The Day My Music Died

Published by The Dish magazine

In this article, Neil Donnenfeld makes the case for restaurants to offer "Quiet Hours" — designated times with reduced music, TV sound, and table-clearing noise. Drawing on his personal experience with single-sided deafness and noise sensitivity following radiation treatment for a benign tumor, Donnenfeld notes that about a third of the population has a condition such as hearing loss, PTSD, tinnitus, or neurodivergence that makes loud restaurants untenable. He argues that Quiet Hours come at no cost to restaurants and could drive revenue by attracting the 46% of diners who say they'd be more likely to eat at establishments offering a quieter option. Read the full article here.