Hospitality Design - October 2015 - 44

perspectives

sketchbook

bon marché
> Widely considered the first, and perhaps most famous, modern
department store, Paris' Le Bon Marché was the inspiration for a
new 7,500-square-foot San Francisco dining concept from Mercer
Restaurant Group. "I wanted to capture the essence of a brasserie: fun,
grand, lively, bustling-always elegant but never pretentious," explains
Matt Semmelhack, owner of the group well known in the Bay Area for
restaurants such as AQ and TBD, who also handles the design work for
each of the company's locations. Set in the circa-1937 Market building
(also home to Twitter), Bon Marché is an all-day concept that features a
coffee shop, oyster bar, brewery, and flower shop that function alongside
a full dining room, lounge, and private dining space.
A massive open kitchen dominates the middle of the space, which is
wrapped with a variety of different seating areas-including banquettes
and tables for full-service dining, casual café tables set by the 12-foottall front windows, three separate bars, and a stand-up raw bar. The
approximately 100 feet of frontage on Market Street is set up like
an indoor Parisian alleyway inspired by the French capital's Marais
district.
Physical flooring changes signify the distinct areas, Semmelhack
explains, including black and white tile, white French oak, endgrain walnut, penny tiles, and gray slate under the café tables for an
indoor-outdoor feel. Brass and black wrought-iron accents are found
throughout, along with pops of color such as the tangerine that carries
through from the menu to the awnings above the bar and kitchen.
"We created Bon Marché because it was something missing from

the neighborhood," Semmelhack says. "There are several fancy, highend restaurants nearby, and a lot of quick service lunch or ethnic
eateries, plus a few great bars, but not a big bustling place to get great
food at a fair price."

cava grill
> Cava Grill is foregoing expectations for its
expanding portfolio of causal Mediterranean
outlets. Instead of outfitting the eateries
with a blue and white palette-the common
hues associated with Greece-designer and
architect Peter Hapstak of Washington, DCbased HapstakDemetriou+, opted for a subtle
approach that's more rustic than classically
Mediterranean, with an open kitchen to
highlight the cuisine's healthy attributes.
Putting the cooking front and center
"says a lot about the integrity of our food
commitment transparency," says Brett
Schulman, Cava Grill's CEO. The brand
currently is preparing to open the first
of several planned Los Angeles locations

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October 2015 hospitalitydesign.com

this fall, expanding outside of its DC-area
roots, that Schulman is hoping will attract
clientele "seeking healthier options and new,
interesting flavors," he says. "LA has an
incredible burgeoning culinary community,
and we are excited to be a part of that."
The design is simple to "let the food
speak volumes," says Hapstak. Most spaces
are stripped to their raw form, with fixtures
that push lights to the perimeter so it "looks
more like a gallery," he says. Wood is either
whitewashed or neutral and juxtaposes with
the concrete for a simple, food-focused design.
"There's a lot of noise about what's handmade
or farm-to-table, and we believe it's just better
to show it," adds Schulman.
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