"Welcome," the Frenchman bellowed. Suddenly, 25 diners tensed with anxiety. Idle chatter ceased. They took longer swigs of alcohol. One woman whispered to another, "Here's my card in case we don't see each other again." Everyone wanted to know what lay beyond the thick, velvet curtain.

A few minutes later, they knew the answer: pitch black darkness.

"I started to freak about 10 minutes after sitting down," Beverley Smith, 34, said. "My mind was waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark - - which they never did." Smith said she made hand gestures while she talked with others. "After a few seconds I realized this was totally useless," Smith said. "It was a real adjustment."

This was the seventh event known as "The Dinner in the Dark;" a pun on blind dating, as well as an attempt to foster a greater sense of food appreciation. The idea came to New York City via Jerome Chasques, editor-in-chief of Cosmo Party, a company that organizes theme parties for people exasperated with online dating and eager for upscale, chic dining experiences. Their slogan: "Try our mix...and get blended!"

On this particular evening, Gradisca, an unassuming Italian restaurant in the West Village, hosted the dinner. Chasques said he changes venues in order to expose people to new cuisines. Despite this nouveau approach to social networking, Chasques must overcome the negative stigma attached to blind dating.

Blind dates are usually with a co-worker's roommate. You have dinner at The Olive Garden. You talk about your childhood when you're not nervously laughing or wondering aloud, "What did I get myself into?" When you get bored, you people watch. If you're not appalled by one another's appearance or personality, phone numbers might be exchanged. But dinner in the dark is different. Chasques said, "You won't even know who is talking to you or even who is listening to you or if they are even listening to you."

"It should be very friendly in the dark," Chasques said.

Standing at the curtain, a waiter wearing infrared goggles greeted guests and led each person by hand to a seat. Immediately, the sense of sight vanished. Diners gripped their two glasses, one filled with wine, the other with water, to maintain their bearings at the table. And it was noisy. People spoke loudly, prompting one man to shout, "We're blind. Not deaf."

Surrounded mostly by strangers in lightlessness, people were more outgoing, more talkative, more engaged. Conversation was not something to pass the time, it was a survival method. Besides, the diners, some of whom were hardened veterans of the New York City dating scene, were here to meet new people. If boredom struck, there was nothing to look at except the eerie glow from the night goggles or the red buttons on the smoke alarms that blinked like constellations.

The unlimited red wine ensured that no one was silent. Much of the talk during dinner was silly and flirtatious. People's sense of touch increased. Martha Connor, 33, said, "There was a lot of initial reaching out to see where people were. The guy across from me stuck his hand in my face. The woman to the left of me slinked her hand out and caught me under the arm and said, 'Ooh. Who is that?'"

To keep the evening lively, Chasques switched some diners to different tables mid-meal. In one case, a man from upstate New York disappeared and replaced by a Parisian, confusing those nearby.

The organizer of "Dinner in the Dark," Jerome Chasques, adjusts the night goggles before entering the dining room. PHOTO: Sean Alfano

Changes in personality also occurred. "The darkness brought out the mischievous part of me," said Randy Torres, 47. "I let the young fella run wild. It was great fun." Torres' inner imp lobbed bits of bread toward some diners. For Connor, an unwilling target of Torres' projectiles, the unlit room was revelatory: "In a dinner in the dark situation, certain types of character flaws can rise to the surface sooner," Connor said.

Lacking eye contact to gauge someone's attractiveness, diners used their ears to compensate. Certain voices were turn-ons. "A lower pitched woman's voice is much sexier," Michael Arnone, 25, said. "It sounds more mature and enticing." But the cacophony of voices confused some listeners. Smith, whose British accent distinguished her, said, "It was hard to hold a conversation. I said a couple of times, 'Are you talking to me?'"

After two hours and four courses of food, that included polenta, lasagna, gnocchi and something creamy with fish, Chasques burst through the curtain holding candles. The flickering light was blinding. When the experience was over, people clapped. A sense of camaraderie formed among the diners. "We made it," they collectively exhaled.

The windowless dining area contained two long tables along the walls. Surprisingly, most people appeared stain-free. (Chasques sent an email to diners saying "We recommend clothing that require no elaborate cleaning instructions.")

As waiters served a sumptuous dessert of tiramisu and amaretto ice cream, it was time to see the faces behind the voices.

Doris Rivera, 41, said she assumed one man was tall and muscular. "But when the lights came on my perception was wrong," Rivera, said. Connor, who sat across from Rivera said she thought Rivera had blond hair. In the light, she saw it was jet black.

But some guesses were correct. Arnone said he believed quiet voices belonged to conservatively dressed women with plain haircuts, while loud voices came from vivacious women wearing revealing outfits and lots of makeup. "When the lights came on the conservative assumption was way off, "Arnone said, "but the outgoing ones were right on the mark." Arnone stayed well beyond dinner talking with these ladies. Connor and Smith lingered to speak with the two French men across from them. Yet the next day, no one intimated in their email responses that they made a love connection, only new acquaintances.

Earlier in the evening, Torres remarked, "When the lights come on, we'll say 'damn,' I would never talk to somebody like that in a bar." Now illumined, Torres made a comment about the food that seemed a metaphor for dating. "It was hard to tell if the food was good," he said, "because I couldn't see it."

Rivera was less figurative about her experience. "Am I going to contact anyone I met at dinner for a date? No," Rivera said. "The search for my soul mate continues."