JUST LIKE HOME
ELENA RESTAURANT AND PONY LINE BAR
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL BUENOS AIRES
KITCHEN DESIGNED BY EDG INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN , SAN RAFAEL , CALIFORNIA , AND INGENIERIA GASTRONOMICA , BOGOTA , COLOMBIA
When Elena Restaurant and Pony Line Bar opened at Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires last November , the idea was to give guests the feeling of an Argentinian home , right down to walking through the kitchen . In addition to a central kitchen that is very open and adjacent to the dining area , designers fashioned a blackand-white herringbone-patterned path that leads guests through the back of the house , past the cold kitchen and hot line , before they arrive in the dining room .
The 1,450-sq-ft ( 135-sq-m ) kitchen includes features inspired by Argentinian cuisine , such as a full-height rotisserie and a charcuterie area with a wall of antique gaucho knives and refrigerated space for meat aging . Because the kitchen handles three meals for two outlets as well as room service , its components also must function differently throughout the day , explains Patrick O ’ Hare , vice president of business development and partner at EDG Interior Architecture + Design . For example , the charcuterie space is a self-service area during breakfast but becomes an active station for sliced meats during lunch and dinner .
“ The flexibility and efficiency of this unified open kitchen stands in contrast to more typical back-of-house / finishing kitchen approaches , which require more staff and more footsteps ,” O ’ Hare says . “ Accommodating in-room dining and brunch with an action buffet approach also improves performance relative to investment .”
At Elena Restaurant and Pony Line Bar , a black-and-white herringbonepatterned path leads guests through the back of the house , past the cold kitchen and hot line , before they arrive in the dining room .
Occupying a former mezzanine space , the new OneUP Restaurant at Grand Hyatt San Francisco sports a display kitchen that serves three meals out of just 650 sq ft ( 60 sq m ).
SPACE SAVER
ONEUP RESTAURANT
GRAND HYATT SAN FRANCISCO
KITCHEN DESIGNED BY MARK STECH-NOVAK RESTAURANT CONSULTATION & DESIGN , OAKLAND , CALIFORNIA
The broad trend of hotels using every bit of space available is illustrated perfectly by OneUP Restaurant at Grand Hyatt San Francisco , which debuted last November as a three-meal outlet in the least likely of spaces . “ This was a poorly utilized mezzanine space that really had very little functional use other than being a means of getting to and from other spaces ,” says Mark Stech-Novak , who designed OneUP ’ s kitchen , of the restaurant space . “ The
kitchen itself was a double-wide stairwell .” The kitchen is a display kitchen with attractive features such as three prominent pizza ovens and stone counters in addition to eco-friendly elements such as chilled and sparkling water dispensers to eliminate the need for bottles .
Top of mind for Stech-Novak , however , were concerns about space , as the kitchen covers only 650 sq ft ( 60 sq m ). He describes the restaurant space as “ a giant H , with the kitchen in one end and the bar across the middle of the opposite leg .” It was an area that presented a challenging ventilation situation , which Stech- Novak overcame with variable-speed fans that ramp up and down depending on the amount of hot cooking taking place .
The small space inspired plenty of creative solutions . “ The unique feature of the serving line is that it is also a buffet in the morning ,” Stech-Novak notes . “ We had to hide induction heating elements under the stone top and build a pass for the a la carte service that would also comply as a sneeze guard .”
48 HOTELS April 2013 www . hotelsmag . com