Celebrities eat dinner blindfolded, experience the plight of the sight-impaired

We all know that being blind is no joke, but none of us really have any idea of how hard being sight-impaired is.

That’s what Dinner in the Dark, held in at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura last Thursday, Jul 26,  is all about. Organized by premier eyewear boutique Eye Society, the second annual Dinner in the Dark, had celebrities like Marical Laxamana and Anthony Pangilinan, GP Reyes and Andi Manzano, Maxine Medina and Mark Topacio, eat the four-course dinner prepared by Margarita Fores, blindfolded.

Eye Society believes that dining blindfolded creates awareness and sensitivity to the plight of the sight-impaired. By “losing” their sense of sight, dinner guests will learn to value it even further.

Can you imagine eating dinner blindfolded? That's exactly what guests experienced at Dinner in the Dark

Before the blindfolded dinner, guests were treated to cocktail hour, where free-flowing Moet & Chandon’s Brut Imperial champagne and non-alcoholic gumamela hibiscus tea were served along with hors d’ oeuvres of cherry tomato cups of salted egg spuma and parma ham crisps with chive mousse, salmon roe, and lumpfish caviar.

There was a video presentation about the importance of sight, as well as a stirring performance by the School of the Blind. Eye Society, Inc., president George Mirani gave the opening remarks, 2016 Asia’s Best Female Chef Margarita Fores gave a heartfelt speech, and Eye Society, Inc., AVP Neelam Gopwani discussed the importance of eye health.

During the dinner, guests were directed by “darkness experts” who used only their voices to guide them through each course, all of which explored textures, temperatures, and flavor combinations.

Can you imagine eating the antipasto of Parmesan Pannacotta with organic tomatoes, sweet basil, and black olives? How about enjoying seafood — scallops from Capiz, blue crab from Negos, seared local sea bass — without actually seeing them? Imagine how surprising it must’ve been to taste chocolate, adlai, and carrot atchara in with your short ribs!

Dinner in the Dark surely got its point across, which was: Eye sight is important. We can fight blindness through detection, prevention, and solution. — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News