Diners ‘sign for their supper’ at this ByWard Market restaurant

Roxanne Labreche greets diners at Dark Fork in Ottawa's ByWard Market. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)

Dark Fork opened its restaurant in the ByWard Market last September, the city’s first “dine-in-the-dark restaurant.”

Patrons eat in a dark dining room where cellphones and other sources of artificial light are forbidden, allowing people to experience life without vision.

As summer begins in the capital and the patio season opens up, Dark Fork launched the first ever sign language dining experience on its patio on George Street on Wednesday.

• You must order using sign language at this ByWard Market restaurant this summer

For Roxanne Labreche, this new eating experience offers her a job where she can feel right at home. Being deaf, this is the first time she has had coworkers who are also deaf, creating a community that can connect directly to each other and the hearing world.

“So here, really, it’s the first time that we have a space for the deaf community,” Labreche said. “I feel like having this place open to the public, where anybody can come in and socialize if they don’t understand the deaf community. We are right here, we are opening our doors, we’re inviting you and we want the hearing community to be involved and to join us and see what’s it’s like.”

Diners enjoying their meal on the heritage stone patio will be required to place their orders in sign language. The menu offering a guide and a quick reference. It shows you how to sign “please,” “thank you,” and “check,” along with clear illustrations for each of the menu items.

For owner Moe Alameddine, pioneering unique ways to enjoy a meal and connect people his passion.

“This is the only restaurant in the world with blind and deaf people working together,” Alameddine said. “It’s a project we really wanted to do for the deaf community, to get them involved in the hospitality industry. I can say congratulations Ottawa, now you have a restaurant with blind and deaf people working together,”

Katherine Sibun is thrilled with the opportunity to interact with the deaf community while dining out. Sibun has worked as a sign language interpreter for years, so being surrounded by those using sign language is a real opportunity to connect.

“I am delighted that they are making a practice of hiring people from the deaf community and that It’s a space people can congregate and enjoy the language and culture,” Sibun said. “It puts a face to it gives it depth and dimension and the idea of culture and language and all the beauty that’s involved in the deaf community,”

Dark Fork’s patio is open Wednesday to Sunday for the summer.