Barchetta

Name: Barchetta
Location: NYC
Design: LDV Hospitality

One of the newest openings in NYC is Barchetta, an intimate italian seafood spot. Vintage and nautical touches fill the main dining space and mezzanine exuding a casual warmth throughout the space. 

Wallace & Ed

Name: Wallace & Ed

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Architecture: Woods Bagot

Trends have funny way of always coming back. Wallace & Ed, located in a former Hard Rock Cafe, showcases this phenomenon perfectly with the updated use of wood panels, wrought iron, and simplicity.

Bar Sajor

Name: Bar Sajor
Location: Seattle, Wa
Design:

Matt Dillon, 2012 James Beard Award Winner and chef/restauranteur behind Sitka and Spruce, opened up Bar Sajor early this year in Pioneer square.  With a similar open kitchen layout and earthy lightness, the interior feels like a more 'dressed up' version of Sitka & Spruce in all the right ways.

Gusto

Name: Gusto
Location: Toronto, Canada
Design & Photography: Munge Leung

Revitalizing a former auto body shop, Gusto 101 crafted an industrial and intimate Italian trattoria.

Vinatería

Name: Vinatería
Location: Harlem, NYC
Design Jonsara Ruth

Vinatería is a great example of vintage made new again; but in a pulled together and thought through manner. 

Local 360

Name: Local 360
Location: Seattle, WA
Graphic Design: Sleep Op

Another great spot in Seattle is Local 360. Located in the Belltown neighborhood, it focus on locally sourced, sustainable fare. The interior follows creating a rustic and warm interior using barn wood,  vintage style pendants, and intimate spaces for diners.

Local Favorite; Parson's Chicken & Fish

Name: Parson's Chicken & Fish
Location: Chicago, IL
Design: Land & Sea Dept

As a modern take on the classic neighborhood joint, Parson's created a vibrant and fun space that utilizes color, geometric shapes, and clean lines. 

Local Favorite: Bow Truss

Name: Bow Truss
Location: Chicago, IL


With NeoCon just around the corner, I wanted to give all those headed into town a look at one of my favorite coffee shops near the Mart.

Bow Truss is a local, small batch roaster with two locations in Chicago. While both serve amazing coffee, their newest location in River North is the stand out in terms of design. 

A smaller space than their original, the River North location still maintains the rustic, reclaimed, and hip nature the original East Lakeview location is known for but does it a more thoughtful and concentrated manor. 

Images © Zagat, Doejo

Spuntino

Name: Spuntino
Location: London

I love the warm, grittiness of Spuntino and enjoy the small scale and intimacy.

Laurel Hardware

Name: Laurel Hardware
Location: West Hollywood, CA
Design: Sam Marshall

Located inside of a converted hardware store, appropriately named Laurel Hardware creates a space with a great mix of industrial and vintage.

Oyster House

Name: Oyster House
Location: Philadelphia, PA

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Oyster House, located in Philadelphia, is a great example of a small space that doesn't sacrifice on style.

Blending nautical, traditional, and industrial design components they have created a balanced and inviting local spot.

Astro Coffee

Name: Astro Coffee
Location: Detroit, MI

As a Michigan native, I've always had a soft spot for Detroit. While the news might lead you to believe its a city losing hope, places like Astro Coffee and other Cork Town favorites are slowly but surely revitalizing the area.

The Leadbelly

Name: The Leadbelly
Location: New York, NY

Located across from Fat Radish, The Leadbelly is a perfectly imperfect oyster bar.

We love the imperfectly plastered walls, great art, and kitschy feel to the space.

Kook Restaurant & Pizzeria

Name: Kook Restaurant & pizzeria
Location: Rome
Design: Noses Architects

Upon first look at Kook, you'd have a difficult time determining if the space was a restaurant or just a great home.

Heirloom Café

Name: Heirloom Café
Location: San Francisco, CA

Heirloom Café is an authentic and rustic new restaurant located in the mission district of San Francisco.

What we love about this new interior in the warmth and familiarity that has been established.

Verve Coffee Roasters

Name: Verve Coffee Roasters
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

We love it when a reader passes along a favorite spot for us to feature! Verve coffee has three locations but their Santa Cruz location really blew me away. With a polished, handmade quality the space feels warm, inviting, social, and relaxed. All great qualities for a community gathering spot and roaster.

Our Work; The Savoy (Odyssey)

Name: The Savoy
Location: Chicago, IL

A project we had the pleasure of working on this past spring recently opened it's doors in the Wicker Park neighborhood, right here in Chicago. For this project, we were involved in the schematic & design development phases and helped the client layout the space, design the initial concept, as well as specify the initial FF&E items for within the space. 

The concept behind the space began with the original name for the space; Odyssey. Taking Homer's Epic and applying it to the space allowed us to play with a dark nautical concept. Using this as our starting base, we refined our concept down into natural and classic materials (woods, ropes, subway tile, mirrors) with warm earth tones for colors. To keep the space from going too nautical in feeling, we specified & envisioned industrial lighting, worn antiques and warm brass shelving mixed with pieces already owned. The space was ultimately renamed before opening but the initial concept remained.

Local Favorite; Ada Street

Name: Ada Street
Location: Chicago, IL

Tucked away in an industrial part of Chicago, Ada street restaurant is a welcome contrast to the gritty urban exterior. You enter through the dimly lit lounge and are guided down a long hall lined with vintage lockers storing the restaurants wine selection. At the end of the hall is additional vintage storage, but this time for their extensive record collection. The dining space opens up from here allowing you to pass by the open kitchen and head chef Zoe at the helm. 

A look at the intimate space;

A wide range of design aesthetics were used but all were kept minimal and comfortable. A banquet wrapped in army blankets flanks the wall with two-top spots in the center. The opposite wall is dominated by their large glass-backed, and well stocked bar. 

 Past the dining room is Ada's great outdoor back patio complete with artificial grass, picnic tables and checkered table clothes. While we were visiting, Ada was featuring a menu focused around the grill and luckily we got to experience some wonderful dishes cooked right outside our table. 

A look at what we ate;

Stuffed zucchini blossom with heirloom tomatoes, foie gras with bing cherries & toasted ciabatta, grilled market flatbread with zucchini, scallop with corn puree and crispy potato, and we ended the night with brioche donuts with port wine caramel.

I would go back for the scallop, flatbread and donuts. The zucchini blossom is always a win but I only wish they could have given two. The foie gras, was good, but served cold which threw me off a bit.

Photos 1&3 © Ada Street Facebook

Photos 2 &4 © Kaper Desgin

The Trencherman

Name: The Trencherman
Location: Chicago, IL
Design: Kevin Heisner

One of the newest restaurants to pop up here in Chicago is The Trencherman. With vintage details, rich woods, and some surprising pops of color, the space is one I'm excited to try out. I love the utilization of the pipes above the booths for lighting and the bar extending beyond, creating a table of sorts built-it. The pop is blue found in the seating area on the upper level, is separated enough for it to define the space while also providing a bit of a transition from the entry to the main dining space.

Super Whatnot

Name: Super Whatnot
Location: Brisbane
Architect: Marc&Co


Located in an old industrial building, Super Whatnot is a great example of quality branding, graphic design, and interior design. All crucial components that must work seamlessly together in order to create a visually successful space. With light wood, exposed brick, metal bar finishes, and exposed metal beams, the interior gives in to an urban/ industrial vibe while the penny tile, bar stools, wood stools and banquettes all add an element of vintage to the mix. The branding and graphic design finishes out the mix and pulls the entire urban/vintage/ industrial vibe together.

The combination of wood, intricate metal work, and exposed brick is wonderful. Perfectly industrial but just polished enough to feel finished and not gritty.

Photos 1-7 © AECCafe

Photos 8- 10 © Design Work Life