A lot of diners are perfume-phobic, including Chowhounds, as you can see on this discussion and this one. Michael Bauer, the San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic, has actually gone so far as to suggest banning perfume in restaurants.

Smell, of course, is intimately connected to taste. Randi Leehan, wine buyer and general manager at LA wine bar BottleRock, says that even soaps and detergents can compromise the ability to appreciate a wine. “I need to cleanse my nose like you cleanse your palate—just walk outside and take a breath of fresh air before I can taste the wine. … Musk is the worst because it stays with you the longest and it’s so strong.”

Even if you can no longer smell your fragrance (one’s nose adjusts to most smells after about 15 minutes), other people probably can. If someone has sensitive nostrils, your scent could ruin his dinner. In a restaurant Leehan used to work in, several customers complained about a busser’s hair gel. “They could smell it on his hands when he was pulling the plates away.”

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