gah. Good bread though, nice chewy soft crust.

Our salads were spring green salads with Stone Fruit (peaches, nectarines and plums) with champagne vinaigrette. The fruit melted in your mouth and the dressing was delicious. It was funny to think you’d gotten something on your fork only to find it empty when you brought it to your mouth. I also managed to drop less food to my cleavage than usual all night. And yes, I’d tucked my napkin in there quite unashamedly in anticipation.

At one point DH found a rose petal on the table cloth and thought he’d dropped a piece of salad until he bit into it. I was like, “When did they appear?” Of course, they’d been there the whole time, but I hadn’t noticed them when I’d explored before.

Our steaks came out perfectly. They never asked how they wanted them cooked, but they were somewhere between medium rare and medium. We were both surprised by the amount of steak on our plates. Cutting it proved a challenge even sliced into long strips beforehand. The size of my bites varied widely and I found myself using my left hand to locate food many times. My mashed potatoes were grainy and I found a huge chunk of potato that someone missed. The chefs are supposed to be sighted. Hmm. The veggies with it ran a gamut: mushrooms, squash, onion, and some sort of leafy greens. I swear one piece felt like wilted parsley (where it had been cooked just slightly, not just floppy and limp).
My Chocolate Decadence could have been a little more decadent, but it was good. I don’t know why chefs insist on pairing raspberry sauce with chocolate either. It’s not my favorite. DH’s Bailey’s cheesecake was probably a little bit better.

One of our running jokes refers to the amazing fruit we ate while in Switzerland a few years ago. Strawberries without a hint of white inside, oh, just amazing stuff, since it’s all grown on small plots with no giant producers forcing the plants out of season. We’re always lamenting how “that certainly wasn’t a Swiss berry” or whatever we’re eating.

I picked up a spoonful of my dessert and suddenly there was this giant squishy thing in my mouth. I swear that raspberry was the size of my thumb to the first joint and about as round. It immediate broke apart into all those tiny globules, sweet and juicy. Definitely Swiss, unlike the flavorless little marbles I decided were blueberries based on shape. DH found a similar raspberry on his plate too and decided that was the highlight of his meal.

Our meal finished, we were led back out to the waiting area to pay and readjust to the light. We ended up giving the food about a B+ with an A- for some individual items. At least it wasn’t as messy or as awkward as I’d feared. It was a cool experience, but somehow it just didn’t spark for us and I think it was because the food didn’t live up to the hype and being $99 a plate compared to other venues.

I doubt we’ll go again. It was worth going once for the experience, but I’m glad it was a temporary thing and I’m very grateful for my sight.