Restaurant surprised blind woman with a happy birthday message written in braille
A London restaurant went above and beyond to make a patron feel special on her birthday recently: Natalie Te Paa, a singer, songwriter and pianist from Auckland, New Zealand, who also happens to be blind, received a special birthday message from the staff there.
On August 15, Te Paa celebrated her birthday with her producer, stylist and friend Claire Sara at London restaurant Luciano, run by Italian-British celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo. Upon learning of the special occasion, the chef decided to make her an extraordinary dessert. So along with a plate of tiramisu, the servers brought Te Paa a very special plate of chocolate. You can watch the moment in a video Te Paa shared on TikTok.
“So I’m totally blind,” Te Paa wrote on the TikTok video, “and this is the moment I realized the lengths the restaurant staff went to in order to wish me Happy Birthday.”
Sara asked Te Paa for her hand, which she placed on the plate. It was then that Te Paa understood that the chef had written “Happy Birthday” in uppercase letters and braille using melted chocolate.
@natbysight I’ll never forget this moment. #braille #blind #blindtiktok #viralvideo
“Oh my gosh!” Te Paa exclaimed. “Are you kidding me?”
“You guys are amazing,” added Sara, who had spoken to restaurant staff about doing something special for her friend and credits the hostess with the idea.
Te Paa also shared the video on her Facebook page with a caption thanking the staff.
“To the entire team at @lucianobyginodacampo,” she wrote, “you moved us to tears last night! Thank you for going above and beyond to make me feel special on my birthday … Love, Natalie.”
After the first video garnered millions of views and thousands of heartfelt comments, Te Paa shared a follow-up video on TikTok that showed her thanking the chef.
“A lot of you have asked me the name of the restaurant and who was behind this heartwarming evening,” she wrote in her Facebook post sharing the TikTok video. “Thank you to Valeria, Francesca, Leo and the team @lucianobyginodacampo.”
@natbysight Part 2: Three angels -Valeria, Francesca, and Leo 😇 #viralvideo #blind #braille #natalietepaamusic @iamginodacampo @clairesaracreative
Te Paa shared a message in the initial video that she hopes viewers around the world will take from this moment.
The finishing text the musician wrote on the video reads, “So take heart, despite how broken the world is right now … true kindness still exists.”
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