A Subtle Interplay: Music and the Menu -
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Published on: 3/13/2002
Last Visited: 3/18/2002
"Sometimes I'll be in the dining room and the room will be full, and if I feel things are too quiet, then I'll change the music and you can see the room starting to become more alive," says Andy Nakano, owner of Jozu, a sophisticated Cal-Asian restaurant in West Hollywood.
Music seems easy enough to get right.Still, says Nakano, "the last thing a lot of restaurateurs want to deal with is music.They're focused on food, menu, wine and service.So music gets left on the shelf."
One popular option is a satellite system, something like radio without commercials or DJs.DMX Music is probably the biggest name in the field.It serves nearly 200,000 businesses in the U.S. (not all are restaurants).
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Nakano used the system for more than a year at Jozu.While some guests liked the music and told him so, others did not.Their feelings, recorded on comment cards, ranged from "this music is boring" to "get rid of this elevator music."
Nakano, who now uses CDs, admits he was tired of the music too."I felt the variety wasn't enough," he says."It wasn't eclectic enough.It was kind of dated."He was also bothered by how quickly he was able to identify DMX in other restaurants."Right away you notice it's DMX," he says."It's the sequence they play the music."
In general, restaurants rock out more on Friday and Saturday nights, so diners looking for quiet conversation might go out earlier in the week.As for those who must dine out on a Saturday, they'd best go early, choose their destination carefully or prepare to exercise those vocal cords.
Of course, some restaurants are in permanent concert mode.
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