Quiet! There’s a party going on

So this guy walks into a bar ... and hands the cocktail server a note that reads: “Dirty martini, extra olive.” The server nods and heads to the bar without a word. Welcome to the world of the Quiet Party, where silence is not only golden but the golden rule.

Part social experiment and singles scene, Quiet Parties are a way to fraternize without the usual noise pollution of city nightlife. They were created out of necessity in New York City in 2002 when old friends Paul Rebhan, a self-described “life-artist,” and singer-songwriter Tony Noe couldn’t find a bar where they could talk without shouting over the other patrons.

The two then hatched the idea for a party without cellphone chatter, house bands, DJs or loquacious drunkards. In fact, talking would be verboten. Rebhan, 43, admits to having a vested interest in silence. “I’m noise sensitive,” he says. “I walked around with a pair of ear plugs in New York.”

At the first Quiet Party, held at the Scotch Bonnet in Manhattan, Rebhan and Noe provided pens and paper to 130 attendees and noticed something interesting after a few drinks. Inhibitions fled. Paper started flying. Flirtatious notes exchanged hands, much akin to 10th grade study hall. “It’s not like a service where you get matched,” Rebhan says of the party’s “silent dating” dimension. “It’s just another method of meeting people.”

Since that first quiet night in New York (where more than 30 parties have been held), other gatherings have taken place in Houston, Washington, D.C., Berlin, London, Barcelona and Beijing. Although Rebhan and Noe sell Quiet Party starter kits through their website www.quietparty.com, Rebhan, who recently moved to San Francisco, hopes to bring the parties to California this year.

So before too long, Angelenos heading out for a quiet night on the town might think about brushing up on their penmanship first.