The Taste of Sound

"The stomach is the conductor who conducts the great orchestra of our passions.”

Gioacchino Rossini, composer

Eating is culture. The food world is similar to the art world and in some way, has always been, the needs of a musician are most often similar to the needs of a chef. They need the right equipment to best reflect their creations. The mutual love between cooks and musicians almost seems to spring from a homogeneity between music and cuisine. Is it possible to listen to the food? Or eat the notes? Maybe. The most common multi-sensory experience in everyday life is tasting.

A special flavour remains in your mind in a defined way, with a unique combination. But even if some senses such as sight and taste have been deeply examined, other senses such as hearing still represent a quite unexplored potential. The influence of hearing something when you are at the restaurant, whether it is music or biospheric sounds are considered influential to how we taste what is on the plate.

Diners expect not only a good meal but also a pleasant experience. The food is an important part, but the atmosphere of the venue is not less important. Light and sound plays an important role in this aspect. When diners aren’t able to converse because of strong reverberations of other conversations, like dishes and glasses clinking, the entire experience is compromised.

Today there are perfect acoustic treatments and can be easily integrated into the venue without compromising the aesthetics. From wall-mounting panels painted like pieces of art to elegant curtains with impressive absorbing capabilities. It is important that professional acousticians are involved in the design of the acoustic treatment, since the composition, number and positions of these materials are crucial for a good result. The key element is the listening experience so the sound has to be diffused by ad hoc speakers to create the perfect all-around experience. We adore this sector as we can be an extension of the creative process with sound and K-array has a few stories to tell in this category.

Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura - Florence, Italy

Within the Gucci Museum in the city center of Florence there’s Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura restaurant by a three-Michelin-star chef. Karime Lopez, a young promising chef is the right-hand woman of chef Bottura and responsible for the cuisine. With extreme attention given to creating delicate displays that honor Gucci craftsmanship, they required an inconspicuous audio system that didn’t interrupt the layout but provided enough SPL for pleasant background music to transport visitors through Gucci’s archives, advertising campaigns, artisans’ images and a pleasant diner.

The incredibly compact size of the Lyzard-KZ14 was the choice. For the restaurant, a discrete system of four Lyzards were paired with two compact Rumble-KU44 subwoofers for even and pleasant background music.

Mr & Mrs Bund, Modern Eatery - Shanghai, China

Paul Pairet, tree-Michelin-star French chef wanted to update the antiquated sound system from the previous tenants. When he opened the Modern French Eatery, Mr & Mrs Bund in Shanghai, which is in the world’s Top 100 Restaurants, he felt the sound reproduction didn’t match the excellence of the food and you could instantly feel the disparity.

Leveraging their Pure Array Technology (PAT) with true line array characteristics, K-array installed a total of 18 Python-KP52 line arrays customized in white combined with eight Rumble-KU210 compact subwoofers powered by three Kommander-KA24 amplifiers. With their unique ability of spreading the sound energy uniformly in the distance the Pythons guarantee that even the people in the center of the room can have a great sound experience. At the same time people sitting closer to the speakers aren’t overwhelmed by an excessive sound pressure. Music has not to overstep but being a sweet soundtrack of your meal.

Kerridge’s Bar & Grill - London, UK

For his brand's new restaurant, renowned 2 Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge wanted the right ambience for Kerridge's Bar & Grill within the Corinthia Hotel in London. The ceiling height was a major challenge. It can get quite echoey in a room of that design. The solution was much more of a near-field approach, using both K-array’s sub-compact line arrays and small point source speakers, and that has made everything much more controlled and intelligible.

Python-KP102 line arrays in black are fitted to the dark timber panelling at the left and right of the back wall of the bar creating an upbeat ambience, covering all of the bar area and providing mid and high frequencies down most of the restaurant area. At Kerridge's Bar & Grill you can expect an outstanding culinary experience from Tom Kerridge and his team and an auditory experience to match.