You can count me in. I dislike a lot of NYC and DC dining because the owners think noise equals excitement. The places are build with all hard surfaces. If the noise level is not up to proper expectations, music is cranked up and crammed in.

Citronelle (one of DC's finest) has gone to great efforts to reduce the ambient noise levels, but not had too much success at it.

Many of the better European restaurants I have been in have bad acoustics, but the diners seem to really try to keep the noise level down.

[This message has been edited by slawecki (edited Jan 10, 2004).]