But the effect vanishes at peak meal times, not only when one is seated at small, closely packed tables and surrounded by the din from equally closely packed diners but also, and especially, when the place fills with both tobacco smoke and patrons waiting for tables.
Diners linger here sipping regional red wine, surrounded by the owner's own abstract paintings, listening to jazz CDs or live folkloric music.
There, at the penultimate eatery on Freedman's list, diners picked at simple, seasonal American food, high-priced and superbly cooked, while surrounded by the seasonal flora selected by Philip Johnson, who designed the restaurant.
You're surrounded by the fireflies".
Serbia is surrounded by the EU and NATO.
A suspect in a shooting spree that wounded nine people at a Brooklyn diner last month was found dead, apparently a suicide, in an Albany apartment Wednesday afternoon after being surrounded by the police, the authorities said yesterday.
"They were surrounded by the Assad regime.
Which she did, over and over, despite the fact that we were surrounded by fellow diners at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
In a rear dining room on the second floor, Bourdain was waiting at a stainless-steel table, surrounded by other diners, who had been coached to ignore the cameras and Obama, and to focus on their bún chả.
As two men finish looking at menus and scan the room, they realize that they are completely surrounded by women diners.
The spot switches to Mr. Obama on the campaign trail, surrounded by diners in a restaurant; shaking hands with factory workers in hard hats; speaking at a public gathering with shirt-sleeves rolled up; on stage at a rally; and striding in front of the White House, looking pensive.
