Music in the kitchen? It’s an interesting question. Do people in other professions get to listen to music often, at all? I wonder. I guess there is something of an artistic bridge between cooking and music, as well as the motivation music often provides, a’ la the audible red bull. Some people have strong preferences toward music-less working environment. I’ve not worked in such an intensely pure environment, but I have worked in quiet kitchens.
There are some valid reasons a kitchen would be quiet, all involve being polite to your neighbors, whether they are the next door neighbors, or the cook next to you. When the type of music becomes more of a distraction than a mental escape, it needs to be eliminated. Fortunately, when everyone can agree to not disagree on the music, it’s a very pleasant way to work the day away.
At somewhere like the Baracelli Inn, there is enough traffic that music would be a distraction. Yet, at Fahrenheit we played music all day. We turned the radio on…then the cooking equipment. We rode a wave of music up to a hysteric crescendo right before service began, then cut off the music and got elbow deep in the nitty gritty. On the other hand, no matter what would have been played someone would have been offended at Blue Point Grille. Jazz ruled at the Wonder Bar, shoot, it was the theme, and music played all the time, loud as could be. Nemo Grille was a big music kitchen too, swapping iPods and Pandora for commercial radio after the Sirius radio busted of which we enjoyed the comedy and sports channels thoroughly. I’ve not figured out the music ratio at BRC yet. Sometimes it’s seriously loud, yet last night the dishwasher had theatrical compositions playing, while the FOH had Rage Against the Machine blasting loud as could go. Weird!
My favorite work tunes go something like this…..
1. Classic Rock
2. Punk, because it gets to people eventually
3. Any song relating to the state of the ‘working man’
4. 80’s music…to make fun of
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