Hospitality Industry Rocks Design

​Travel and food.  What’s not to love?  Well, flight delays and cancellations caused by the -7 degree F weather like what we are having here in Boston this week (as my weather station attests to at 8:00 AM on this bitter January morning - really, the guy on the weather station needs a scarf too!) are indeed no picnic. 

​But, travel complications aside, when you finally arrive to your destination, say a boutique hotel with scores of trendy restaurants nearby, the landscape can become a designer’s inspiration heaven. Case in point:  the Cultivar Restaurant at the Ames Hotel in Boston (1 Court Street).

A couple of months ago, I visited Cultivar with my friend Deborah Norkin, who is the Editorial Director of Sante Magazine, a magazine for professionals in the restaurant industry.
          http://www.isantemagazine.com/

You can read the latest issue of the magazine here:
              http://sante.isantemagazine.com/santemagazine/november_december/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=1&folio=1#pg1
 
Deborah is acquainted with Cultivar’s Chef Owner Mary Dumont through their mutual connection to Harvard Square’s Harvest Restaurant, where Mary Dumont was the Executive Chef prior to opening Cultivar and Deborah had been on staff in years past. Since Deborah was doing a piece on the food, concept, and décor of Cultivar I went along.  What a fun treat for a designer!  

You can read Deborah’s feature article here: 
        http://sante.isantemagazine.com/santemagazine/november_december/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=1&folio=13#pg13

​Below are some photos I took of the fabulous, fresh and polished décor of Cultivar, done by designer Glen Coben of Glen & Co, a NY-based firm that specializes in hospitality and commercial design.  As a farm-to-table restaurant, the décor is filled with references to nature, from the leaf motifs etched into the glass, branch-inspired chandeliers, use of natural stone materials everywhere, and the live edge wood bartop. Since we were there before opening, it was nice to have the run of the place to take photos without disrupting any diners.
 
I love all the details! The buttons on the banquettes are replicas of Revolutionary war soldier buttons, and of course the diamond button tufting is one of my favorite designs.  So cool, and after all, since this is opposite the Old State House in downtown Boston, the fight for freedom from tyranny in the 1770’s and beyond is NEVER going out of style in Boston…

​Did you notice they have employed pillows into the banquette design too?  The navy/orange/gray color scheme is a nice fresh complement to the live botanical elements. Yes, that tree in the planter above is on the inside of the restaurant. 
 
Here’s a photo of the bar, and I want to point out a very clever design for today’s digitally connected consumer. Do you notice the electrical outlets on the underside of the bartop, perfect for recharging your devices? And the individual hooks for ladies’ purses, thank you designer Glen Coben!! Because really, if you’re seated at the bar, you surely need a place to stash your purse.  The live edge bartop is very cool, I wonder just how old that tree was!

​And here is the clever way they have boxed in a metal structural beam with glass etched with the beech leaf motif.  The high tables have the base structure made from pipe, and wood abounds.  

​Also very clever are the details in the lobby of the Ames Hotel, where Cultivar’s entrance sits on the east side.  Do you notice how the books on the shelves are covered in paper depicting iconic Boston scenes?  If you have a display bookcase in your own home and want to personalize it with a favorite photo or vacation shot, this is just the ticket.   You can get photographs blown up and printed on canvas or heavy paper from all sorts of retail and on-line stores nowadays, and then just carefully cover the books in the right places to depict the scene on the spine.  I’m always looking for ways to use my travel photographs in décor, and I love this cool idea.

For more information and beautiful photos of Cultivar and the Ames Hotel, see:
                              http://cultivarboston.com/        and        http://www.ameshotel.com/photo-gallery/
 
That’s all for this Sunday morning.  Stay warm and dream of sunny and warmer days ahead in 2018, as well as divine inspiration for your own life and interiors!