Natalie Te Paa's birthday was made a little sweeter by the staff at Luciano by Gino D'Acampo.
Te Paa recently went to the London restaurant to celebrate her birthday, along with her friend Claire Sara. Te Paa is blind, and when the restaurant staff learned it was her big day, they surprised her by looking up online how to write "Happy Birthday" in Braille, and then using melted chocolate to put this message on a plate.
Te Paa was stunned, telling Today that she's had plenty of people sing to her in restaurants, but no one has ever wished her a happy birthday in Braille. "It just blew me away," she said. Sara posted a video online of Te Paa and her birthday message, and it has been viewed by millions.
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It's Te Paa's hope that this will inspire other restaurants to be more inclusive of guests. "Blindness is not easy," she told Today. "There are a lot of times that you do face discrimination, you do face things that are challenging and tough and difficult. So the fact that they did this for us really opened up a conversation of awareness."
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