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One has to wonder whether Tom Saitta's dream and Pahrump's character are in sync to make good on his proposal for an Italian restaurant and a jazz bar.

One has to hope so.

A year or so ago Russ Rodgers tossed his hat into the ring, adding the Tonic Lounge to Paddy's Pub. It was designed to be a relatively quiet, intimate wine bar that would offer recorded music from the popular standards singers and bluesmen.

Alas, the Tonic Lounge is usually closed these days, but then, given the time of year and the economy, so's the Tiki Bar at the entrance to Paddy's.

The slow going in both cases probably had as much to do with the town's character as anything else. There were certainly diehard visitors to each, but far too few to warrant their being kept open on a permanent basis. Perhaps something else would have worked (setting aside the Tonic Lounge as a quiet pool room has been one suggestion, although there are three pool tables in the pub proper). But what seemed to be the case was that a wine bar, at least at Paddy's, wasn't likely to attract a steady customer base.

Russ tried to spruce things up, requesting shirts with collars for the clientele, but not much seemed to work. Outside at the Tiki Bar, one barmaid used to call out to those entering, "Hey, want a beer?" They did but would point inside to the main bar and move right along.

Not that far away is the Pahrump Nugget's stage bar, which offers an ongoing string of acts, but it is not what I'd call in any way "intimate" or quiet.

A newer place, In-dulj', is on the Highway 160 outskirts beyond the Homestead lights and bids fair to drum up its own set of customers. (It managed a full-blown New Year's Eve party that featured as special guests Sheriff Tony DeMeo and a gang of firefighters, who showed up when the smoke machine set off the automatic alarm. They seemed to have as much fun as the guests.) At both places, Paddy's and In-dulj', a lot of fun is available, likewise long-time hangouts like Our Bar and Stagestop as well as newer joints like the Maverick and Irene's.

In fact, overall, Pahrump bars tend to be loud and raucous, not intimate and quiet in the manner of, say, the traditional New York hotel bar, where a couple might relax and have a conversation without having to howl at one another just to be heard.

He: "How are you tonight?"

She (vigorously shaking her head): "What?"

He: "Sorry, just asking, 'How are you?'"

She (leaning closer): "WHAT?"

He (leaning closer in turn): "How are you?!"

She (yelling in his ear from an inch away): "WHAT?"

I was in one bar recently and had a lovely time with a friend but in truth never heard much more than a sentence or two the whole evening. I suspect most of what each of us said was heard as so much gibberish by the other, and I can imagine her still wondering why I told her I fry peach-flavored Valentine's Day cards in order to drop a bomb on Algiers.

Now comes Mr. Saitta with the idea of a jazz bar attached to a fine restaurant, and maybe that is what's needed -- a place that is, by definition, quiet to begin with so it can feature music that might, as the New Yorker once wrote about a particularly adept jazz group, offer "the sound of musicians thinking."

Saitta has not yet suggested any particular dress code, as far as I know, but I think he is smart enough to realize that the individual who shows up for dinner or evening drinks is likely to appreciate the sense of decorum and not suddenly burst out, just as a clarinetist begins a solo, "OK, who's up for some line dancin'?" (I can recall diving into a somewhat formal place in Miami Beach during the 1972 GOP convention, trying to escape from the tear gas that was spreading through the area, and my group becoming oddly subdued when we realized the place was full of suits and their hookers.)

Understand, I have nothing against a noisy bar with televisions that can't be heard and bizarre video games and hip-hop loud enough to shake your eye teeth loose.

But I think Pahrump has a diverse enough population to make an alternative worthwhile.

Listening to someone drunkenly bellowing Jon Bovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" is fine on karaoke night, but it might also be nice to go somewhere where you can listen to a rendering of, say, Brubeck's "Take Five" and enjoy it.

And I'm guessing Saitta won't need tear gas to force anyone inside.