The sound of silence, Muzak or funky beats… which do you prefer to hear when eating?
As Shakespeare said in Twelfth Night, “If music be the food of love, play on” but music also aids the love of food. Struggle to slow down and savour your meal? Let music be your guide.
On Sunday ‘mafternoons’ (the time equivalent of brunch) I listen to the American Routes programme on NPR. The pleasure of sipping coffee and eating eggs is made all the more idyllic with a soundtrack of blues, jazz, country, gospel and folk.
But it’s a contentious issue, especially when played out in public. One person’s favourite genre is another’s ear bleed. Yet pandering to mass tastes equals bland music, which can be almost as offensive.
One place that gets it right is my local family-run Italian. Their piano man is perfect – relaxed, convivial and even a little cheesy – just like the restaurant.
Live opera at another local joint? Too loud and distracting, which was made more than obvious when my friend accidentally shouted, “I SAID I NEED A MAN REALLY BAD” just as the opera singer decided to end the song. She wasn’t the only one on show after that…
So contentious is the issue, that many bars, restaurants and hotels employ prefessionals to remedy the situation by using companies big (Muzak) and small (New York DJ Nemo Librizzi).
Then there is the sound of silence. As reported in the New York Times, Grant Achatz of the famed Alinea in Chicago feels he can’t get the acoustics of food and music to gel, and couldn’t abide by say, a ‘crunch’ sound during a creamy course.
For me, the sound of silence during a meal is the sound of no buzz, of no soul. It’s the sound of polite couples trying not to scrape their cutlery against the china in a cold, countryside hotel. Music and food? As Shakespeare said, play on…
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
