Who knew dining in the dark would be such a hit. The point to Ability Explosion's Miami Lights Out on October 20, was to simply raise awareness for the blind and create an "unconventional culinary experience." Some of the participating venues were BLT Steak at the Betsy Hotel, Catch 10, Gotham Steak at the Fontainebleau, Indomania, and Red the Steakhouse.
Miami Lights Out gave "a new understanding to being a person with a disability" says David New from Ability Explosion. "I believe it was a world record, we had over 500 people attend."
There were two different ways to dine in the dark. Some venues couldn't turn off all the lights, so they gave sleep masks to their customers to wear while they ate. Restaurants that could dim their lights, used heavy drapes provided by Michael Designs and the customers were given night vision goggles.
The staff at each venue had to be trained by the instructors from Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. Next year, Ability Explosion hopes to have even more restaurants be involved. It seems that might be likely. This year was a success and the event is sponsored by Miami Spice.