dining chairs. equal form and funtion  

Agree
Go solid wood.

N. O. Møller here
I started out with Kai Kristiansen chairs in rosewood. I reupholstered them in Danish fabric (original leather and elastic webbing were shot to hell) and really loved the comfort, but the frame is prone to wobbliness. So I sold them and bought N. O. Møller rosewood chairs.
The Møller chairs are very common and probably not as glamorous as some other choices but they're handsome and comfortable and I like not having to worry about them falling apart when people sit in them. I got six from a guy on ebay and went to pick them up in person. He had another set in walnut that had a very distinctive ("live"?) grain. The seats were woven of flat leather cord. Those were some gorgeous chairs but I had a rosewood table and wanted chairs to match. But dang...I still think about those walnut chairs.

My...
My faves:
DCM
S-Chair
Tulip

Just an observation
People don't normally use Eames shells as dining chairs. Is it because they are regarded as cliche or inexpensive? After selling my Bertoias, and while I wait on my DCMs I threw three shells around the table to hold the place. They are infinitely more comfy than the Bertoias, and I actually think they look really nice around a table. You get to appreciate them at different angles etc. whereas I have just had them shoved in a side room as castaways basically.

Perhaps
People just don't like the look of the chairs in a dining setting. I use one as a desk chair. I wouldn't have a problem with using them for dining though. After all, the D stands for dining.

I was using one for a desk...
I was using one for a desk chair, which was ok, but really I want something even more comfy for that .... being that I work for hours on end at times. For dining though, they're really comfy with the high back support.
There is a real tendency for people to not use certain things because they are cliched. The truth is, this is really an attractive, funtional and affordable option .... which in itself amazing because these were the original purposes for this design. The fact that it still funtions today as originally visioned says a lot. The reason it is so cliched is because they are still available to everyone at a relatively low cost. We should celebrate that methinks. Do you not listen to the Beatles because everyone else does? Course not ... they're still great after all these years.... the blue jeans of chairs and music....