Spiaggia Limone Restaurant

Photo Courtesy: Kaeli Wiltbank Photographyin Sicily.

For this post I'll be talking about my last project of last semester. We were able to design a restaurant and our group decided to do Italian cuisine! (Because why not?) So I asked my fabulous roomie Kaeli (because she served her mission in Rome, Italy) what I should do and gosh, she gushed for hours. It was so perfect. Apparently Sicily is the best Italian cuisine. Also, they have the coolest design elements in their country. For example, they love citrus and the sun. They have checkered flooring in the main plazas. Clay adobe wall decor, old men (Kaeli's favorite), colorful/bright colors, ancient Greek architecture, and potted trees among many things.

The above picture was taken by Kaeli on her mission in Mondello, Sicily. We used the exterior of that building for our exterior on Spiaggia Limone. You'll see it later in the post.

So we had plenty of options! Since Sicily ties in citrus and is an island scene, we decided to call our restaurant Spiaggia Limone (spee-ahja lee-money), translated "lemon beach." We wanted to tie those two aspects in and it just sounds really cool. haha. Plus it's kinda catchy... try saying spiaggia limone five times fast.

The main theme of this project was sustainable design, meaning finding second hand kitchen machinery, locating local farmers markets, local upholsters, etc. On top of all that we had our restaurant located in Washington D.C. So that could get a tad tricky! Wanting to have a restaurant super classy and upscale, yet using sustainable materials at the same time. We found this great website that makes recycled materials called Knoll. They have a great section for green design.

Here's the bubble diagram:

A bubble diagram is a helpful way to figure out space planning in the floor plan. It's a very, very rough draft. For this setup, we wanted it to feel like a classy restaurant and make sure everything flowed well into each space. We liked the idea of having a really elaborate bar and lounge area. Also we took the idea from a local classy restaurant here in downtown Salt Lake (Finca) where they have booth seating and it's up a step. That's our VIP seating area. We actually switched the bar seating to be on the west side of the kitchen. Once we went into it and started dimensioning everything out, it had to be switched over there. Same with the restroom and general seating area.

Here is our finished floor plan. We came up with 420' sq. ft. in the kitchen. They say that for every 5 sq. ft. in the kitchen = 1 guest. So that means we would have room for around 80ish guests (84 to be exact). For part of this project we were assigned to interview an actual owner of a restaurant and so we met up with this awesome guy who owns a pizza shop down on 4th south. He was telling us that the sq ft rule doesn't always apply. So who knows! haha. Maybe that's just a silly ID rule...maybe.

Here is our booth "VIP" seating elevation done by my fabulous group member Cynthia. (Ya'll can follow her on Insta if you so please.) We selected narrow round linen shade pendants from Restoration Hardware to hang over each table. These exact booth seating are up against ceiling to floor windows. We wanted to keep the windows there for aesthetic reasons. I love being able to look into a restaurant and see what people are eating. I don't know about you but it entices me to go in and buy. So we incorporated that here. The seating is black and sleek. We used a local upholster to keep to the sustainability.

Here are our fabulous restrooms! The pluming and faucets are gold and the back splash is blue. The counter top is my favorite feature because we selected onyx which is seriously so cool. It lights up too! I would want to wash my hands all the time...

OK. My girl Cressa did this. LETS JUST WORSHIP HER. Basically the best thing EVER. So we used the lit up onyx counter top here as well. It's real trendy in bars. The bar stools are attached to the wall. We selected a white hexagon shell tile to be under the bar. The sun on the upper left is very traditional for Sicily, so naturally we had to incorporate it in there!

Here is my exterior elevation! I incorporated the white brick from the first picture. Plus I just had to put some vines up on that. I mean c'mon! And then their doors are very famous for being intricate and ornate. And of course some alcoves of flowers had to be placed there.

Here are the renderings of the floor plan and exterior elevation. The door picture is what inspired me for the door.

This board shows the basics. The wall is the light cream color, and we went with dark trim. You can see an example of the layout of the flooring on the floor plan in the picture above. It's not exactly checkered, but it's on a diagonal. Kinda cool! For the front entry we selected bench seating right next to the front doors for guests. The shell chandelier will hang right in the front entry also. We used the lit up onyx again for the hostess stand. And then the circular lounge seating is by the bar. We wanted it be feel upscale and classy. I would just love to run and jump in that thing. haha

This board shows the samples for the bar, restroom, and kitchen flooring. Here's a rendered elevation of the fabulous bar. Freaking awesome. There's a picture above that showing what the lit up bar counter top will look like. And then the restroom back splash with white marble flooring.

And the very last, but not least!, board shows the dining seating. There's a rendered elevation of the booth seating. We selected bamboo tables to keep with the sustainability of the project. We will cover them with the white/cream tablecloth sample shown here. Then the booths will be covered in the brown upholstery textile from Knoll. And the chairs are the black bertrix leather chair from Curations Limited. A great site for statement pieces. There's a picture of Italian cuisine just to portray what we would be serving. And to finish it off, the pendant lights that hang over the tables.

The last part of this project was to make a Specification Binder that included every piece and item from this project. The sheet would include the material number, price, dimensions, instructions for installs, color, name, etc. Here's an example: