Pizza Today - June 2017 - 32

chairs, draperies and more.
Both kitchens were designed to be
further away from tables so their noise
wouldn't disturb guests.
"Build side stations operating espresso machines and coffee grinders away
from the main dining room," he urges.
Pizzeria operators desiring quieter
restaurants can partition one dining
room into two or more using drywall.
"More walls catch the noise,"
Goewey relays. "Install softer flooring
and surfaces so noise isn't echoing and
bouncing around the room."
Slyce Coal Fired Pizza Co. in Wauconda, Illinois offers coal-fired pizza,
small plates, salads, sandwiches and
desserts. Seating 88 in the main dining
area, eight at the pizza bar plus eight at
the bar, its open-kitchen concept lets
guests observe coal-fired pizzas being
created.
Those seated at the pizza bar interact
with the kitchen staff while dining.
This area has often been criticized for
more noise, admits Emily DaValle,
project manager/event coordinator,
but it attracts customers who want to
be involved and have a true culinary
experience.
"It is the No. 1 requested seating area
of the restaurant," she says.
Slyce reduces noise by utilizing high
booths, padding on dining chairs and
via a design that ensures intimate dining anywhere in the restaurant.
Pizzeria Deville of Libertyville, Illinois, a wood-fired pizzeria that opened
in August 2014, totals 4,000 square feet
on two levels.
"Our lower level includes a prep
kitchen, fish area, office and Cellar
Room, which seats up to 56 guests.
The main floor contains our production
kitchen, 12-seat bar and 68-seat dining
room," says founder John Durning, who
is usually found working the floor, in
the kitchen or behind the bar.
Durning suggests keeping noisy
operations (dough mixers, food mixers,
coolers) far from the dining public.
His prep/dish areas are staged in the
basement while the upstairs kitchen
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allows customers to watch food being
prepared.
Hard surfaces and low ceilings
promote noise, says Dean Small,
founder and chief executive officer
of Synergy Restaurant Consultants,
Newport Beach, California.

"Create softer surfaces to absorb
noise, including fabric or carpet baffles
under the table," he adds. "You need
to absorb noises so the combination of
sounds, including dining room guest
conversations, music, ambient noise,
direct noise associated with operations
and customer transactions at the pizza
counter, don't overwhelm guests walking into your pizzeria.
"If a pizzeria is hosting a lot of pizza
parties where the average group size is
20, you might create a partially or fully
glassed-in room so main dining room
guests can see the festivities while the
noise (remains) in the party room," he
continues.
Partitioning the main dining room
with accordion or sliding doors curbs
noise and allows operators flexibility
to make the room large or small for
private parties, business lunches or for
unexpected over-flow guests.
Small suggests creating warmth by
combining flooring types - use stone
for high-traffic areas, but wood-simulating, inexpensive vinyl flooring with a
softer surface in the dining area.
Eighty percent of the challenge in
controlling restaurant noise involves
addressing the ceiling, while 20 percent
involves addressing flooring, says Robert Bleck, who is partner/owner along
with his brother, Charles, of Bleck &
Bleck Architects LLC, Libertyville,
Illinois. A ceiling's shape impacts sound
more than height. The closer a room
space resembles a cube, the worse it is
for noise. Parallel surfaces also result in
more echoes.
"If a ceiling is sloped, sound waves
won't bounce straight back down,"
Bleck says.
Pizzerias containing hard ceilings can
use either spray-on systems or acoustic

ceiling tiles to soften the surface and
noise.
"Acoustic ceiling tiles painted dark
still maintain their acoustic properties
and (disappear) into the background,"
Bleck says. "A soffit coming down from
the ceiling can also keep sound from
projecting across a long dining room.
And the quality and thickness of luxury
vinyl tiles are much greater than they
were three years ago."
Slyce's DeValle urges pizzeria owners
to research the challenge of curbing
unwanted noise within their restaurants.
"Go into your favorite restaurants or
spaces and see what makes them great,"
she advises. "Find the loud areas (at
your pizzeria), trouble-shoot how they
can be better and sound-proof where
needed." n
BRYAN SALVAGE is a freelance writer based
in Elburn, Illinois.

Squash unacceptable
behavior
Nothing is more upsetting to pizzeria
guests than being forced to endure loud
and unruly guests left unchecked by
management. Every pizzeria must adopt
standard operating guidelines that clearly
define boundaries regarding unacceptable
guest behavior, insists Dean Small, founder
and chief executive officer of Synergy
Restaurant Consultants, Newport Beach,
California.
If a guest is offensively loud, a pizzeria manager must graciously make this
offender aware that he or she is out of
bounds.
Pizzeria managers should try to develop
a rapport with guests early on.
"Then if things do get out of hand, the
manager has had some face time with the
(offender/s) and may be able to manage
the situation and expectations," Small
adds. "At some point, the hope is cooler
heads will prevail and you'll find a resolution that prevents the situation from elevating -- including up to calling the police."

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Pizza Today - June 2017

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