VANCOUVER, CANADA - A new Vancouver restaurant is encouraging diners to order with their hands - DeaFined, opening May 7 on West 4th Avenue near Vine Street in Kitsilano, is staffed entirely by Deaf and Hard of Hearing servers. Among the first of its kind in Canada, the Eastern Mediterranean restaurant asks customers to order food and drinks using American Sign Language.
For those who don’t know how to sign, there’s no need to fret. “There’s a cheat sheet on the table with the menu,” said owner Moe Alameddine. “The server comes up to take the order, and the fun part starts there.”
In the mood for steak? Grab the fleshy part of your left hand with the index finger and thumb of your right hand, and wiggle a bit as if getting a good grip on the meat. How about salad? Use both hands and picture yourself tossing some greens.
When customers arrive at the DeaFined, a hearing host or hostess greets them and acts as an interpreter while they introduce the server.Alameddine came up with the idea after starting his popular blind-dining restaurant O.Noir in Montreal and Toronto and Dark Table in Vancouver, where guests dine in complete darkness while they are served by visually impaired staff. The concept aims to give customers a taste, albeit briefly, of what it’s like to be blind.
Although the business helped provide jobs for Blind people, Alameddine said he realized a need for employment opportunities to benefit the Deaf community.
Only two other North American establishments - Signs Restaurant in Toronto, which hires mostly Deaf servers, and Mozzeria, a pizza restaurant in San Francisco, which has a Deaf owner and staff have a focus on hiring Deaf staff... Read the full story: http://metronews.ca/news/vancouvers-first-deaf-restaurant-teaches-diners-to-order-in-sign-language/
Follow DeaFine Restaurant:
Facebook - https://facebook.com/DeaFinedVan
Official site - http://www.deafined.ca
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