I agree, Russell, and I must admit I tend to prefer "cocktail piano style music" rather than light classical or rock for these situations though, of course, it depends on the ambiance of the restaurant...perhaps some light rock can work in some places.

I also find Bossa Novas and Rumbas are ideal for doing something upbeat, but still remaining within reasonable laid-backness. Someone told me one time, to try and stay under 120 BPM for most pieces, as above that tempo, you are dipping into dance music territory.

But all the torch tunes and romantic jazz standards are great to just play around with and improvise a bit...it's a good time for it, as no one's really listening too closely...and that leads to the volume issue...people should be able to talk without shouting or raising their voice.

A friend of mine likes to tell the story about when he went out for a first date, semi-romantic, dinner with this nice lady, and between her false teeth, and the silverware, she made that much noise eating, that the couple at the next table got up to dance.

Ian

PS..A great book for restaurant (or nite-club dinner) music, if you are a reasonably good reader, is 150 Of The Most Beautiful Songs Ever by Hal Leonard