How To Bring Restaurant Ambiance To Everyday Dinners

There’s nothing quite like going out to eat. Most successful restaurants have an unbeatable ambiance that makes you want to return to them time and time again. For many restaurants, the ambiance is just as essential as the food and can help create that wonderful experience that people return to again and again. If everyday dinners at home aren’t’ feeling quite as special, you can make them a bit fancier by bringing some elements of that restaurant ambiance we all love to your very own dining room. Using these tips, you should easily be able to bring that restaurant ambiance to your everyday dinners.

Set The Mood Audibly

One way to bring restaurant ambiance to your home is to fill the empty spaces between conversation with music. Many people’s first thought when picking dinner music is typically some kind of smooth jazz, and while that may be relaxing, it can feel a bit generic. Instead of the same old dinner jazz, take a cue from restaurants that provide live music and pick a playlist of one of your favorite musician’s live or acoustic session performances. Additionally, there are playlists on YouTube that incorporate unique audio effects like rain, faux record static, and city noise that can provide a restaurant-quality experience at home.

Change Up The Colors

Many restaurants and food businesses employ color psychology to subtly influence a diner’s decisions. Psychologists have found that warm colors like red, orange, and yellow typically make people the hungriest. For this reason, many restaurants employ these colors, or warmer tones of other neutral colors, to create an atmosphere that makes someone want to eat. To emulate this in your own home, consider switching up the plates, napkins, placemats, or even the flowers on the table with warm-toned ones to create a restaurant-like ambiance in your own home for everyday dinners.

Make Professional Place Settings In Advance

One thing that sets a restaurant ambiance apart from an everyday dinner at home is the professional place setting, often with certain forks and spoons for different courses. In our busy everyday lives, it feels like there isn’t enough time to make a professional place setting for just a dinner at home. To add some restaurant ambiance, try pre-rolling silverware when you have an extra minute in cloth napkins. You can also choose plates, napkins, and table accessories that all go together to create a cohesive look.

Plate Your Food Like A Pro

While the setting of a restaurant is great, the main focus is typically on the food. If you are looking to create a restaurant ambiance at home, try plating your meal beforehand, instead of just allowing people to serve themselves. Plating can be a real art form and can elevate an everyday meal to something fancy. For an extra bit of restaurant ambiance, place the plates in the oven for a few minutes to allow them to warm up. This way, the ceramic plates will keep the food warm instead of quickly chilling it to room temperature.

Lighting Can Make All The Difference

Restaurant lighting is meticulous, as it needs to be bright enough to create an inviting mood and show off the food but dim enough that there is no harshness. To achieve this restaurant ambiance with lighting, the key is diffusion. Make sure there are no harsh naked bulbs and that your lights are diffused with a heavy shade. If the only option available is a harsh overhead light that can’t be dimmed, try some soft LED lamps or string lights along with candles to create a warm twinkly atmosphere.

While creating a restaurant-level ambiance level at home for everyday dinners is fun, there’s no beating the real thing. At O’Brien’s Bistro, we pride ourselves on having one of the best restaurant ambiances in Pensacola, with friendly staff and delicious food. But don’t just take our word for it, join us at O’Brien’s Bistro for lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, or our new Happy Hour.