Diners will be required to “sign for their supper” while sitting on the patio of a restaurant in Ottawa’s ByWard Market this summer. 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. With the arrival of patio season, Dark Fork is launching the first ever sign language dining experience on its patio on George Street. “This summer, Dark Fork – famous for its ‘dining in the dark’ experience – is stepping into the sunlight with a powerful new concept: a patio where guests ‘sign for their supper,’” Dark Fork said in a statement. Starting in June, diners enjoying their meal on the heritage stone patio will be required to place their orders in sign language. “Staffed by deaf and hard-of-hearing servers, the new outdoor space offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to engage with deaf culture in a welcoming, hands-on way,” the restaurant said. Dark Fork says “easy-to-follow visual guides” will be placed on each table to show diners how to sign “please,” “thank you,” and “check” along with clear illustrations for each menu item. The “sign for your supper” patio experience will run from June 4 until the end of the summer. “This initiative is a collaboration with the Tourism Workplace Accessibility Clinic and is about more than food,” Moe Alameddine, founder of Dark Fork, said in a statement. “It’s about connection, inclusion, and being part of someone else’s world for a little while.”
