Restaurant Design: Is Seattle stuck in the 90’s?
The SeattleTimes‘ food writer, Nancy Leson, was one of many local restaurant critics who received a mass email from local foodie and designer Scott Surdyk. In his scathing message, Surdyk chastised them for not heaping praise on local restaurants who aim for a more contemporary design. [times]
I think you guys need to move beyond design descriptions that mention Judy Jetson, the Brady Bunch and Austin Powers. There is a world design movement using sustainable materials such as cultured stone veneer (mid-century inspired), recycled/natural hardwoods and fresh new colors. Perhaps you just need to discuss, observe and understand it, but don’t impose your ingrained “old Seattle standards” into your reviews. I think we are all tired of the 90’s.
Surdyk singled out seven Asian-themed restaurants and a Belltown ‘tavern’ as representative of design that meets world-class standards:
- Qube
- Ama Ama
- Jasmine
- Asian Breeze [yelp]
- Boom Noodle
- Indochine (Tacoma)
- Ototo Sushi
- Black Bottle
Interestingly, with the exception of Indochine, none of these restaurants highlight their forward thinking design on their websites. Surdyk goes on to criticize the “rustic 90’s Capitol Hill” designs of Crave, Union, Quinn’s, Linda’s [u-s], and Betty. I’m not sure how much credence to give to Surdyk’s assessments but the topic itself is interesting enough for design geeks and foodies alike.
I’m an acolyte design geek and am distracted to annoyance by overwrought decor. Classically designed restaurants like Fremont’s 35th Street Bistro seem perfect to me.
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While Black Bottle has a really cool mobile above the bathrooms, the restaurant was not inviting. It was too loud, cold, and stark. Boom Noodle is crowded and loud, and I got a claustrophobic feeling both times I was there. I don’t think I will be back to either place.
Personally I think most of Seattle restaurants have a bad design. At least I can never find one that fulfills the purpose of being a cool looking place and actually being able to have a conversation with someone about it over the din of background noise. Who the hell wants to eat and not talk about the food and the setting? I’m open for some good suggestions that would fulfill the two requirements. I guess I should also add a third, good food (also something that tends to lack at some of Seattle’s "trendy" establishments).
AMA-AMA - http://www.ama-amaseattle.com - is the bomb in terms of design. i think their owner is actually a ‘design guy’. this type or retro 20/30’s classic design is just very cool.
35th st. bistro. I have to agree. pretty perfect set up.
you know, im not really down with this whining about it being too loud. give me a break! its too loud? black bottle? look, if you want to go somewhere that is lively, that is pulsating with cool, interesting people, go to black bottle, ama ama, 35th st. bistro, tavolata, how to cook a wolf, etc.. if you want peace and quiet, stay home or go to a mcdonalds in east bellevue at 10pm on friday. or a thai restaurant in fremont just before closing. but give me a break. new york, LA..Seattle…"i want some place that is quiet’. fine. go to canlis.
I just totally disagree that these places are too loud to have a conversation. give me a break. listening to a band at the sunset in ballard yeah..too loud to have a conversation. being at the black bottle? thats just bullshit. ive been there a million times. never has it been "too loud"
@jameswa - While I totally agree that people need to have realistic expectations of noise level, I also have been on the complaining side. More often than not it’s not so much because of the actual amount of noise being generated as the fact that a lot of restaurants actually seem to be designed to AMPLIFY ambient noise. Espcially "modern" or "contemporary" design which uses tons of reflective surfaces.
My totally non-expert and arm-chair guess is that a lot of restaurants design to amplify ambient noise so that the place sounds more hopping on off nights than it actually is. But that ends up making the reflected noise unbearable on truly hopping nights.
Seems like the ideal design would have configurable sound baffles that the restaurant could put up when it’s really loud to cut some of the excess reflection and take down when it’s quiet to juice up the noise level.
Again - this is all wild speculation on my part and may have no relation to reality… :)
James, I don’t think you understand what good design is. A place that has been well designed would include a way to make at least sitting at a table a place where things are easily heard. Good design isn’t just about aesthetics, but function as well.
Also you might get a lot more cred if you didn’t make your posts sound like a whine against a whine themselves. Kettle..Black…
right back @ ya’ kayvaan. You seem reasonable so ill agree w/ you the general notion - sometimes it seems amplified. get sat down next to a wall at a 90 degree angle on a friday nigth and wow, you can’t really enjoy the breathing of your companion. or sometimes the words coming out of their mouth.
i think the whole "they design it that way" is waaaay overrating the actual resources and organization and where with all of a restaurant trying to just open its doors. they aren’t space ship gallactica or some nasa cocktail lounge. they pretty much are just trying to get the thing opened and looking good. sound deflection and amplification devices aren’t really a part of the equation. getting past permits and regulartions / city oversight, although, is a consideration.
tonyb - is that a whine against a whine against a whine? you seemed to have qubed that notion. and is the guy w/ a keg as his picture calling me out fot ‘cred’. wow! im not really seeking street ‘cred’ here tony. im a human. i go to restaurants. sometimes they are loud. i don’t need a phd in design or family relations to frank lloyd wright to know that when i go to black bottle, unless im with social retards, the place is fine. have you been there? people are having very normal conversation at the bar w/ out yelling or looking aruond w/ their hands in the air saying "wow, I can’t hear ANYTHING". Same w/ Ama Ama / 35th st. bistro, etc.
And beyond that, no matter how wizardry your design is, you have "x" square feet. Its a business. you have tables. You fill those tables up wiht humans who talk, its going to be at "y" level of noise where "y" is quite frankly lloyd "right", a fixed noise level, regardless of ‘tactics’. these are restaurants, not design projects.
I was just going to let this go, but I’m feeling feisty this morning.
I’m not talking "street cred" I’m just talking basic old credibility in general. The way you come off in your post you make it sound like you had some design education. You have now stated that’s not the case so no harm no foul. I have been to the Black Bottle and agree that on most nights it is a good place to sit for good eats and be able to talk about it. I would also agree with Ama Ama and 35th Street Bistro. But those are three restaurants in a city full of restaurants. A very, very small percentage in the grand scheme of things. I also concede the point that these are businesses trying to open and succeed, but that wasn’t the point of the blog post, the point is about the design of Seattle restaurants. While making money is the basic reality of opening a restaurant, that is irrelevant to the topic of the post.
In regards to whining. I never said I wasn’t whining nor was I complaining about others whining, that seems to be your job from what I’ve seen you post this morning. Just calling them like I see them friend. The first step to wisdom is seeing ones own shortcomings and not taking offense to them. I’m more than willing to say I was whining at 9:30 on a Thursday morning, but are you?
tonyb. you seem like a cool guy. no harm no foul. i hope you don’t take offense to my posts. another road to wisdom: "my opinions" "your thoughts" etc are just "thoughts" there not "me" or "you" so no reason to take them, or really anything, personal.
what part made you think i knew something about design? did the sunset reference in ballard throw you off? perhaps it was my utter lack of grammatical structure? perhaps the word mcdonalds was your alarm bell: "this guys thinks he OBVIOUSLY is a design expert…Mcdondalds…I’ll show him". I mean, come on. You were the one that said "I don’t think you know what good design is" which would infer you do.
James we definitely need to meet for a drink sometime, while I don’t think we might agree on a whole lot of topics I think we would both feel like we at least had a decent conversation with someone who isn’t an idiot (something we all probably need a little more of since the daily grind seems to be there for the purpose to put idiots in our way). Nothing personal taken. I run a small call center for a tech company, I have very thick skin.
I think it was your reference to the owner AMA-AMA being a "design guy" that made me think you ran in those circles. I never said I was a design expert, but I have taken some formal classes and such so I believe I at least know what a rudimentary definition of good design is which is all I was pointing out. My whole point about the post is that design doesn’t stop at aesthetics, it should also include function. In the food industry this seems to be forgotten more and more whether it be in design of the restaurant or the food itself. I’m sure you’ve seen you fare share of this as well. Sandwiches come to mind immediately; burgers that look like MohhamaGodJebus made it himself, but is near impossible to eat with your hands. I’m a simple man with simple needs. Cool atmosphere (I know this is very subjective and can vary widely), be able to hear the person across the table from me, and good food that I can actually eat. Doesn’t seem like too much to ask to me, but hell I have a keg with a santy clause hat on for my avatar so I clearly am no one to take seriously.
tonyb - that’s hilarious. i agree. who knows. we may even agree. see, there we go disagreeing again.
im no one to take seriously either - i call people out for having keg icons on blogs during the work day. i mean, come on, give me a break.
i agree with you re/ the design in terms of how you put it last. absoluteliy. you know who does a pretty good job of that. chipotle.
until our next online rumble - cheers - and im glad you didn’t take my crap seriously or personally. you da’man
Jameswa, damn you for mentioning Chipotle this close to lunch! I am a Yakima, WA native of Mexican-American decent (if you don’t know much of Yakima is populated by Hispanics mostly of Mexican/Mexican-American decent) and have to hide the fact from my family that I eat at Chipotle. Now I have a craving for their barbacoa, and have to tell another lie to my poor Abuela! Damn you for making me lie to an old lady!
Salud!