On the outskirts of Ecuador’s capital, young couples and families venture into a pitch-black cave. Are they looking for shelter? Treasure? No. Just dinner—with wait staff and appetizers and dessert—all in the dark.
Jesus said, “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, and the blind, and you will be blessed.” (Luke 14:13-14) But at this meal, it is the blind who host, while all may benefit in the end.
Blind waiters guide guests to tables and deliver tangy juices, caramelized vegetables, and sweet fried bananas. The selections are foods the owner believes can taste even more delightful when diners can’t see what they are eating.
La Cueva de Rafa, or Rafa’s Cave, is the brainchild of Rafael Wild. He once managed an Italian restaurant in Switzerland. After returning to Quito, Ecuador, he built a cave as a pastime. Later, he decided to open a restaurant inside, run by the blind and serving meals in absolute darkness. The Quito restaurant is the only dining-in-the-dark establishment in Latin America, aside from occasional pop-up events.
According to the World Health Organization, there are about 5 million blind people in Latin America. The restaurant provides jobs for the blind, increases awareness of their daily struggles, and delivers a unique culinary experience.
Diners visiting La Cueva de Rafa first enter a narrow, dimly lit tunnel. Inside, guests place hands on their servers’ shoulders to follow them deeper into the cave toward tables. Guests move awkwardly through the dark while the waiters—most of whom have been blind since childhood—step confidently ahead.
Gabriel Bolanos is a blind analyst at the Ministry of Foreign Commerce. He tends tables at La Cueva de Rafa on weekends. He offers diners two options: an a la carte menu featuring vegetable lasagna and steak, or a surprise dish. The surprise includes a juice and tortillas made with quinoa and mashed potatoes.
At tables, some diners laughed with friends as they wrestled with the unexpected challenge of putting food on a fork they could not see. But for others, the darkness proved unbearable. One left after just five minutes, too nervous to stay in a dining room where cellphones and light-emitting watches are prohibited.
“I felt claustrophobic, disoriented,” he said.
But Wild hopes the restaurant will show what life is like for those who cannot see—and build connections in the community for everyone.
“Since I already had the cave I decided to use it in a way to help society develop empathy for the blind,” he says.
