So here’s the deal. You’ve been craving a burger all week, and you finally have time to go out and eat some. You find a cozy restaurant, sit by the window looking out to busy streets, order your dish and wait for your burger. After what seems like a decade to your rumbling appetite, your order arrives. And lo and behold, they’re dumplings! How would you feel? Well, this is exactly what happened in one restaurant in Tokyo, and the reason is heartening.
“The Restaurant of Order Mistakes” employs waiters with dementia, seeking to raise awareness for the neurological disorder.
Image source: Mizuho Kudo
The goal is to make people realize that people with dementia are still well functioning human beings in society. Customers are made aware at first that the waiters might get their order wrong. This is done in hopes that it will change their perception of people with dementia. The restaurant received a positive response from the society, even though it was only open for a trial period of two days in June. But after its success, the restaurant plans to open another pop-up restaurant, in dedication to World’s Alzheimer’s Day on September 21st.
Image source: Yahoo
Image source: Yahoo
Food blogger, Mizuho Kudo tweeted about her experience at the restaurant. She wrote that she ordered a hamburger but received gyoza dumplings instead. However, she also said that the waiters were having fun and were full of smiles all day.
Source: Mizuho Kudo
Mr. Oguni Akira is one of the executive members of the restaurant. When asked about why he opened such a place, he responded with one mission in mind: to accept mistakes and enjoy them together. According to Yahoo, Akira was inspired when working on a documentary project for a nursing home where dementia patients were the primary focus.
Image source: Yahoo
So if you’re in the area during September, visit this quirky restaurant to enjoy good food, good company, and a couple of heart-warming laughs!