Hot cuisine: How much noise is good noise in restaurants?

Noise is one of the pet peeves of some foodies; the clamour of cutlery, music and loud voices sometimes leaves diners yelling to be heard.

• WATCH | Reporter Sandra Abma delves into the complexities of sound in restaurants tonight on CBC News at 5.
• For more on CBC Ottawa'sfour-part series chronicling Ottawa's restaurant industry, click here.

Anne DesBrisay, an Ottawa food critic since 1991, describes it this way: As the look of local restaurants has changed over the years, so has the decibel level.

"We went seemingly overnight from white table cloth, tired carpet and velvet drapes ... which may not have been particularly pretty places, but they sure did absorb the sound to bare floors, bare walls and a minimalist style ..." DesBrisay says.

"But you toss in 100 people and holy moly, you can't hear."

So, how much noise is good noise? And do loud restaurants work sometimes?Here are three local case studies.

1. Back Lane Caf

It's not overly loud at Back Lane Caf in Hintonburg, but it wasn't always so. When veteran restaurateur George Monsour opened Back Lane a couple of years ago, it was thumbs up for the food, thumbs down for the high noise level.

Surfaces in the room, and a soundproof ceiling, were bouncing around too much sound inside the space.

"We ran into that here. We had no way of knowing what the acoustic impact was and we needed to make an adjustment within a week of opening," Monsour says.

A sound engineer was called in to help come up with a creative solution. It resulted in a $15,000 retrofit of decorative, sound-absorbing panels placed along the walls.

The right amount of sound can be a balancing act, Monsour says. Some younger, hipper diners enjoy the din because it's part of the buzz, but for some clientele, too much racket can put them off their meal.

2. Beckta (not yet reopened)

At restaurateur Stephen Beckta's new incarnation of the restaurant Beckta, which hasn't yet opened, sound is an important issue and different areas of the restaurant have been given different sound treatments.

"We have high ceilings, so we've put thick, plush carpeting and curtains in, table padding and tablecloths in the fine dining areas, big, thick, dense chairs that just suck [sound] up, eat it up," he says.

But it's a different story in an area designed for younger people.

"Whereas, in the casual wine bar, we want it to be animated, we want there to be a buzz, and so it's a mosaic tile. It's something that's a little bit harder," Beckta says. "And the music's going to be a little bit louder, it's going to be a little funkier and younger, and that's just the way that we want that place to be."

3. The Savoy Brasserie

At The Savoy Brasserie in Westboro, the high tin ceilings, big space and hard surfaces carry the noise, but that's just the way they like it.

"I think it's one thing we're known for," said Lindzy Thompson, who helps run the restaurant with her family.

"What we were going for ... is a bustling place. If you go to France, anywhere in Paris, any brasserie you go into, it's a very social environment. It's meant to be fun," Thompson says.

"We really wanted to promote a good, fun, jolly atmosphere."

Poll question

On mobile? Do you prefer noisy, busy, buzzy restaurants or quiet ones? Vote here.

Hot cuisine

This is the third in CBC reporter Sandra Abma's three-part series on Ottawa's changing restaurant scene, called Hot cuisine. Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #hotcuisine, and let us know what you think of the city's food industry.

• Part 1 | On Wednesday, we looked at how Ottawa'stight-knit community of chefs has helped bolster the local food and restaurantscene.
• Part 2 |On Thursday, we questioned how the abundance of farms in and around the greenbelt has changed the game for restaurants.
• Part 4 | Coming up on Saturday, how does social media plays a role in the restaurant business?