Bowery to Williamsburg

Name: Bowery to Williamsburg
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Design: Di & Will Keser (Owners)

With the opening of its second location, Bowery to Williamsburg brings even more Bowery subway station-inspired, Americana sandwich shop goodness to Melbourne. This second location found its home directly across the street from their other spot, Hardware Society, in the original Beetroot space.

ilili Box

Name: Ilili Box
Location: New York, NY
Design: Unkown

Every once in a while a concept will come along that is all together refreshing. ilili Box's take on modular construction and pop-up shop lunches is just the breath of fresh air their trends needed. 

At The Chapel

Name: At The Chapel
Location: Burton, UK
Design: Ahmed Sidki & Catherine Butler

A former 17th century congregation church found new life as a cafe, bakery, wine shop, and restaurant.  Keeping the original architectural details intact, the minimalist and warm interior showcases the goods and space perfectly.

Duckfat

Name:  Duckfat
Location: Portland, ME

With a name like 'Duck Fat' you really can't go wrong.  This was the second time I've been here and will easily be back again. The food is great but the real star is the duck fat fries and multiple dipping sauces you can choose to accompany them. The space itself is located on a cobblestone street with large front facing windows. An outdoor ledge allows you to dine or drink outside on warmer days without protruding into the sidewalk. What I love the most about the space is how inclusive and local it feels, the interior remains simple and warm which works well within the small space.

Image 1 © Maine Boats

Image 3-4 © Ducat

Portland, Maine

As a self-declared foodie (Lucky for me it's also part of my job description!), one of my favorite things to do is explore restaurants and local food. One of the most overlooked and underrated, in my opinion, foodie location is Portland, Maine. It's hard not to be when you are located inches away from multiple harbors where fresh seafood flows in hourly.

Add to that the cobblestone streets, brick buildings and down-to-earth vibe and you have an area overflowing with great places to eat. The charm of most of the places in Portland is the we've been here forever, hole-in-the-wall feel. 

Rob Evans, the local celebrity chef has recently brought some light to the area when he won a James Beard Award in 2009 for his restaurant, Hugo's (Another JBA was won in 2002 for Fore Street & it's chef). Yet, even with this recent addition of a JBA, Portland is still overlooked. With that, I want to present you with a few local food favorites from this amazing city.

Street and; Co.

Five Fifty-five

Duck Fat

The Porthole Restaurant

Sebago Brewing Company

Colonie

Name: Colonie
Location: Brooklyn Heights, NY
Designer: Architect Alex Meyers of Mad design

We love the urban farmhouse feel of this space. The interior was created using found and reclaimed materials and has a warm, industrial feel to it. The greatest part of the design was that it was funded by members of the brooklyn heights community, friends and family. The owners of the space created a Kickstart Campaign asking for funding for the design. This allowed the community to actively get involved and excited about the project, adding to the value the restaurant gives back to the community.

The open kitchen and ability for community seating, at both the banquette and tables situated on a recycled steel beam, gives you the warmth and memory of sitting in your family kitchen. I really enjoy that they were able to create a space entirely of reclaimed and recycled materials that still feels fresh, new and warm.

All Photos © Yatzer via Colonienyc.com

The Crosby Street Hotel

Name: The Crosby Street Hotel

Location: New York, NY

Design: Firmdale Hotels

We love this Soho getaway because it fits. It responds to the area and the history of soho and creates a space that is at once modern and fun but also artistic and sophisticated. Every room boasts a different design and features unique, interesting pieces that always manage to capture our attention. The public spaces manage to feel like an artist gallery, greenhouse, and chic social spot all at once. Firmdale did a great job making the entire space feel like it has been in Soho for year, rather than a new construction, corporate hospitality job. Did we mention the terrace?, we could spend hours socializing with a beautiful space like that. And to think, before the Crosby Street Hotel, the site was nothing more than a quickly deteriorating car park.

All images © Firmdale Hotels

Goat Town

Image © The Feast

Name: Goat Town
Location: Alphabet City, NYC

Designer: Owner Nicholas Morgenstern

While we find the design fairly cookie cutter in terms of current design trends; Reclaimed materials, Edison bulbs, tin ceilings, and subway tiles; What we do love is the unexpected use of subway tiles on the booths! This fairly mainstream interpretation of the American Gastro-Pub is popping up quite often and we find it refreshing and a bit heart-warming when typical materials get turned on head and re-purposed for ways you never would have thought. We cannot comment on the comfort of the booths but this kitschy touch is definitely worth a stop in.

Image © Popsugar NYC

Image © Eater NY

Scala Vinoteca

Name: Scala Vinoteca
Location: Athens, Greece
Designer:Andreas Kurkulas & Maria Kokkinou

We love this space because of its minimalist, modern vibe and strong character. A nod to the vineyard and wine-making process is apparent through the tractor seat bar stools, use of metal throughout the space and the amount of natural wood. It feels like a space you could easily spend hours with friends at.

All images © George Fakaros via Yatzer

The Blue Monkey Fumoir

Name: The Blue Monkey Fumoir

Location: Zurich Old Town, Switzerland

Designer: Dyer-Smith & Frey

We are loving the vintage feel or this space mixed with the modern accents. Ultimately the concept is truly what roped us in. A smoking room, like you would have had back in the 20's in Switzerland, updated for modern times. ( Think English pubs meets modern gentleman's club) Despite the smoking bans in Zurich, the Blue Monkey wanted to offer its guests a place to smoke and what they accomplished with the interior, we picture, will easily accommodate the men in suits that head in for a drink after work.

All images © dyersmith-frey.com

Soho House; Miami- Cecconi's Restaurant

Name: Cecconi's Italian Restaurant at the Soho House Miami Hotel
Location: Miami, FL
Designer: Mark Brudnizki & Nick Jones (soho house founder)

Miami has never ranked very high on our list of vacation destinations (that we absolutely must get to) but with the addition of the Soho House, We all may just need to reconsider! We love that they paired traditional furnishings with an outdoor-terraced setting. The result is romantic, fun and looks extremely inviting and relaxing. Our favorite design element in the space has to be the large chesterfield sofa that has been updated in a great fabric (Fun fact: It was upholstered by a company right here in Chicago!) and the almost ball-jar-esq pendants. We can only image how magical this space can become once the sun sets.

All images © Cecconi's

Viceroy Hotel & Resort; Santa Monica

Name: Viceroy Santa Monica

Location: Santa Monica, Ca

Designer: Kelly Wearstler

The Viceroy Resort in Santa Monica shows a great balance of color, traditional and modern. I adore the bold kelly green color that is showcased throughout the public spaces and think the preppy and modern color palette works perfectly to highlight the wonderful environment of the space.

All images © Viceroy Hotel & Resorts

Fish Bar

Name: Fish Bar

Location: Chicago, IL

The newest seafood joint in Chicago, Fish Bar, definitely hit the mark with the design of the interior. Imagine an east coast lobster shack meets New Orleans. The layout features almost all counter seating (there are three booths, if you are lucky enough to grab one) which works out well for a quick lunch but would be a bit tricky for a nice dinner or busy saturday night.

Although the design of Fish Bar was fairly authentic (for a merging of two coast, anyways), the visit went downhill from there. We had the fried clams which were pretty good but the portion size was fairly skimpy(3.5 pieces, literally) for the price. We also tried the Maine lobster roll and the 'catch of the day'; trout. The lobster roll came on the correct roll; split down the center with buttery-toasted sides but was completely over-seasoned with celery salt and old bay seasoning. The lobster and mayo mixture was watery, leaving me to believe the meat had been frozen, and definitely not worth the $18.00 market price. A true east coast lobster roll has to stand by the idea of simplicity and purity, no seasonings, toasted bun, and either cold meat with mayo or warm with drawn butter. Let the fabulous taste of the fresh meat shine, don't mask it.

The trout was served well after the lobster roll came out and after the first bite I noticed it was completely raw still. I had to send it back and have them cook me a new piece which resulted in me eating quite a bit after everything else was finished. I wish I could say the service was great and completely made up for these huge goof-up's but at the end we were left without an apology and a full priced bill.

I loved the interior but as with all restaurants, food & atmosphere go hand-in-hand. You cannot have a great interior and horrible food and only rarely can you have great food and a horrible atmosphere (trust me, the food has to be phenomenal to make up for it!).

I would love to see Fish Bar get rid of the 'New England' side of the menu and stick to the New Orleans side, which it seemed to get right.

images © Grub Street

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Bar Agricole

Name: Bar Agricole

Where: San Francisco, CA

Designer: Aidlin Darling

One of the things I miss about San Francisco is the food scene. With a heavy focus on pushing the boundaries and the equal important placed on the design of the space the food will be served in, you can quickly understand why Bar Agricole was nominated for a James beard award for outstanding restaurant design.

The space is currently hoping to obtain LEED Platinum certification and utilized as many local artisans as possible. I love the custom concrete booths and hand-made furniture. The material choices are simple and pure and presents both the food and drinks well. The next time I'm back in the city I will be sure to check this place out.

Photos 2-6 © Remodelista.com