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Visually Impaired Staff Turn the Tables
While many restaurants ban smoking and mobile phones, Blindekuh Restaurant in Zurich, Switzerland may be the only one in the world where light is left at the door--literally. Flashlights and luminous watches are verboten; windows are blacked out; and all service, eating and drinking, take place in utter darkness. Part attention-grabber, part disability rights' platform, the mission of Blindekuh (Swiss German for 'blind man's bluff' and English for 'blind cow') is to show people just how much they take for granted their sense of sight, and what it might be like to do without it. "While the food is good, we're not looking for a Michelin star," said Manager Adrian Schaffner, who joined Blindekuh after 11 years managing multi-star properties for Best Western. "Every week we serve hundreds of people who have never met a blind person before." Schaffner himself is one of only a few sighted staff. Most--including founder/co-owner Reverend Joerg Spielman; day chef Thomas Haeni; and 15-17 servers and bartenders--are visually impaired. They wear bells on their feet and communicate with the kitchen via an intercom--resourceful strategies that enable Blindekuh to handle 60 covers for lunch and dinner daily. A small reception area and the bathrooms are lighted as a concession to the patrons, 99% of whom have normal eyesight. "It's a wonderful way to bring the problems of visually impaired people to the public's attention," said Schaffner. "The rules change as soon as guests enter the restaurant. The blind are the bosses." Under cover of darkness people tend to be bolder than they might otherwise be, and ask about the practical challenges faced daily by their blind servers, who have been recruited through special organizations and newspapers. Some employees hold lucrative 'day jobs' such as judge or lawyer, but work at the restaurant for the experience of not being different from their colleagues. One was a truck-driver before losing his vision, another, a nurse. Still others have never worked before at all--a situation in which most of the world's visually impaired find themselves. The instant success of Blindekuh--heavily booked since it opened in October 1999--has surprised everyone involved. "Zurich has a very trendy hotel and restaurant scene," said Schaffner. "But there's nothing like this anywhere. People are always eager for something new." To this end, the restaurant is not above injecting a little self-deprecating fun into the mix by hosting such events as 'blind blind date' where guests have an opportunity to get to know each other in the dark. In addition to a serious message served with a side of humor, it takes good service and high quality food to attract a following. Chef Haeni, who was partially sighted while at cooking school but has since lost most of his vision, has devised with the team, tricks and cues that help keep the place running smoothly. "We use plates of different shapes for meat, vegetables and fish," he said, "and scales for weighing drinks so they don't spill." Presentation is not an issue, but quality is. "If guests can't see what they eat," said Haeni, "then the taste and texture and the ingredients are very important. For example, we use a lot of fennel, basil, celeriac and coriander." Renowned London chef Anton Edelmann said he wouldn't be able to run a kitchen in the dark. "Restaurant kitchens are small and tight, with people running all over the place. If someone can't find the salt, it wastes time,", said Edelmann, Maitre Chef des Cuisines at the River Restaurant in London's Savoy Hotel. "He deserves his success. But I couldn't do it." Food/wine writer and cooking teacher Clifford Mould was willing to consider the possibility. "We always make assumptions that things are impossible--but we're always being proven wrong. It would be hard, but I think you could do it if tasks were arranged in a different way to accommodate the person." Haeni said he is extremely organized, and he works alone in his kitchen. "Blindekuh has been and still is a good challenge," Schaffner said. "I have restaurant experience and I am here to put standards in place. But I cannot push the team as hard {as a team of sighted people}. This is a protected area, it's made for the {visually impaired staff}. But they come up with solutions to problems we would never have in a regular restaurant." He said that Blindekuh recently broke even despite higher expenses and lower revenue potential than many restaurants. There's only one sitting per meal, and the staff-to-diner ratio is relatively high, the better to ensure a comfortable dining experience in extraordinary surroundings. London's Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and the US's National Association for Visually Handicapped applaud any effort to improve the lives of a severely underemployed population and raise awareness about living with impaired vision. RNIB Disability rights expert Liz Woskett, who is visually impaired, said, "It's not a VI {visually impaired} world and the places I go are not necessarily geared toward me. But I'd go to see how the food is--just like any restaurant." --Maggie Rosen |
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