> Ann Sanfedele asked:
> > I haven't shot this yet - not interesting enough
> > visually (it might never be)
> > But would you eat at a restaurant whose banner
> > boasted:
> >
> > "food for the five senses" ?
I would at least be intrigued enough to want to know a) whether
it lived up to its promise and b) whether I could afford to try
it. Uh, and c) whether the vegetarian section of the menu had
enough options for me.
Don Sanderson replied:
> I can see smells,tastes,looks and feels (texture) good,
> but sounds good?
> Not sure food should make noise! :-(
#blink# Ever ahd fajitas brought to the table on a little
brazier (or just a really hot mini-skillet) so that you hear
them _sizzle_? ISTR something in Japanese restaurants that
made that sound at the table as well (the sizzle sound is
more for the meat-eaters than for me, usually, but I do eat
out with omnivores, and at least one place I went to managed
to make the filling for a veggie fajita sizzle audibly without
burning them...)
What about that very special cracklycrunch of the crust of
a really hearty loaf of bread as you tear off chunks? Assuming
the "background" music in the restaurant isn't up so loud that
it interferes with quiet conversation.
Or the sound a piece of nice, fresh carrot makes as you bite
through it as you eat salad? Or sometimes even the lettuce?
Good crisp lettuce in a sandwich ... actually, I think of
iceberg lettuce as "crunchy water" and figure the sound and
mouth-feel are usually the only reasons to include it at all.
The understated *fwoosh* or *fwoomph* (depending on the amount
of brandy used) as the dish of cherries flambee is ignited?
Though that one is pretty soft and very brief, and thus easily
missed.
And even if the food doesn't make noise, there are certain
sounds associated with "happy eating in a restaurant" that
can be meaningful if paid attention to. Watch the next few
meals with family or a group of friends as though you were
the Foley artist of a movie containing those meals as scenes.
Pick out the sounds that set the mood, the sounds that seem
irrelevant, and the sounds you'd like to edit out. Is the
amount of silverware-on-china clink different for a diner
than for an expensive restaurant? Is it a distraction or
part of the reassuring "sense-of-scene"? Does the sound of
wine being poured from a bottle help set up your anticipation
of the taste of it?
So yes, sound counts.
Sorry, the sensualist in my got carried away. Now those
parts of my nervous system are all a-tingle and I need to
to listen to woodwinds and fondle velvet and silk for a
few minutes ...
-- Glenn
