Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I was drawn to this article in the Times because the picture looked much like the wonderful restaurant we'd been to just last week at the Market of St. Catherina (?) in Barcelona. It was wonderful really fresh food in a very pleasing, relaxing setting in the corner of this big produce market. Given that the restaurant looked similar to Mercat's I wondered what made the difference in atmosphere, specifically sound levels. The marketplace restaurant didn't have brick, but it had similar use of wood and glass, and high open spaces. At St Catherina they did have jazz and other types of music playing from overhead, and the ceiling is wood. We were seated at a large table for 8 and could hear each other easily. The tables were made of heavy wood. Perhaps this helped also. I do like to be able to hear my friends' conversations. I hope Mercat can find some ways to reduce the noise levels. I am interested in trying it, hoping I could repeat the great meal and atmosphere of Barcelons.