Hospitality Design - December 2014 - 81

1. Phan's Hard Water
whiskey bar in San
Francisco.

2. Smillie's oak, copper,
and marble-clad Upland
restaurant in New York.

Preservation: At Upland, we preserve lemons and artichokes.

Currently, they're used as decoration, but eventually they will
provide utility because we plan on incorporating them into our menu
during the summer.

2

Designer Aprons: You see more and more chefs walking around

in fancier aprons. Some are even made in rich leathers. I personally
love those from Hedley & Bennett, which was started by a former
cook. They come in everything from canvas to denim to linen.

Lighting: It seems like now more than ever restaurants are

paying extra special attention to the lighting. It makes sense, both
for showcasing the food and for photography. With the rise of
social media, it is something we took into consideration. We didn't
necessarily make decisions based on that, but we want everybody
and everything to look the best they can.

3

Phan says:

Sharing Space: I'm no longer seeing restaurants create a separate
space for a formal dining room divided from the bar area. At Hard
Water, we use different heights and arrangements of tables to meld
the two spaces together into one cohesive environment. It goes
hand in hand with a general desire to eat smaller plates instead of
individual large entrées. The more casual atmosphere lends itself
better to sharing.

1
2

Flatware: Apart from formal dining experiences, we aren't going
to see much white flatware anymore. It's no longer about what's
on your plate, but what your food is being served on, too. More and
more, restaurants are using patterned plates or mixing and matching
vintage designs in addition to looking to slate, blown glass, and wood
as usable presentation surfaces. And there is always stoneware,
which I have been using at the Slanted Door since I opened. It may
be more costly to serve food in heavier, breakable materials, but
restaurants are going for it regardless, as every element of the meal-
whether it's a glass or a piece of art-adds to the dining experience.
Laid-Back Dining: Restaurants are getting smaller and smaller.
Young chefs and entrepreneurs are no longer interested in raising
the kind of money required to open a huge restaurant, but diners
also like the intimacy of a smaller, cozier space that reminds them of
home. I was in Memphis not too long ago and visited Hog & Hominy,
where there are TVs in the restaurant. That has usually been limited
to dive and sports bars, but I am seeing more casual elements in
places that focus on food, elements that redefine the living-dining
space. Restaurants are incorporating found objects like driftwood
and taxidermy more and more, too. We are likely close to reaching
critical mass, and it's my hope that we'll be able to start thinking
more minimalist again.
Wood-Burning Ovens: They're everywhere, and it has to do with
the general shift toward creating more communal environments, as
well as the trend of chefs using live fire. Diners want to engage and
interact with the food they consume, and the visual of seeing their
food prepared in a hearth is both comforting and exciting.

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