Dining news
At Melba’s in Harlem, accessibility is moving onto the menu itself.
Chef Melba Wilson’s restaurant has introduced Braille menus so blind and low-vision diners can browse dishes and make selections independently, according to an announcement sent to New York Hours.
The project was developed with David Rockwell and Rockwell Group, with Braille production by Big Blind Ambition and underwriting from EmblemHealth. The restaurant launched the menus during Blindness Awareness Month.
Wilson said the effort has a personal connection to an older cousin who lost her sight. The change also fits the role Melba’s has cultivated in Harlem since opening in 2005: not simply as a restaurant serving American comfort food, but as a neighborhood gathering place.
Restaurant accessibility is often discussed in terms of entrances, bathrooms and seating. A readable menu is a smaller intervention, but it changes who controls the basic act of ordering. The point is not assistance. It is independence.
