The F.E.S.T. Sessions…Eat To The Beat

Like most people, I enjoy a good meal and a good drink.

Like most people, I also enjoy good music.

Not long ago, I wondered about the relationship between the two.

It happened when I was in a restaurant.

The food was excellent, but it was difficult for me to enjoy it because in the middle of the day, someone had put on thumping hardcore techno.

Even in ideal circumstances, I am not the biggest fan of hardcore techno.

There is a time and a place for everything. That was neither the time nor the place.

The pairing of food and drink with music is not my original idea. It has been a thing since…well, since food, drink, and music were a thing.

But a playlist of favorites during a meal is not the same thing. That’s not meant as a disparaging remark to anyone’s music taste.

Ingredients for a meal are chosen with taste in mind to create the most ideal dining experience…why not apply the same logic to selection of music?

That attention to detail can transform even what might seem the most mundane eating experience into a multimedia sensory experience.

That is why I created F.E.S.T.

It stands for Food Enhanced by Selected Tracks. (I have my moments…)

The premise behind F.E.S.T. is to enhance and complement the dining/drinking experience with music that fits the atmosphere and cuisine.

Scientific studies have shown that sound affects memory, smell and taste.

Taste buds are actually triggered by memory.

For example, your first time tasting a grilled cheese sandwich will be a new experience. If you burn your tongue, the next time you try one, it may not have a taste you agree with.

However, if you enjoy it with a cup of tomato soup in the company of friends on a fall afternoon spent having a good time, the taste may be enhanced by your subconscious memory.

If you also associate certain sounds with it, this can enhance your taste sensation even more.

Consequently, if a piece of music was playing in the background….

My purpose is working with restaurants, cafes, bars, food festivals, food/drink expos, and the like to help create a new way of looking at how our senses interact, and how music, food and drink can develop a more intimate and complex cohabitation.

You can listen to an example here…