Recently, I ate in a highly recommended restaurant in Los Angeles. Angelinos are reliable foodies, and the dishes didn’t disappoint, but I left feeling upset and strangely unsatisfied.
I had the same experience in Europe, at a very cool pop-up restaurant in Switzerland, a great peirogi place in Poland, a festive eatery in Bulgaria. I was edgy and irritable after dining.
I was at a birthday party in Santa Fe a few weeks ago, and it was held in a popular local restaurant. The birthday girl invited about l2 of her girlfriends and we all sat at a long table. The food was good, the company was fine, but I was miserable. Perhaps you are wondering why.
I adore food, eating out, ethnic dishes, new taste sensations, and anything prepared with love and imagination. I was miserable because the noise level was unbearable. In all instances, I had to shout to be heard, and my dining partners were doing the same. So the choice was to scream as though one were at a sports match, or accept that it was only possible to talk to the person next to me, albeit in a loud voice.
And finally I decided that I am not going to do it any more. Eating out is supposed to be pleasurable. You hang with friends, catch up, discuss life, food, ideas, and plans while imbibing and dining. The presence of friends or dining companions is supposed to make you feel warm and fuzzy and close, even if the topics can sometimes be controversial or difficult. It’s all part of being connected.
Noisy restaurants are disconnecting. I seem to remember when the decibel level got really annoying. It was when some genius, or a gaggle of geniuses, decided that loud meant exciting. People were drawn to where the action is, and hubbub sounds like action. Right? You already know my answer.
I have been in restaurants that were purposely designed with floors that resonate, so it’s like eating inside a huge drum. And when there is live music, patrons are obliged to listen because the music is too loud to allow for real conversation. Background music can be fine, but loud, insistent music is annoying and inappropriate. Aerobic dining is def not my style.
It is great for your mental health to dine with friends. It is awful for your mental health if the dining experience makes you feel nervous, strained, and straining. I am sure you have plenty to say, but it would be nice to eat with people who can actually hear it.
If you’ve eaten in fast food restaurants, you know that the colors are lighting are designed for rapid turnover. Come in, order, eat, leave, on to the next. The price is soothing, but nothing else is.
Or maybe you’ve gone to a local eatery lately, and you were seated next to the bar or the kids’ area. Was it relaxing? I’ll wager it was not.
How about the wedding reception in a restaurant where the band is so loud you sit in numbed silence with a table full of potentially interesting interlocutors?
You are likely interested in slow cooking, slow food, slow eating. Feels good, right? So why would you want noisy slow food, noisy slow eating, being served slow cooking in a place where din is the accompaniment to dining?
I have begun asking other diners in noisy restaurants how they feel about the decibel level. I have never heard anyone say she likes it. And many times people ask me for recommendations of restaurants that are soothing, and where you can relax and enjoy good convo.
If you want a dining experience that makes you feel good, choose a restaurant where you can hear yourself think, and engage, really engage with your table mates. What’s the point of putting your cell phone in airplane mode if you are going to eat in a place that sounds like a runway?
Your thoughts?
