Licking fingers is fine if you’re eating in front of the TV or sucking down fast food, but at Jardiniere in San Francisco? Lick your fingers? I think not!

Let me rephrase. I thought not until a few weeks ago, when I attended what may well be the most bizarre dinner of my life — a dinner sponsored by Tazo Tea. It was a lovely affair held in the posh dining room at Jardiniere. The chef had planned a special menu for us — about a dozen media types. But there was a catch — a catch in the form of a thick, padded blindfold. If we wanted to eat, we had to strap the thing around our heads and leave it there during the entire meal.

The idea, the Tazo reps explained, was to force us to focus not on the looks of our food, but on its aromas, textures and flavors. Interesting concept. As I anchored my blindfold in place, I was uneasy. I had no idea what they were going to serve. Worse, how would I get it from plate to mouth? What if I tipped over my drink?

First up was a tender piece of fish in the middle of a large plate. Not exactly easy to spear, I have to tell you. The second course was easier to eat if you didn’t mind shoving huge pieces of poultry into your mouth — although we had knives, I wasn’t about to start sawing on things I couldn’t even see. The dessert? We had to tap our forks across the plate until it hit something soft.

Half-way through this meal, I got the giggles. Here I was in one of the top restaurants in San Francisco, slurping my drink, sticking my fingers in my plate — and licking them. I dropped food all over the table and the floor. I took gigantic bites (how could I know the size without seeing?), and shoved the dangling tidbits into my mouth like a cavewoman. But I had my napkin in my lap and I said a lot of “Please” and “Thank you’s.”

Just in case you’re wondering, the food really was finger-lickin’ good. And it turns out that it was gorgeous as well — they brought plates out to show us what we ate afterwards. I’m not sure my senses were enhanced by “Dining in the Dark” as Tazo called it, but I have to admit it was interesting.