It's true. When I sit down and write something I write something and then I ignore it forever. I tend to not edit things as I write (it's a problem for certain). I always felt that editing was second guessing myself, and that was never something that I tended to do. I need to work on going back and re-reading things for content and continuity. While grammar and the like are important enough, I contend that as long as the crux of the story gets across you can still enjoy the reading experience... of course I say that knowing I have a fairly horrible grammatical voice and should probably go back and reacquaint myself with the English language...
I wrote a short story a bit earlier inspired by a conversation that I had while I was in California (the ending is not part of the conversation!) and I've been trying to keep with my goal (granted you don't see all that I am writing, just occasional things I throw out there when I am bored).
Maybe one day I'll go back to my old format and complain about something other than myself and my grammatical foibles, but today this is what you get... enjoy.
The Restaurant.
“I can’t
believe the day is finally here” I said aloud.
The bathroom lights illuminating my tie as I set to straighten it in the
mirror, my wife only a few feet away getting ready. Her dress shimmered in the lights of the
bathroom, a calming yet exciting light blue, a favorite of mine. She walks up to me to give me a peck on the
cheek…
“I
know. We’ve had these reservations for
almost a year now!”
“Such an
intriguing concept. A restaurant where
you can’t see the food, or the people you are eating with.” I say.
“It’s
the perfect concept for you. You get to
be social without actually having to interact with anyone else in any way,
shape or form” she intoned sarcastically.
“I know!”
We
couldn’t believe when we had read about this restaurant. A place where you walk in, get seated at your
table and then blindfolded, we instantly were intrigued by the concept and
found out about reservations. Somehow we
got lucky and were able to score reservations for opening night. That’s right this place has had buzz
surrounding it for at least a year now and here we are, finally at opening night.
I don’t
often get excited about new things, or going out in a suit for that matter (I’d
much rather be on the couch in pajamas with some take-out and DVR’d shows… I
have a huge backlog of television that I need to watch), but this spoke to
me. The concept of eating without seeing
the food, removing a sense from the act of eating and enjoying food in a
different fashion compelled me to do this.
“You
ready?” I inquire.
“Yeah,
let’s go”.
An
uneventful car ride later and we roll up in front of the restaurant. The restaurant was unnamed (part of the
appeal) and was located in an up and coming part of the city, a converted
warehouse district that was now full of condos and people with more money than
sense. A sharply dressed valet was there to take our
keys (and our car) and we were escorted into the restaurant.
“Welcome
to our experiment in eating” the hostess said, “Names please?”
We give
our names and the Hostess verifies the names on her list, scratches both of our
names off and then directs us into the main eating area.
The restaurant
was really two rooms. The first room was
the waiting room where the Hostess greeted us, it was unassuming and basically
a small, black box. No art on the walls,
no signage anywhere, no names. The other
room of the restaurant was similar just a larger room. In the middle of the room was a circular
table, big enough to seat 12 people. Once
again, no signage, no artwork, nothing on the walls. A single dimmed light hung above the table.
“Please
be seated. As you can tell we are
waiting just a few more people to come.
As part of the experience please refrain from interacting with any of the
other guests”.
We take
our seats next to another excited couple.
We can tell that they are having the hardest time not trying to strike
up a conversation with us about the shared experience we are about to
have. Luckily for all of us we don’t
wait long on the other group to arrive for our meal to begin. As the other group arrives a gentlemen in a
tuxedo comes out and introduces us to the restaurant.
“Ladies
and Gentlemen, tonight we begin our experiment in eating. In a few minutes you will be blindfolded and
the lights will be turned off. We ask
that you do not speak with the people next to you. Do not let their opinions on the food and
spoil your own thoughts. This is an experiment
that each of you will undertake by yourselves.
The last thing, all of the foods will be enjoyed solely with your
senses, there is no silverware in front of you.
All foods will be enjoyed using three of your senses. Touch.
Smell. And Taste.” As the man in the tuxedo was saying this a
group of twelve people dressed in all black showed up and walked behind each
and every one of us in the room. “The
people behind you will serve as your napkin.
Since you will unable to see any of the food, or what may or may not be
on your fingers, they will make sure that after each course you are clean and
ready for the next course. They will
also help you with your blindfold. I
welcome all of you to the culinary experience of a lifetime. Please enjoy”. He bows and quietly leaves the room.
The
person behind me then takes the blindfold and places it over my eyes. The world goes dark. Almost immediately I can hear plates and
platters being fumbled into the room.
The noise of the preparation makes me hunger with anticipation. A disembodied voice in heard “Course One”.
The
person behind me takes me by the arm and leads my hands towards whatever the
first course is. It’s odd. It’s spherical and has a sticky viscous fluid
around it. It’s warm to the touch, but
not hot. “Please eat” the same
disembodied voice said. I place the
object in my mouth and take a bite. The
taste is wonderful, a variety of flavors and textures wrapped into one. The object was soft on the outside, had a
hard shell in the middle and liquid inside of that. Complex at all aspects of the food. It was delightful and unsettling at the same
time, not knowing what it is. After I
had eaten the person behind me took my hand and placed it in what I can only
assume was a bowl of water and washed off my hands.
“Course
Two…”
The same
things occurs, the person behind me takes my arm and leads me to the food. I grab it and feel the texture. This was flat and crispy. Much hotter than the last. Still the flavor was amazing.
The meal
went on like this for what seemed like hours.
“Course
Three”
Spongy
and coated in some type of sauce.
“Course
Five”
Stringy
and tough. Tasted similar to beef jerky.
“Course
Eight”
Soft and
fatty.
“The
Final Course”
I guess
dessert, but I am not sure. It’s
sweet. It almost seems like an attempt
at caramelized meat. I’m not really
sure. It’s good though, albeit it seems
over cooked.
“Thank
you for taking part in our experiment.
You all have been most kind to help us out today. You may please take off your blindfolds.”
The
lights were put back on and we began to take off our blindfolds. We could not believe our eyes. Most people in the room broke down in tears
and began to dry heave and some even threw up.
I stand
up quickly and grab a napkin from the person behind me.
“Overcooked”
I say as I wipe my face down and walk away.
On the
table was the bloodied and lifeless corpse of some random person I have never seen.
