You Light up My Life

Lighting is so important. It affects the whole vibe of a restaurant. I am lucky to have Courtney, a perfectionist by nature and photographer by profession, design the lighting at Alison two. He’s been shooting restaurants for a long time and lighting is key to photography. But, this is his first venture into lighting design.

 

At one point, we had lights in the ceiling soffits that bounced off recessed areas to provide an indirect glow throughout the restaurant. The current lights were chosen to be accent lights. But, due to a couple unexpected curve balls, the ceiling lights were nixed and the accent lights became the main source of light. So, that created some extra challenges.

 

Courtney’s new plan for creating the restaurant’s warm glow, included a lighting system with more than 30 different zones. This set the mood and helped focus attention in the right spots – whether illuminating the soft folds in the lush velvet curtains or highlighting the detail work in the meticulously refinished mirrors from the Plaza Hotel. Plus, it had the added benefit of keeping our electrician, Augie, busy.

 

 

Courtney really gave a lot of thought to every detail. He chose tiny iridescent blue tiles for the fireplace in the living room, the bathrooms and in front of the bar. In the bar, he lit them with tiny rope lights, making them glow. Then he turned his attention to the window between the bar and the pastry kitchen. The cutout allows all the great baking smells to drift through into the bar. But, he wanted to make sure the fluorescent kitchen lighting didn’t bleed into the bar area too. So, he ordered special incandescent lighting for the pastry kitchen and saved the traditional fluorescent lights for deeper areas of the kitchen. The light peeking out the kitchen entrance presented a similar challenge – even with the incandescent lighting. Courtney skirted this issue by using dark blue paint on as much of the inner pastry kitchen walls as the health department would allow, as well as darker gray flooring.

 

 

The next challenge was finding sconces and light fixtures that coordinated with the metalwork of our metal garden gates. We love the gates. We sourced them from an architectural salvage yard and will use them to separate the bar from the restaurant. Their distinct look really established the design motif for the fixtures.

Courtney envisioned metal light fixtures and sconces that mirrored the shapes in the metalwork in the gates. When he couldn’t find anything quite right, he designed them himself. You’d think custom-made fixtures would be pricey – but he even figured out how to save money. He worked with Welder Michael Sedlacek. They made some sketches and even made a sample or two before settling on the right design. And in a cost-saving measure, Courtney even cut some of the metal himself.

Next, Courtney worked with an Indiana-based company to make the intense blue stained glass – choosing a particular hue and texture. Then, he worked hand-in-hand with the Abington-based Glass Artist John Gartner  to create the sconces. John helped solve a lot of the technical and logistical issues so that the sconces and pendants could work as intended.

 

It took some experimentation to get everything just right. The first time we hung the sconces, the light bulbs were too high a wattage and the heat cracked the glass.

 

We noticed that the sconces looked great from the front but not as good from the side – where the new, weaker, light bulb glowed annoyingly. So, we added additional stained glass on the sides. Interestingly in some spots, where the sconces were very close to corners and won’t catch anyone’s eye, the light from the exposed bulb actually throws an intriguing shadow that mirrors the shape from the metal gates.

We’re making minor adjustments as we install each fixture. The lighting fixtures over the bar were just mounted, although we still don’t have the right bar stools, and we’re waiting for the banquettes to arrive so we can install the rest of the lighting. I’m beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

 

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Sick of Soffits

Are you sick of soffits? I am. But, it is all part of the process. If opening a restaurant were all about food, it would be easy. But, this is hard stuff. It gets harder everyday – just when I think I have it figured out, I get a curveball. Like the ventilation system for the oven or the acoustic material for the ceiling. It’s non-stop.

                                                                                                                                                               

Speaking of ventilation systems, I am busy trying to choose an oven hood. I am concerned about the people who have offices above the restaurant site and I’m working to make sure that they don’t smell food all day. The people who work at the bank next to Alison at Blue Bell  sometimes complain that they can smell food coming through the wall. I reply that I can smell their money. But, I’m just joking. It’s nice to smell food cooking when you walk into a restaurant. But, any smell – even a good smell – isn’t so great all day long if you’re sitting at your desk. At the restaurant, I thought we were immune to it. But about halfway into our “30 days of cookies” holiday promotion at Alison at Blue Bell , even we got sick of the smell of baking cookies. Sorry,Amelia.                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                             

 

One option is to have a regular ventilation system with ductwork running up to the top of the building releasing smells high into the air. But that means we’ll have ductwork running up the side of the historic building. Another option is running the ductwork through the building. But, that eats up potential office space. A third option is getting an ultraviolet hood. It uses ultraviolet light to pulverize the air particles that carry food smells. Since it minimizes smells even before they’re vented, there’s no need to run ductwork inside or up the building. Sounds good, but UV hoods run 30 to 40 thousand dollars more than a regular hood. None the less, it looks like that’s the way we’ll be going…unless something else comes up – which I’m sure it will.

   

That leaves us with the acoustic situation. As the Los Angeles Times  so eloquently put it, I’m striving for “a comfortable sound level (somewhere between bedlam and the grave).” I spent two hours meeting with Steven Schultheis at S&S Resources. It was a great meeting and I learned a lot. Their acoustic material will absorb 80% of the noise in the main dining room. Now, here’s the tricky part…we want to put the acoustic panels in the recessed areas in-between the soffits. But, we can’t penetrate the ceiling in the main dining room because it is fire rated. So, we’ll have to clip the material to the soffits. And of course, all this impacts the lighting design that we’d already settled on. The panels are 1 to 2 inches thick so they’ll limit the bounce we get from the lights. You need something for the light to bounce off to get a nice glow. It’s always something!  

Enough of ventilation and acoustic material. I have some cooking to do. I just picked up some kosher gelatin. I’m using ideas from Eileen Talanian’s new cookbook Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats  to create a kosher marshmallow dessert for my upcoming class in NYC . Then, in a few weeks, I’m helping Eileen launch her new cookbook with a reception featuring sweet and savory marshmallow dishes . When things get bad there’s always my marshmallow blaster. It shoots mini-marshmallows at high power. A great, non-violent way of dealing with aggression. I’ve been using it non-stop for the past 2 weeks. Go ahead…make my day!

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Two steps forward and a step backwards

I’ve opened more restaurants than I care to admit. Some on my own and others as the debut chef. And now, Alison two.

 

It’s always two steps forward and a step backwards. We decided to carpet the bar instead of using hardwood floors. It’s a little unusual but we thought it would absorb some of the noise. We want the restaurant to have a buzz – but the noise level shouldn’t be uncomfortable. We want a place that’s comfortable to hang out.

 

It turns out that a new employee’s sister is the foremost acoustic expert in the area. What luck! She wrote me an email explaining that carpet helps with low and high frequencies but it can also make a room boomy. Okay, so if that’s not the answer, what is? She sent me links to information about acoustical materials.

 

So here’s my idea for the acoustic materials. What if we can put them on the ceiling instead of the floor? We have to build soffits in the ceiling to house electrical wiring (it’s a fire code issue – don’t ask). So now I’m wondering if we can use some of those acoustic materials (instead of drywall) to make the soffits. I just spoke to my general contractor about it and he’s checking it out. Those soffits, by the way, are like lemons that we’re making into lemonade. Since we have to have them, we’re making them design elements and figuring out how to use them to actually enhance the lighting. Instead of shining straight down from can lights, the lights will bounce off the soffits — creating a glow.

 

So, if the acoustic material can go on the ceiling — instead of the floor — then we don’t need carpet and can consider going back to hardwood floors. I asked Bob Himmelreich, our flooring specialist from Pro-Tech Floors for quotes both ways. As I said, two steps forward and a step back.

 

It’s enough to drive you to drink. Fortunately, a beer dinner is on tap at Alison at Blue Bell on Monday. Tom Kehoe, Brewmaster from Yards Brewing Company, will be joining us for a special 4-course beer dinner. Should be fun. More fun than doing the two-step over carpeting or hardwood or carpeting or hardwood or carpeting…

  

 

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Full of Flavor & Personality

I suppose it would be easy to walk into an interior design store and buy new things for Alison two –  just like it is easier to open a can, dump it into a bowl and microwave it. But, that’s just not the way we do things.

 

The other day we went to an architectural salvage yard. The salvage yard was just overflowing in cool things – a real feast for the eyes. Chairs hanging from the ceiling, old bureaus, doorknobs, cigarette machines, European style coat racks, window frames, tin ceilings, tiles, light fixtures, antique tables and more. We spent hours sloshing through the mud, rooting around for hidden gems – like a pig searching for truffles.

 

My favorite find was a pair of mirrors that used to hang above the mantels in The Plaza Hotel. Imagine what they might have seen!

  

 

 

Then we stumbled across some cool iron garden doors from a big, old iron gate. We’ll need to strip and finish them, but they’ll be interesting for dividing the bar and private dining room from the main dining room. The iron gates will add lots of texture, interesting detail and, once we add curtains, sound absorbency. And we’re using a design element from the grates in the sconces and the foot rail around the bar that we’re having custom-made.

Some things we find — or have custom made — for the restaurant. Other things find me and just end up in the restaurant. I collect things along the way. My friends know that when you open up the gate to my backyard, the theme song from Sanford and Son comes on. Long before I even thought of opening a second restaurant, I was walking through the Marais district in Paris enjoying all the great little shops. They’re filled with unique items that aren’t mass produced. I found these two scrolls with a really interesting print on them. I didn’t have anywhere to put them, at that time, so they’ve stayed rolled up in the corner of my apartment. I finally found a home for them — they will flank the fireplace in the living room at Alison two. It is the perfect place for them.

I’d much rather find things I love and then find a place for them than have an empty space and have to look for things to love. The space will be newly renovated but it will be filled with things I’ve collected over the years in different parts of the world – giving it flavor and personality. Just like our food and wine.

I’m off sample some of the Yards beers we’re pairing with foods for our Beer Dinner next week and then I have to play around with a marshmallow recipe to see how it works with kosher gelatin, for the cooking class coming up in New York. Until next week…

    

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A Taste for Interior Decorating

I love to read cookbooks. I can read a recipe and taste it. I can put flavors, textures and tastes together in my head. I can taste things without actually tasting them.

I wish that ability translated into being able to visualize interior design. But, it doesn’t. I just can’t look at a 3” by 3” paint chip, square of carpeting and picture of a light and get a feel for how it will all come together.

 

Here’s the dilemma. At the hotel show in November, I found a chair that I love. It is awesome! I don’t feel that the chairs need to be unique – but they should be comfortable and have a sense of style. Plus, the fabric and stitching can be customized. So, we fell in love with a lush ultrasuede fabric. It is blue – not blueberry, not royal, not Duke blue (sorry, Blue Devil fans!), not too much red – a deep blue. We took it to the restaurant and looked at it in lunchtime light and dinnertime light. We spilled wine, chocolate and ketchup on it to make sure it was hearty. Perfect!

  

Then, we found out that this perfect fabric had to be custom made-great. In Japan-fine. Then shipped to China, where the chairs are made-okay. Then shipped to the U.S., which could take a while, even if things go well with customs – Ooops! That means there is a possibility they may not be here in time for the opening.

That was bad enough. Then we found out the price. It didn’t seem too bad by the square foot – until you multiplied it by 120 chairs. Whoa! The fabric for the chairs ends up costing more than the chairs. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one.

 

 Needed a moment to think about that. Are these chairs so important? Is this fabric the only option? How much would it cost to rent chairs while we wait for ours to arrive? To figure that out, I took that paint swatch to Loew’s and had them make a can of paint. I painted a wall in my apartment, laid down the carpet sample and the chair fabric and lived with it for a few days. Then, I tried a second, similar fabric that Lee McGillin found. That helped me decide whether to hold out for the chair fabric we originally chose OR to order something else.

I decided to go with the original fabric we chose. After badgering the companies, Lee found out that the lead-time is less than originally anticipated. It’s just a better fabric  – it has more give to it and is a better final product. I feel that I need to be as respectful of the design as I am to the food in the kitchen.

The fabric will be a world traveler – from Japan to China to Ft. Washington. A bit like me.

 

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