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Food for Thought: Uncomfortable Chairs – Nancy's Restau-Rant

Nancy Leson
/
KNKX
Nancy's rear guard. Don't leave home without one.

“Seattle restaurants are so uncomfortable that it’s driving me crazy,” Nancy Leson beefed.  Nancy’s main complaint is fundamental.  “Isn’t the definition of 'restaurant' to restore?  How restored can you get when your tush is numb after a half hour?”

“I’m not talking about the little café you go into for lunch, you’re in and you’re out.”  Nance means those upmarket rooms where you expect to spend a good amount of time and money. “And to sit there and be uncomfortable is just ridiculous,” she says.

Not a problem for me in Tacoma, I told her.  In fact, one of our favorite places, Over the Moon, even offers some cushy armchairs that still allow proper posture for dining. But then, as I pointed out to Nancy, everything’s better in Tacoma.

I wondered if restaurant seating is deliberately uncomfortable so as to encourage faster turnover but that sounded too much like a conspiracy theory.  A little research showed that not only could that actually be the case but that it's been  going on for a long time.

Got a favorite place to eat that’s comfortable and reasonably quiet?  Let’s hear about it.  And don’t be shy about calling out those joints with bad chairs and deafening noise.

P.S. From Nancy "I'm visiting my son Nate in B.C. at the cafe where he works. Hard wood banquettes. `They should put green cushions on these,' he says. I exclaim `That's exactly what Stein and I are talking about this week! How uncomfortable restaurants are.' `Mom! No one cares about comfort. I'm talking about how it looks,' says the 19-year-old."

“When choosing a restaurant,  your butt is the boss.” – R. J. Stein

Dick Stein joined KNKX in January 1992. He retired in 2020 after three decades on air. During his storied radio career, he hosted the morning jazz show, co-hosted and produced "Food for Thought" with Nancy Leson and wrote and directed the Jimmy Jazzoid live radio musical comedies and 100 episodes of Jazz Kitchen.