Portola Valley boasts some of the most beautiful Redwoods and nestled in a forest of majestic trees, is Parkside Grille. This restaurant is a jewel, a one of a kind tucked away under the coastal foothills of the small town of Portola Valley. It proudly offers indoor and outdoor seating areas, both comfortably large, as well as two private dining rooms.
As a local resident of the area, we frequent this restaurant, usually amongst friends and family in a group that often ranges from 6 to 12 in headcount. With such large groups, we take over the dining room with the large long table. In retrospect, my first couple of experiences in this room was tiring. As the room filled with our friends, so did the simultaneous conversations which turned into a disorganized ruckus of clamor and unpleasant decibels.
A special date was arriving soon and we’d requested the private room again. This time, however, I pleaded with Bill Petkopoulos , the owner, to address the noise issue and proposed a test in the same room for a single evening. Without hesitation, Bill consented to the experiment. Upon the morning of the event, I sent a two-man crew up to install just four panels on the ceiling. With just a couple hundred for labor and 799 dollars worth of material, less than a quick morning’s worth of time transformed Bill’s echo chamber into the perfect venue that would memorably enhance the dining experiment for all future patrons to come. As a result, my dinner plans with my large party was amazing, comfortable and free of straining voices and ears.
This evening at Parkside Grille began with three small children in the room, a visiting doberman and 15 adults. We had a spectacular and relaxing evening, which consisted of great food paired with fabulous wine. Naturally, lots of laughs followed. Unlike any of our previous visits, the biggest difference I noticed was that at the end of dinner, the room did not hastily clear in aversion to an evening of unfavorable noise. This time, our group wasn’t exhausted from the challenges of yelling and lip reading throughout dinner. All of us proceeded with lively spirits and took our sweet time to order desert with coffee, chatting comfortably into the night. The consensus? We’ll soon visit for another wonderful evening, back to our special room where we will be continuing to weave more joyous memories in great company and ambiance.
FESTIVE GATHERINGS:
You must log in to post a comment.