It wasn’t long before we realized that fine dining days are done. Unless it involves more than dining, a scintillating setting, and the perfect picture of modern-day high society! So, Luxurylaunches, with its cyber toes dipped in decadence, is now doing a round-up of all things food and refinement, read: the best-designed restaurants and bars in the world. First up, the USA. For a feast that begins at the eyes and not the mouth, restaurants in the country are not only serving up sumptuous sums but also doing it decked out with a heady dose of designer creativity. So, while experimentation in the kitchen may have given us ‘gastronomy’, an architectural implication of it has given us these-
5) Workshop Kitchen & Bar- Palm Springs CA
There may be nothing workshop-py about this place upon first glance, but everything from the booths to the barn-like windows, pillars, and cavernous ceilings of this place in the desert chic Palm Springs borrows from the basics. And soon after, you realize, at Workshop Kitchen & Bar, they don’t pertain to a particular style but strive to serve up in-season savories. Still, “Americana” could be used to describe their cuisine best.
Manhattan-based Soma Architects took on this project with owners Michael Beckman and Joseph Mourani. And when they had to make contemporary, a colonial building, “a preference for Industrial Chic led us to a language of architectural concrete, black steel, monolithic forms, and classic, earthy Modern tableware,” thus earning the place its international appeal.
[Workshop-Palm-Springs]
4) Yojisan- Beverly Hills CA
Chef Yoji’s home of haute Japanese cuisine is inspired, much as the food, from his penchant of delivering innovation to every table. So evident was this from the beginning, it inspired Dan Brunn to embed the philosophy in the décor’s design strategy.
The architect created a space that blends the familiar with the surreal, with a floating garden, bamboo made of light, and supersized inverted boxes that hint at traditional Japanese bento. In contrast to the “existing Beverly Hills clichés,” as he calls them, Yojisan’s quiet facade of cedar, Cor-ten steel, and glass was meant to become a beacon of artistic minimalism spiked with a bold red revelry.
[Yojisan]
3) The Abbot’s Cellar- San Francisco, CA
Lundberg Design combines a fully functioning metal shop with a design studio. So it’s no surprise that industrial meets artist’s studio at their haute San Francisco handiwork, The Abbot’s Cellar.
Its warehouse vibe further extends to the benches, bricks and high ceilings. There, they call their cuisine “simply cooked” and their mainstay is food and beverage pairings.
The dedication to décor can be called on par with that to craft beer if not surpassed by it. So, the Valencia-corridor newbie with its reclaimed-wood look is clearly one to watch out for with its experimental yet elegant musings.
[The-Abbots-Cellar]