Why do you think people dine out? If your answer involves only food, you may be missing something important.
Judd Brown Designs of Pawtucket is world-renowned for its award-winning restaurant concepts, including Angelos and Siena on Federal Hill, the Watch Hill Yacht Club in Westerly, and the Loeb Memorial Boathouse in New York’s Central Park. The firm’s president, Judd Brown, says the demands of the public force today’s designers to create a multi-sensory experience: “The package of entertainment has to be complete.”
Start 2025 Strong: Prioritize Your Health with Screenings and Healthy Habits
As we step into 2025, there’s no better time to make a commitment to your…
Learn More
Brown said that this designing style became prevalent in the 1980s. “It was about that time that the ‘Disney effect’ started to emerge, and we had to create an experience that allowed patrons to escape their day-to-day routine.”
Sound is one important factor, he said. “Entertainment, TV, even your computer, depend on sound to complete the experience. We’re so accustomed to [sound] that if it is not there, we feel uneasy. There is nothing worse than sitting in a restaurant where there is no sound.”
That is not a universal sentiment. Some restaurant patrons might welcome the silence – a recent study in Albany, N.Y., measured the noise level at the local Cheesecake Factory on a busy Saturday night as loud as a city bus passing by as heard from the sidewalk.
Music plays a big role in a restaurant’s style. Several companies specialize in providing the soundtrack to the dining experience, led by the venerable Muzak service, which today offers numerous channels of music matched to create and alter the mood.
Brown cites Starbucks as taking background music one step further. “Starbucks has gotten into the business of selling music in its coffee shops and has become influential in the music industry as a result.”
An emerging style of restaurant is what Brown terms the “club restaurant” such as Lot 401 and Pearl in Providence and Mezz Ultra Lounge at Foxwoods. At such places, music is in the foreground, with dance-club sound levels and lighting designed to evoke excitement. Describing the type of patron seeking out a fuller sensory experience, famed New York restaurant owner Geoffrey Chodorow was quoted in Nation’s Restaurant News as saying, “After going out to dinner, you’re ready to go home and go to bed. For this new generation, dinner is not the end of the evening.”
Of course, the traditional details still demand attention. Designers choose the tables and chairs at which dinner is enjoyed with great care.
Brown says not only comfort but also a sense of owning one’s space must be addressed in restaurant design. Booths can create such an environment, as can large chairs at intimate tables for two. “Even an open table in the middle of the dining room can become special with directed lighting and color,” he says.
At Gracie’s in Providence, music, texture and lighting combine to create what proprietor Ellen Gracyalny calls “The Gracie’s Experience.”
Gracyalny evaluated plans from several designers when she moved her restaurant from Federal Hill in 2005. “I wanted to bring the spirit of the original Gracie’s to a much larger space.” She hired a restaurant staffer working his way through Rhode Island School of Design who shared her vision.
Patrons and reviews consistently laud the décor as often as the food. From the large metal sculptures adorning the maitre d’ station and dining room to the copper panels on the wood pillars, Gracie’s signature star motif is evident throughout the restaurant. To complete the celestial effect, Gracyalny and her in-house designer brought in a consultant to oversee the creation of custom tapestries and window treatments.
Recent customer feedback reinforced the value of sensory engagement. On an exceptionally busy night last month, Gracyalny opened the private dining rooms on the restaurant’s lower level to seat overflow customers. Patrons who dined downstairs told Gracyalny that they had enjoyed their meals, but they had missed The Gracie’s Experience.
Dining Out with Bruce Newbury can be heard on TalkRadio 920 WHJJ-AM Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at noon.
