Ira S.
Yelp
Young, yet very good, team at this Lodge Bread Beverly Hills location.
The coffee is good. Food is good, yet inconsistent. The same cookie can be crispy one day, chewy the next, sweet one day, super sweet the next.
Between the staff and customers, the restaurant is kept clean.
When Lodge Bread owners built out this spot, they eschewed acoustic tiles. And, apparently, they think their restaurant is actually the site of an open-air rock concert.
Here is the text of an email message I recently sent to them. (I have received no response.)
Dear Gentlemen and Ladies,
I write to you about a phenomenon which I refer to as "sound momentum." I'm sure there is a better phrase to describe it, but "sound momentum" is what I have so far.
Sound momentum comes to mind because, during the afternoon of Monday, April 28th, the manager of the Beverly Hills Lodge Bread restaurant was SCREAMING at two photographers (two very attractive women) who were there to arrange some public relations event for Lodge Bread. The two women were SCREAMING back at the manager. By the way, they were communicating with each other in a very friendly manner. By way of further background, (i) we (i.e., the 3 of them and me) were the only people in the restaurant's separate front area (i.e., the area fronting Robertson Boulevard) and, other than the sound of my swallowing coffee, no sound was emanating from my table. If the other 3 had also been silent, the only thing that would have been heard in the front area would have been merely the background music that was BLASTING away.
Sound momentum is present in all modern day restaurants, what with all their hard surfaces that are not interrupted by any sound-absorbing surfaces.
If we have a restaurant with 10 tables in its space, and only tables 2 and 4 occupied, each with 3 customers having separate conversations at their respective tables, sound momentum arises as follows. With the folks at table 2 having a conversation, the sound level in the restaurant is obviously higher than if the restaurant were empty. The folks at table 4 reflexively raise their voices above what they would have used if the restaurant were only occupied by them. Immediately, in turn, the folks at table 2 raise their voices, and then, again, so do the folks at table 4, and we have a sound momentum feedback loop.
Of course, the sound level of the feedback loop starts at a higher level if there is background music.
If a restaurateur is looking for a high turnover rate, sound momentum is a feature.
On the other hand, if the restaurateur cares for the comfort of his or her customers, sound momentum is a very serious bug.
For me, the best volume level for background music in a restaurant is that level which would be barely audible to a single occupant of the otherwise empty space of the restaurant.
Hoping that the the manager of the
Beverly Hills Lodge Bread and
the 2 photographers are not hoarse from all the screaming.