Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published June 2, 2008 Matters Of Taste It's Freezing In Here Frank Bailey, the owner of a restaurant called Indulgence (corner Washington and Prytania), was also a food writer, and we had lunch together now and then. One of these was at his restaurant, on a day like this one. A number of diners came to the table to tell him something. Half of them thought the room was too cold; the other half thought it too hot. It depended, really, on where they were sitting and how they were dressed. But every time, Frank walked over to the thermostat and adjusted it. The third time, I said, "You know what would be handy? A remote control gizmo for the thermostat that you could carry around with you." "That would be great," he said. "Because, you know, the primary duty of a restaurant owner is to raise and lower the thermostat." Frank was one of the better restaurateurs because he recognized, without needing to question it, that the temperature of the dining room should be dictated by the needs of the people dining in it. But this isn't the way the icicles freeze in most restaurants. The staff in a restaurant works hard. The kitchen is a hot place. Put the two together, and you have a staff in much greater need of cooling than the customers, even when they're in the same dining room. In other words, the thermostat is not set for customers, but for the employees. I am naturally insulated, and rather well. I also have a proclivity for overdressing. Still, I frequently find dining rooms too cold to be comfortable. I can imagine how the women in their filmy summer dresses must feel. Restaurateurs need to be more sensitive to this issue, and keep the temperature no lower than 70 degrees. And we diners need to know that we're lucky. In most places in America--New York comes to mind--the restaurants are too warm in the summer. To say nothing of Europe, where they don't fully understand the concept of air conditioning. Ask me about the restaurant in Venice where I heard the owner tell the waiter to turn the air conditioner off, because it was eighty degrees inside. © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com