Picky Eater: Dining in the dark not as helpful as we’d hoped

Picky eaters do not review restaurants. Be grateful.
I dined with two of Toronto’s pickiest eaters at O Noir two weeks ago. We met after they emailed me about their struggles with vegetables and condiments.
A waitress asked Tony Williamson, a self-confessed veggie-hater, about his appetizer.
I put a dent in my salad,” the 40-year-old father of two replied. “I only gagged twice.
The picky eater’s compliment is not exactly a glowing review.
The food was fantastic, it’s something else,” Williamson said, realizing his mistake.
Something else” is perhaps the most succinct way to describe picky eating, the frustrating, irrational and perplexing way a small group of Canadians eat.
But this restaurant is also something else. At O Noir, wait staff is blind and diners eat in darkness to share the experience. We picky eaters hoped we would be more adventurous if we didn’t see the food we fear.
At the Church St. restaurant, diners congregate in a dimly lit room to look at the menu before they enter the dark dining room. There are several options for appetizers, main courses and desserts, and a “surprise” option.
Williamson stood there, skeptical of the appetizers: grilled portobello mushroom, grilled octopus, grilled calamari, salad with mushrooms and the surprise.
There is nothing I would eat there,” he said, ordering the surprise — later revealed as a salad.
Williamson works in IT and is a meat and potatoes guy. The only vegetables he eats — corn, tomatoes and cucumbers — aren’t technically classified as vegetables. Corn is botanically a grain, tomatoes and cucumbers are fruit.
At Subway, I order a sub and they automatically reach for lettuce. I’m like, ‘No lettuce, no lettuce.’ If one little piece of lettuce hits that, I’m freaked out,’ ” he says.
This all makes me feel so much better,” says Shannon Mitchell, who works in public relations.
Mitchell, 24, doesn’t like sauces of any kind.
There are lots of meat and potato dishes in the main course section. The problem, for all of us, are the side vegetables and sauces. Mitchell orders the surprise main dish.
If you need anything just holler,” a waitress says. “Any questions or concerns?
If you only knew.
The three of us aren’t medically compromised picky eaters. We’re just selective, the kind of people who prefer Alphagetti to artichokes. Nancy Zucker, the director at the Duke Center for Eating Disorders, said depriving picky eaters of vision is a good way to reduce the anticipatory anxiety many feel before taking a bite.
A lot of time the fear gets in the way, notwithstanding the taste and smell. You see something, and start to get afraid and your stomach gets all tight,” she said.
We’re escorted into the room, our hands on the shoulder of the person in front of us. Mitchell has brought two long-suffering dinner partners: her boyfriend, Liam Mulligan, and friend Michelle Dias.
While we wait for appetizers, we talk about our puzzling behaviour. Williamson says he can force himself to eat on occasion, like his second date with his wife. Eating quiche was torture, but he did it. Now they have two kids.
I know it’s an irrational thing,” he says. “Why is this so hard (at other times) if I can do it now?
Those situations come up with Liam’s parents, and I won’t do it,” Mitchell responds, saying she’d rather be embarrassed by a juvenile selection than a wasted meal.
The appetizers arrive and Mitchell reaches into the darkness and feels something wet. It’s a salad with vegetables and dressing.
She hates dressing. Williamson hates salads.
Who has gagged at least once so far?” Williamson asks after a few minutes pass.
Mitchell admits she stopped eating. “If I don’t like it why would I want to eat it? If you stub your toe, it hurts, but you get over it. Why would I want to do it again?
As he makes his way through the salad, Williamson says his wife is worried his diet of “crap food.
She says, ‘What happens if one day the doctors say you can’t eat poutine and cheeseburgers for the rest of your life?’ ” he says. “One day I have to force myself to do this.
As we eat our main courses (Mitchell is delighted that it’s a meat and potatoes variation, Williamson spins his plate to avoid the vegetables,) Williamson talks about his daughters, ages 6 and 8. They are good eaters, but when they get fussy, he makes them take three bites. It is something he cannot do.
I don’t want them to go to a dinner party and sit there and go, ‘Enh, I’ll have some Tic Tacs out of my purse,’ ” he says. “I don’t want them to live this crap that I’m going through.
Mitchell thinks she’ll be the same way when she’s a parent. Mitchell says she’ll change when she’s pregnant. “If I can change when I need to, why can’t I do it now?” she says.
We’re all kids at heart,” Williamson says. “One day I’ll grow up and when I grow up I’ll eat like a grown up.
Next: Picky Eater examines strategies for parenting a picky eater. kdaubs@thestar.ca
The Picky Eaters
Tony Williamson, 40, Markham
Picky about: Odour and texture. Doesn’t like most vegetables, fruit, seafood, eggs, onions, mashed potatoes
Ordered: Surprise appetizer (salad); veal, potatoes and sautéed vegetables for main
How he fared: Gagged twice eating salad but ate 2/3 of it. Finished veal and most of potatoes but did not eat sautéed vegetables (the smell of marinara sauce nearby threw him off)
Picky relatives: Sister recently confessed to having minor issues with odour of seafood and eggs
Concerns: Passing habits on to children; a doctor ordering him to stop eating fatty foods and red meat
Shannon Mitchell, 24, Toronto
Picky about: Doesn’t like sauces. Has never tried mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, or relish. Doesn’t really like vegetables. Knows “instinctively” she won’t like certain foods. Doesn’t like squishy foods like cooked vegetables.
Ordered: Surprise appetizer (salad); surprise main (chicken with mushroom sauce, potato, roasted vegetables)
How she fared: No gagging, but ate only one bit of salad because it was too saucy. Ate main course, just not the veggies.
Eating in darkness: It helped. “I didn’t know I was eating a mushroom sauce on the main at all.
Picky relatives: Mother doesn’t like foods to mix
Concerns: Social and professional; cannot eat most catered work meals
Katie Daubs, 25, Toronto
Picky about: Texture, taste, foods mixed together. Has eaten the same bland foods for so long it seems impossible to change. Trying to eat wider variety through repetitive exposure to new foods
Ordered: Surprise appetizer (salad); filet mignon with potatoes and vegetables as main
How she fared: Ate green beans, peppers and unidentified vegetables she normally wouldn’t eat. Only spit one mushroom out in the salad. Should have tried a more daring dish but couldn’t commit to the frightening world of seafood.
Eating in darkness: Removed most anticipatory anxiety.
Picky relatives: Mother and brother; both grew out of picky eating.
Concerns: Diabetes runs in the family, and current diet isn’t preventive