I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies, i.e. that some of the sillier food fads never reach us and I don't have to review them. Like the one that is sweeping such blasé centres as New York, London (U.K.), Zurich, even (sigh) Paris where, apparently, just good food isn't enough for those jaded palates -- to wit, dining in total darkness. And I mean dark. Pitch black. Not a light in the place. (Apparently it's supposed to heighten the other senses). In London, Dans le Noir has gone so far as to hire only waiters who are blind.

If having to make choices makes you crazy, and you are willing to put yourself in someone else's hands, it's also convenient -- it's all taken care of by the chef, and every dish comes as a surprise, (although most of what we had can be found on the menu). Our first surprise was sunomono salad. It was not much different from other sunomono salads -- translucent noodles and sliced cucumbers in a light, almost drinkable rice vinegar dressing -- except for the garnish of, not just a single shrimp, but also a sizable chunk of Alaska king crab, big enough to really sink our teeth into.