Dark Dining Masquerade Ball

The talented Chef Adrianne Calvo compiled quite a delectable feast for all the senses with her legendary Dining in the Dark Eyes Wide Shut Masquerade Ball at the Coral Gables Country Club this past September 20^th 2013. This dark dining all benefited the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The event was adorned and saturated with magnificent ostentatiousness and scrumptiousness.
Dining in the Dark consisted of a seven course meal where patrons consumed their meal blindfolded. Eating blind amplifies the experience because shutting off one sense accentuates the others and our brain does not prejudge the food based on what we see. Once the food is served, the first step is to touch the food. All dishes had very enticing and interesting textures. We were then instructed to smell the food, which at times was intoxicating in the best way. The mere whiff of the exquisite truffle oil induced a Niagara fall of saliva in our mouths. We have become quite addicted to truffles since this event. Finally, you may taste the food and be marveled by the complex flavors in your mouth. In between the courses, you delighted in sexy sounds like Enigma while enjoying the touch of your dining partner, and fully embarking on and appreciating the entire blind experience.
The event was unique, delightful and delectable. Her fried goat cheese and truffle oil ball were our amaurotic favorite. In addition, to the decadent dinner there was a whole slew of entertainment which included: contortionists, fire dancers, burlesque show (videos below), live band, body painting, chandelier models, as well as sexy mermaids performing in the pool.

Before I get into the delicious food and entertainment, let me tell you about the best part of the night. A portion of the proceeds raised through ticket sales will be donated to Make It Count, Chef Adrianne’s foundation, which benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I don’t know the totals right now but I can say there was a packed house paying $ 150 – 250 dollars a pop.
From the moment that I walked in, my senses were on high alert. From the first sip of champagne, you knew you were entering into a night of decadence and luxury. There were beautiful women lit by candlelight… and beautiful women wearing candlelight. We were greeted with tuxedo clad little men passing out roses and delectable mini bites of food. Reality was suspended as mermaids swam in the pool. That was just the cocktail hour. The night’s events continued with an amazing mix of live performers, dancers, and other specialty acts. Flame throwing belly dancers heated up the party. Women turned their bodies into canvas. And of course any night including an androgynous (leaning toward lezzie) burlesque show is a win in my book IJS.
Let’s get into the food… you know I am all about the grub (yes I can call it grub even if I ate in in a gown). There were several stations of food but my favorite had to be the beef served with a cornbread mash of sorts (I will try to update the post with the fru fru names of the food later). It was delicious. It felt like home.
Shout out to LIttle Black Dress Vodka for being the sugar in my tea… or maybe the tea with cranberry juice as the sugar. My powers of analogy are lacking today.
All in all it was an amazing night, I can’t wait to tell you all about Chef Adrianne’s restaurant, especially since it is right by the house.

WOW! What an amazing event! Having a husband as an officer in the Marines we go to plenty Formal Balls and dinners, but this was the time of our lives, literally! When I first read and was presented of a dining experience blind folded I knew it was something I would have to try, specially coming from a local up and coming Chef Adrienne. And then I hear about performers, DJ, etc and I had to make a trip to Miami for it! Drove 6 hrs from Tampa, arranging 2 friends to watch my toddlers bc I just couldn’t miss.
Dinner for us started at 8pm, so we showed up around 7pm and were greeted by a rolled out red carpet, free valet service, very helpful greeters, and a photo op next to an amazing girls in mask that looked like she was 12 feet tall! So cool! Went in and there were entertainers amazingly dressed. I hate not going into detail bc I could go on and on, but it was just amazing! Grabbed a few flutes of Champagne right away to wait for our friends. We headed to the VIP/​pool area and they had 2 mermaids making tricks in the water, and a super flexible girl in a huge hamster ball! We headed straight to the open bar and our drinks had a good amount of alcohol in them! Definitely done well! We hung out there, they had a cheese table and girls walking around with appetizers in their hands, we took pictures in the very comfy and beautiful couch by the pool area while enjoying good food, drinks, and company. The night was perfect too, a beautiful end of summer Miami night, not too hot or humid, and breezy! Perfect!
Seating started shortly after 8pm for dinner, course after course I was blown away! My husband ate foods he definitely would have never even looked at if he knew what they were. everything was so good, this definitely opened our outlook to culinary perfection! This is coming from someone that has taken cooking lessons in various countries, in various continents around the world! It was romantic, the waitresses were well trained to be careful and non-​intrusive to the dining experience while still making themselves available and helpful when we needed them. There was designated waiters walking around filling up everyone’s glasses of water at all times. The detail and planning of this event was amazing, and as a party planner I can tell you, this is the hardest part, small details that will keep people flowing! Chef Adrienne came out after every course to explain her amazing food! The whole experience took about 3 hours, and it was so amazing I never realized it was that long! Best dinner ever! Amazing food, beautiful atmosphere, and it’s so sexy to eat blind folded! Blown away again!
After exiting dinner, we met our friends at the ballroom and danced the night away! Amazing, all the performers, belly dancers, great drinks, great music, fantastic evening! I think we left at 2am, and didn’t want to leave!!!
Usually my husband is the one to critic restaurants/​events we attend, but I was so blown away I actually made time to do it myself! Thank you Chef Addrienne and staff, I will be back!!!

(This review has no negative opinions of the venue location, Coral Gables Country club, or any of ‘dark dining’ sponsors. They were sold an idea that was terribly executed in a representation of their names. The Venue was a perfect setting for what, very easily could have been an amazing event.)
The dark dining masquerade ball. Brought to you by Eyes Wide shut. That company says it all. Keep your eyes shut… Tightly. This event offers tickets for a masquerade club experience, with free booze and snacks, or you can bump the price way up to include a dark dining, «blindfolded» eating experience.
I opted to go all out, private car service, nearby hotel, tuxedo, beautiful lady on my arm. My thought process was if you are paying $ 250 a ticket, it has to be good. Wow… Was I wrong.
The venue for this event was at the Coral Gables Country club, in Miami, FL. Nice place for the event. At night everything has a gorgeous look, and this played right into the event. Everyone showed up for the event looking dashing in their gala dresses and spiffy black tie outfits. As you enter, you see crowds of people, in stifling heat, just milling about… Kinda wandering aimlessly. There was a nice sign pointing out the VIP Area, but before I went there, I wanted to check out the entertainment in the ballroom. The entertainment, and ladies walking around in their costumes, literally was the highlight of the evening. They looked fantastic. We watched and stood for about an hour, because Zero seating was provided… anywhere. People were just desperately sitting wherever they could find a spot. Yes, I understand it is a formal event, but sometimes a gorgeous lady, needs to sit for a moment and rest her feet!!! We found a spot on stage, along with 200 of our closet friends. I decided to grab a few drinks. I found one of five bars. This was my first real issue. Dark dining touts an open bar. It’s all included in your price. Well. I am assuming it is, but I never actually made it to any bars. Each line had over 70 people waiting, crowded, hot, disgusting. Each bar had one bartender, desperately trying to keep up. Each guest was ordering as many drinks as they could carry, because they knew it would be another 1:45 wait in line to come back!!! I waited a bit, but then realized our dining time was approaching, while my date was by herself waiting for me. Reluctantly, I went back defeated, telling her the line hadn’t moved, and I was unable to get her WATER!!! They didn’t have waitstaff walking about with trays of drinks. You were on your own at this point. I decided that maybe in the VIP section, there would be better access to everything. Besides it was dinner time, they would at least serve water.
We made our way through the hundreds of sweaty, well dressed guests, showed our VIP credentials and made our way to the pool and dining area. Immediately, softer music, less crowded, more really great performers. This was until we made our way back to the dining refugee camp. 100’s of people waiting in somewhat of a line, outside, in the heat and now rain. No prior planning for temporary shelters if it had rained. This is Florida. It rains all the time! At this point the dining was clearly not going to start at the agreed upon 10pm. There are two seatings 8pm and 10pm. The 8pm people were still mid course. So… Hopped on the bar line, making the best of our new refugee camp. We waited and waited, nothing. My date, in her stunning corset gala dress, was getting dizzy and just needed to sit. Since the bar line didn’t move, I saw an area by the edge of the pool where we could sit. We sat… It started to rain!!! LOL. This is true VIP! Everyone just scrambled in their gorgeous outfits to find some sort of cover. This went on for hours. My date, was enjoying the music and doing the best she could, but we just decided to leave. We didn’t even get to eat. We left over an hour and a half after our scheduled dining time. $ 250 a ticket, Premier VIP service. We couldn’t even get water.
The execution of this entire event was terrible. It really had great potential, like I said the ladies performing were stunning, sexy, gorgeous. Just great. The rest? Terrible. Save your money. I am terribly disappointed with this event. It is almost criminal. I would not recommend.