The pick of this year’s entries for the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, as selected by Time Out Chicago:
Randolph Street in the West Loop (downtown Chicago’s grand old business district) is once again the epicenter of chef-driven dining in Chicago, but no newcomer on this Restaurant Row is as visually striking as this progressive Vietnamese restaurant from Elysian hotel alums Thai Dang and Attila Gyulai.
Designed by 555 International’s Karen Herold, the 7,000-square-foot space integrates a range of textures and materials, from a carved teak panel hand-cut in Bali at the entrance to an ornate back bar fashioned out of an antique cabinet. The Asian-influenced design is so transporting you might forget you’re on Randolph Street altogether.
Julia Kramer, Food editor, Time Out Chicago
Embeya. 564 W Randolph St, Chicago, USA. +312 612 5640. www.embeya.com.
Julia Kramer, Food editor at Time Out Chicago, on avec:
This nationally acclaimed Mediterranean small-plates spot doesn't take reservations and is loud as hell. But it remains the must-eat spot for foodies in the know. It's hard to believe avec has been around for almost ten years: its communal seating and wood-panelled interior feel as fresh and contemporary as ever.
If there are features of Thomas Schlesser's design that look familiar - such as the 18-seat bar spanning the length of the narrow, 1,500-square-foot room - that's because over the past decade, so many other restaurants have tried to copy it.
avec. 615 W Randolph St, Chicago, USA. +312 377 2002. www.avecrestaurant.com.