When we pick a place to connect with friends for dinner, there are a number of criteria to consider. To be sure, the food itself is top of the list: it has to be good, but some folks like one type or another, which drives us away from Indian or towards Mexican. Location is critical as well: we try and find a spot that's convenient for all. Price? Ease of parking? Reviews? Yes, yes and yes.
However more and more, even if we can check off all of the above boxes in the affirmative, there's another factor which is rising to the top. More than once it has trumped the others, becoming if not first among equals, then at least a heavy thumb on the scale of successful, enjoyable and therefore repeat visits. Yes, the fried calamari has to be fresh, the water glasses have to be kept filled and there have to be plenty of olives in the glass of Hendrick's (Van, I'm looking at you). But all of that fades by the wayside when we can't hear each other.
Yes, I know I'm getting older, and my ears are joining my knees and my eyes as parts of my body that seem to be nearing their breaking points. And I know I sound like my (and your) parents, lamenting kids and their rock and roll music and their iPhones and their Instabookgram-y accounts. But it's not a relaxing dinner with friends if I have to say four times to the waiter as he lists the specials "WHAT D'YA SAY?"
There is no doubt that my (and my companions') physical state of disrepair plays a part in this comedy, but we alone are not to blame. For along with bespoke lighting and show kitchens, restaurants have replaced all that cushy seating and fabric wall coverings with hard surfaces. Whether it's a refurbished industrial look or a mid century modern motif, the operative word is sleek and clean. And that means stone and glass and open ceilings. A treat for the eyes, yes, but also a playground for sound, allowing your voice and everyone else's to bounce and mix with the ding of silverware and clink of wine glasses. The result is, well, "WHAT D'YA SAY?"
To some extent, like art, loud is in the ear of the beholder. Unlike art, however, that judgment can be not just anecdotal, but empirical. Experts say that sound over 85 decibels can be harmful to your hearing. And while the din at your local Starbucks clocks in at around 60 or 70 dB on a busy day, the roar at that sports bar/gastropub with its chic industrial brick interior likely clocks in closer to 90 dB. And that's before the Giants fumble yet again and the crowd reacts. Meaning that Eli's backside and your ears are likely to be getting beaten up about the same.
Some point to noise not as a nuisance, but rather as a money maker. Analysts have noted that noisy places force people to eat and leave, not to linger, helping to turn over tables faster. Or that the higher noise levels cause you to speak louder, drying out your throat, causing you to order more drinks. There was even a study earlier this year that the noise level influences what food you order. According to researchers at the University of South Florida, softer environments have a calming effect, making us more mindful of what we order. This typically results in healthier choices, such as a salad. Alternatively, louder environments increase stimulation and stress, leading to foods deemed more unhealthy, like cheeseburgers and fries. Think of that next time you walk into Dunkin' Donuts and they are playing AC/DC.
And so we request a quiet table in the corner, and try and go early before the rush, and lean in even if Sheryl Sandberg isn't there. Because the point of having dinner companions is to visit as well as eat. And if we can't talk then we may as well just stay home and order out for pizza. But it makes me wonder: are we the only ones with this issue? Is the reason all those kids have their phones out at dinner because they are avoiding talking to their parents? Or are they texting each other because it's too hard to hear?
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford is getting pickier about restaurants. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
However more and more, even if we can check off all of the above boxes in the affirmative, there's another factor which is rising to the top. More than once it has trumped the others, becoming if not first among equals, then at least a heavy thumb on the scale of successful, enjoyable and therefore repeat visits. Yes, the fried calamari has to be fresh, the water glasses have to be kept filled and there have to be plenty of olives in the glass of Hendrick's (Van, I'm looking at you). But all of that fades by the wayside when we can't hear each other.
Yes, I know I'm getting older, and my ears are joining my knees and my eyes as parts of my body that seem to be nearing their breaking points. And I know I sound like my (and your) parents, lamenting kids and their rock and roll music and their iPhones and their Instabookgram-y accounts. But it's not a relaxing dinner with friends if I have to say four times to the waiter as he lists the specials "WHAT D'YA SAY?"
There is no doubt that my (and my companions') physical state of disrepair plays a part in this comedy, but we alone are not to blame. For along with bespoke lighting and show kitchens, restaurants have replaced all that cushy seating and fabric wall coverings with hard surfaces. Whether it's a refurbished industrial look or a mid century modern motif, the operative word is sleek and clean. And that means stone and glass and open ceilings. A treat for the eyes, yes, but also a playground for sound, allowing your voice and everyone else's to bounce and mix with the ding of silverware and clink of wine glasses. The result is, well, "WHAT D'YA SAY?"
To some extent, like art, loud is in the ear of the beholder. Unlike art, however, that judgment can be not just anecdotal, but empirical. Experts say that sound over 85 decibels can be harmful to your hearing. And while the din at your local Starbucks clocks in at around 60 or 70 dB on a busy day, the roar at that sports bar/gastropub with its chic industrial brick interior likely clocks in closer to 90 dB. And that's before the Giants fumble yet again and the crowd reacts. Meaning that Eli's backside and your ears are likely to be getting beaten up about the same.
Some point to noise not as a nuisance, but rather as a money maker. Analysts have noted that noisy places force people to eat and leave, not to linger, helping to turn over tables faster. Or that the higher noise levels cause you to speak louder, drying out your throat, causing you to order more drinks. There was even a study earlier this year that the noise level influences what food you order. According to researchers at the University of South Florida, softer environments have a calming effect, making us more mindful of what we order. This typically results in healthier choices, such as a salad. Alternatively, louder environments increase stimulation and stress, leading to foods deemed more unhealthy, like cheeseburgers and fries. Think of that next time you walk into Dunkin' Donuts and they are playing AC/DC.
And so we request a quiet table in the corner, and try and go early before the rush, and lean in even if Sheryl Sandberg isn't there. Because the point of having dinner companions is to visit as well as eat. And if we can't talk then we may as well just stay home and order out for pizza. But it makes me wonder: are we the only ones with this issue? Is the reason all those kids have their phones out at dinner because they are avoiding talking to their parents? Or are they texting each other because it's too hard to hear?
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford is getting pickier about restaurants. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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