Arts and Central
A Backyard Restaurant
Size: +/-8,500 sf
Location: Sarasota, FL
Type: Renovation Build-Out
Contractor: Beyond Design Contracting
WINNER, Best New Restaurant
Bordering downtown Sarasota and adjacent to an urban courtyard, the existing building sits on a corner site with heavy pedestrian traffic. The restaurant, wrapped on two sides by covered decks and 10’-0” high overhead doors, ushers in the Florida environment, giving patrons year-round ‘al fresco’ dining, whether seated indoors or outside.
Placing the kitchen in the center of the space, the heart of the restaurant is functionally and visually grounded. The open kitchen connects the culinary experience to the dining experience with an ‘eating’ bar, giving diners firsthand enjoyment of watching food being cooked while bantering with the chefs behind the line.
The main restaurant area consists of a series of overlapping dining experiences, differentiated by seating types, ceiling levels, materials, acoustic treatments, and lighting conditions. When open, the overhead garage doors act as low ceilings, helping to define spaces below. An FSC certified hardwood floor throughout creates a warm and cozy atmosphere.
Lighting and acoustics are used as tools to fine tune the dining experience.
Centering the kitchen in the heart of the restaurant, the layers of dining spaces radiating out to the exterior deck create a multitude of memorable experiences for diners to converse over a meal, just like at home.
"...I wanted to tell you again how much people are raving about the look and feel of the restaurant. We stopped in for dinner after an art event and people were going on and on about it. You did a fantastic job on it."
- Dan Henson, Owner