Last month, Deidre posted on a Gourmet article about music in restaurant kitchens. I’m also curious about what’s coming through the speakers in the dining rooms. The other night, while eating in a dimly lit Italian restaurant, I became particularly aware of the music playing in the background. It led me to wonder what dimly lit restaurants did before the Getz/Gilberto albums came along. Seems that a lot of restaurants have figured out that jazz is the way to go. Not all jazz, of course. Certain bossa nova recordings, as well as things like Billie Holiday (recordings with Lester Young, in particular) or Norah Jones make for good dining music because they’re pleasant without being too mentally demanding of the listener. That's not to say that background music at dinner is all this music is good for, but if it works, it works.
I’ve definitely used Joao, or more recently, his daughter Bebel Gilberto, as a dinner soundtrack. Still, I find Thelonious Monk’s solo recordings—Solo Monk or Alone in San Francisco—to be the best dinner music. Louis Prima is also always a good bet for something a little more upbeat. The Penguin Café Orchestra is fun, mostly because there will inevitably be a time towards the end of the meal, where, after a brief lull in conversation, someone will say, “What the hell are we listening to?” The same goes for Bill Frisell’s Ghost Town.
Any jazz in your dinner playlist?
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