Dine in the Dark at This Southern-Inspired Tapas Restaurant

The little morsel I had just put in my mouth after gingerly scooping it from the plate with my fingers was soft and a little slippery, deep with umami and the barest hint of a salty-sweet brine. My dining partners and I started throwing out guesses. Was it chicken liver? Eggplant? Tofu mixed with some sort of meaty seafood? Ah-ha, I finally announced. It’s foie gras! 

Nope, not even close. Turns out the delicious dish, with its delightfully confusing mix of textures and tastes, contained an oyster mushroom “scallop” with scallop tartare, charred mayo and seared wood ears. 

Dinner in the Dark, which I attended this time last year at Nolia, a three-year-old Southern-influenced, European-style tapas restaurant in Centennial, was both humbling and very cool. Think you could guess all the ingredients in a dish you can’t see and know nothing about? Yeah – me, too. Turns out, that’s half the fun — sitting in a darkened dining room, wearing the provided blindfold, sipping on wines and guessing where it’s from, eating each bite with your fingers, and generally being pampered while being peppered with clues.

By most accounts, dining blindfolded in a dark restaurant originated in Paris in the late ’90s, and the trend spread globally. It’s still offered regularly at several New York restaurants and elsewhere around the country.

Last year’s Dinner in the Dark at Nolia was its second such event, and the staff is preparing for the third edition on October 29. The premise will be the same: seven creative, utensil-free courses, wine pairings with each (non-alcoholic options are also offered), and the same attentive and helpful service (the servers wear unique lighted gloves and verbally guide you to the locations of the items as they’re set down). 

Diners are seated in groups, and so couples and solos often wind up with strangers, although that changes quickly when you’re all trying to guess at ingredients and marvel at the experience. Before each course, the wines are hinted at – maybe a region, maybe a historical note – and that all becomes part of the guessing fun, too.

“I’ve always enjoyed changing perspective on food, and taking away the sight makes the other senses soooo intense,” says chef/owner Lilli Black. “I wanted to showcase the food without the bias of the eyes eating first.”

It’s true: Beyond the guessing games, it’s fascinating to truly feel and focus on the differing textures, and everything smells stronger and more interesting. The sounds of crunching, slurping and the occasional, “Oh my god,” add to the sensory onslaught. With so little visual information, your brain starts to make stuff up, trying to fill in the blanks in a pretty hit-or-miss way.

And then, you’re definitely going to have to come back to see that the from-scratch meals at Nolia are just gorgeous in the light. Sculptural and colorful, each dish sports a little lagniappe that takes the tastes in a different direction – jalapeño toast with the shrimp and grits, blueberry pecan jam with the devils on horseback, sweet corn and Gouda with the chorizo-roasted oysters. Freshly made pasta appears in specials that rotate weekly, and there are a half-dozen inventive charcuterie boards available. Additionally, diners can build their own board from more than a hundred ingredients on the full charcuterie menu.

The space itself is a visual treat, too, with a backdrop of walls textured like greenery in one dining area and acrylic black-and-white paintings in the other, giving the rooms distinct identities. Both are the handiwork of the owner’s artist father, Craig Black, who can often be found in a corner of the bar. It all adds to the hum of creativity in the air, the kind of energy that makes Nolia feel more like a gathering place. That vibe comes directly from its owner, a lifelong hospitality professional whose story is as layered as the Southern-rooted, globally inspired dishes she serves.

“I’ve been in every aspect of hospitality since I was about fourteen,” she says with a laugh. “Front of house, back of house, bar, management, catering, event planning – you name it.”

It was a winding path through that world – and a different venture entirely – that eventually led her here. Black moved to Colorado in 1999, after growing up on a plantation between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. In 2010, she started a wedding planning business that has evolved into a full-service catering operation, and she had already owned The Plant Gallery, a lush, foliage-filled space in the same Centennial complex, when she felt compelled to add restaurateur to her resume. 

While searching for more room to expand her event inventory, she spotted a vacant unit near the plant shop. “I called my husband with the classic, ‘Hear me out …’ pitch,” she says. “And here we are.” On November 11, 2022, Nolia – a shortened version of the magnolia trees whose scent permeated the air around her childhood home  – opened its doors.

Though she leads the charge, the menu at Nolia is far from a one-woman effort, as executive chef Kyle Miederhoff collaborates on dishes that feel both grounded and adventurous. “I really welcome input, because that’s what makes a dish really sing,” Black says. But her Southern upbringing is an unmistakable influence – flavors that echo Sunday suppers and family kitchens – but the vision is broader than one region. “I love to travel and eat,” she explains. “That global mentality is part of the food. My Southern roots are there, but so is everywhere I’ve been.”

The result? Plates that balance comfort and curiosity, familiar notes paired with unexpected twists, and menus that evolve with the team’s inspiration. Black also encourages the entire staff to experiment and take chances, particularly with plant-based cocktails, and the wine list is diverse and heavy on by-the-glass options in 3-, 6- and 9-ounce pours to encourage tasting and testing. That spirit of experimentation continues year-round: Nolia hosts monthly special events, from intricate tasting menus to winemaker dinners. 

“I make sure the staff has fun ingredients to play with,” Black says. “It keeps them inspired, and our guests always get something new.”

Nolia is located at 8100 South Quebec Street in Centennial. It will host Dinner in the Dark at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 29. Tickets are $169 per person for a seven-course meal with wine and beverage pairings. For more information, visit nolia.restaurant.