Festival diners biting in blind

Tessa Johnstone tessa.johnstone@age.co.nz

Diners will be in the dark about the White Swan's menu, but the chef is promising plenty of flavour for the hotel's Greytown Arts Festival blindfolded dining event.

White Swan proprietor Rob Slater said the October 20 event was about the experience, and the task would be making the food easy to eat.

"We didn't want anyone fumbling through courses and spilling things on their shirts," he said.

Instead, they'll be offering up four courses of canapes - the chef is not giving away any clues as to what they'll be - and blindfolded diners will be asked to guess what country the flavours originate from.

Mr Slater reckons they're the first in Wairarapa to offer the blindfolded dining experience, and if it goes well will be looking to run it every six months.

The White Swan is working with the Greytown Arts Festival programme to have people in at 5pm and and out by 6.30pm, so they can go to other events.

Foodie events at Greytown Arts Festival www.greytownartsfestival.co.nz

Last Supper

A pop-up kitchen event, a fundraiser for food aid in North Korea.

St Luke's Anglican Church, Sunday, October 21 at 7pm

$10 per person, $35 per family

Bookings essential: 027 476 1996

Blindfolded Dining Experience

The White Swan, Saturday, October 20 at 5pm

$25 per person, bookings from The White Swan