At Dans Le Noir restaurant in London, diners eat in total darkness served by the visually impaired.
While one can easily converse with the blind server, the darkness prevents patrons from seeing anyone or anything.
The experience leaves one with a deeper understanding of – and sympathy for – those who cannot see, and how they must navigate their lives through a world where sight is not theirs to enjoy.
On the other side of the globe, in a restaurant in Lijiang, Yunnan province in China’s southwest, patrons are more likely to be served by a hearing-impaired or mute staffer.
Thus, they have it a little easier than their London counterparts. There is no need to fumble in the dark for utensils, food and drink.
On the other hand, orders here are placed using iPads or sometimes by writing in notebooks.
Restaurant owner Zhang Yushou says customers are very kind, and he has yet to receive any complaints from guests during the past two years of operation.
Zhang says a hearing-impaired waiter working in his cafeteria in 2012 inspired him to open the unusual restaurant. He did just that three years later.
Two-thirds of his staff are hearing impaired. These special employees, he says, are “incredible,” working far harder than most people do. None of them has been late for work since the restaurant opened.
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Yunnan resto serves up jobs, compassion for the deaf, mute
