Imagine you enter the restaurant in the dark, pitch black. No cell phones, cameras or any form of light. This dinner is intended to be enjoyed while using all of your senses except one – your sight.

The Willow on Wascana is known for its views overlooking Wascana Lake, but this event has no use for eyes.

The Lights Out event starts off with the waitress leading you blindly to your reserved table for the night with only glow-in-the-dark tape to direct them. With no idea what you are about to eat, your trust is laid in the hands of the chef for your six-course meal, which includes four mains.

“Kind of like an adventure, because your other senses are enhanced when you do this,” said Amanda Carter, an owner of The Willow restaurant. “You can’t see what you are eating. So, we thought that’s a great culinary event.”

After each meal or appetizer you get the chance to guess what you are eating. Once everyone gets a chance to guess, the chef comes out and tells you in detail what was prepared and how.

“And it is completely black,” said Carter. “You walk into a black restaurant and you walk out of a black restaurant.”

The only light you get is candles in the restrooms, which you are led to if needed.

“So as you can see from the windows up there, there is a tarp that’s on all winter to keep that blacked out and then every day about 4 o’clock we go out and we put tarps around every window on the outside of the building,” said Carter.

Almost every night this event has been held it has been busy; on average 40 people attend.

Customers have said this event brings a lot to Regina in terms of trying new things.

“Not knowing what you’re eating was kind of nerve-wracking a little bit,” said Brad Collins, a first-time customer at the Willow who attended the Lights Out event.

“I’ve had calamari before and I hated it and then when I went in there I was surprised to find out that the first dish, which was actually my favorite, was calamari. So it was really cool and it was all stuff that I either thought I didn’t like or I had never tried before.”

Regina currently doesn’t have an event such as this and Collin believes it adds to Regina’s events.

“I just thought it was a really unique experience, which is awesome especially in Regina,’ said Collins. “Sometimes we can lack fun things to do, especially in the winter.”

The event has attracted groups of people, from families, friends, date nights and even a few people celebrating their birthdays.

Another first-time attendee to the Willow, Tiawna Lamontagne, also enjoyed her experience at the Lights Out event.

This event has really piqued the interest of many and brings all kinds of senses to life, especially for Lamontagne. She says it heightened all of her senses.

She attended the event with her husband and said the process of the event was unique and worked well.

“I thought it would be a great date night, so I booked it as a surprise,” said Lamontagne. “I would definitely go back and would recommend it. It’s great for a date night or a group of friends going out.”

Although the event is loved by many and has been an experience to remember, for Collins and Lamontagne it may be coming to an end for good.

“We actually probably won’t be doing it past the end of this March,” said Carter. “So we really only have from now to March 25, so four events left.”