berlin dinner club | past events

 

Dinner at the Unsicht Bar, Friday 16th November 2002

As Ivan Ivanovitch, the great Russian cosmonaut once wrote: "The countdown had stalled at T minus 69 seconds when Babushka, the first female ape to go up in space, winked at me slyly and pouted her thick, rubbery lips unmistakably - the first of many such advances during what would prove to be the longest, and most memorable, space voyage of my career."

What the above passage has to do with November's dinner, I haven't a clue but it felt somewhat appropriate. For we are also going to a place where no-one has seen before in Berlin, a bit like travelling into deepest space. Yep. No shit. And no light. That's because we will be dining blind. No soft lamps, no candles, not even luminous watch dials (you have to take your watch off). Not a single photon. Dark as the center of a black hole, and boy, that is *dark*. Incredible, but true. So if you are (a) afraid of the dark or (b) claustrophobic or (c) extremely clumsy or (d) like to touch other people uninvited, then you should not attend this dinner, especially if you fall into the last category. I mean it. We all want a quiet pleasant unusual experience, unspoiled by groping. So, for this dinner, to be fair to everyone, the ladies get to say which guys are allowed to come. And if there are still any complaints, then this will result in people's names getting scribbled into the Dinner Club's "Black List". Forever. You have been warned.

But I think the experience is worth an evening out. And you can always say later, "You know, I was at this strange restaurant where you cannot see anything and..." Even TIME magazine thought the place is pretty cool. If you want to know more about the restaurant, the place is the Unsicht-Bar, Gormannstrasse 14 and you can read some reviews about it here: 

http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901020729-322741,00.html

http://economist.com/cities/displayobject.cfm?obj_id=1334838&city_id=BER 

The table we have is very small, only 10 people this time, so don't keep me in the dark too long if you want to come. Email address is, as usual, chris@berlindinnerclub.com. And if you do get a confirmed place on the very limited list, then please make sure you do come else someone else will miss out as I expect this to be quite a popular event.

Those who are economically challenged should note that the place is not exactly cheap, so expect dinner to be well over 35 EUR per person. They do a vegetarian menu as well, although as usual, it would be easier if we just ate vegetarians instead! :o) Oh, note that the dinner goes on for a long time, around 3 hours or so, and there will be some dark (as opposed to light) music for entertainment during the dinner. There are no lounging facilities or dance floor or stuff like that in the restaurant so no-one is expected to get up or move around in the dark once they are seated at the table. But I think there are lights in the toilets, else everyone will be walking around with wet pants and wet shoes! :o)

After dinner, the current suggestion is that we mosey over to Dante to work off all those calories we saved by not using our eyes. And maybe dry our shoes. Unless someone has a better idea...

Chris



(Picture of interior of the Unsicht-Bar)