Hospitality Design Expo | Trends in Food & Beverage
Our Principal Owner + Designer, Dala Al-Fuwaires, was recently on a panel titled ‘Trends in Food & Beverage’ at the Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas. The panel spoke about creating a vibe that feels intangible, the importance of art in a space, and the future of technology like AI and social media in hospitality. We’d love to share our favorite moments from each topic with you!
THE LINE UP
Dala Al-Fuwaires, Owner + Principal Designer of House of Form
Daniel Scovill, Founding Principal of Arcsine
Angela Bankhead, Director of Brands for the Marcus Samuelsson Group
Hannah Collins, Founding Principal of ROY
Christian Schulz, Design Director & Partner of Studio Collective (Moderator)
USING ART TO COMPLEMENT THE CULINARY EXPERIENCE
Christian: One of the things I think a lot of designers embrace is having artwork involved in their projects as a way to bring in the local community where the project exists. I've seen one consistency in a lot of your work - there's beautiful design, but there's also collaboration that's happening.
Dala: We worked on the art package for the Senna House Hotel. The hotel was built on a site that used to be Don and Charlie's, a really loved local sports bar that housed sports memorabilia in Scottsdale, Arizona, which had been around for years. That could be really heartbreaking for the local community, right? You're taking away something that was special to them. We had to be aware, we couldn't dismiss that there was this history that existed. We felt it had to be honored in the hotel in some form. We reached out to local artists in the Phoenix community and asked them to recreate this sports memorabilia in different mediums. There were jerseys, there were baseballs - it was just such a beautiful new interpretation of these items. We created a full gallery wall, put them on display, and included a plaque that told the story of Don and Charlie’s and how we're honoring it today. I think that did a number of things: 1. It supported local artists during the pandemic. 2. It provides a wonderful background for the lobby. 3. It’s also a really good storytelling opportunity. This is a tool that the staff at the hotel can use to give some background on the site and the importance of where it stands today.
Angela: One of the key things Dala said is that we've always partnered with the local community. Our latest project in Atlanta was great because I collaborated with the local organization called ComfiArt. Their institution supports artists, and a lot of times artists don't have the best representation unless they’re represented by a major gallery. It was nice to have somebody who was an advocate for artists. We were able to pick from their selection of work. We had 6-7 artists that were able to display their work in the restaurant, which definitely gave a platform for artists who were emerging or up-and-coming in their careers. It was really exciting to be able to support local artists and give them an opportunity.
Daniel: I think we have a number of great opportunities where the artist that comes in is actually a collaborator from the beginning. They’re often somebody brought in by the chef or owner. It creates an exciting, dynamic energy right from the beginning - having a design process that's open to that is important.
DESIGNING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA IN MIND
Christian: Social media is less about creating something to stick on the wall, to create attention, and more about creating a collaboration that yields something more interesting for the space. And then the best case scenario is that it actually becomes something that people in the space have pride in and they talk about. It almost becomes an ambassador for the space, it goes beyond just decorative art hanging. Let's face it. The artists are usually the coolest people in the room. So you want them in your restaurant with their friends hanging out.
Daniel: Oftentimes it is through the art of showcasing a piece of art and then capturing it and talking about how it's informed the space that comes through. It then becomes advertising for them because people want to be in the space. Everybody's at that moment of finding the new spot that they want to go to by either Tiktok or Instagram. Watching chefs say, ‘We're hosting this benefit event, and here's the new food that's been inspired by this piece of artwork’. Now it will be served up in this artistic way and music is being brought in - that’s now a social media experience. We're constantly iterating and iterating and thinking about it. I think the inspiration that comes from the chefs and putting it out in the world with social media moments is exciting.
USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN INTERIOR DESIGN
Daniel: It's permeating into our conversations and design. AI is helping you either write a concept narrative or it's helping you get imagery quickly for a rushed presentation because we don't have the time to do it properly.
Dala: We use Chat GPT for operational things, not design things, but there was a buzz around it in the office. A lot of the designers were worried that it would start to affect their work, like 3D renders. We did a test in some AI program that takes the rendering and creates a photo-realistic one and we were not impressed with what it had put out. I know it's probably evolving and it may affect us in the future. But at the current moment, we're saying “no” to it from a design perspective but not from an operational one.
Hannah: I think it's just about leverage, right? Staying on top of it and using tools. I'm pretty scared of it - I'm not gonna lie. But I think we have no choice but to use it. And so it's about kind of finding a way to leverage it - use it in a way that you feel like is an asset to your work and basically does the things you don't want to do. It's all a balance.
Angela: I was going through something where we were trying to figure out how to verify different businesses. It did some of the heavy lifting so I didn't have to go through thousands. So I think there are moments to use it. Coming from design tech school, we talked about AI all the time and just the change it will have on a social aspect. It’s on you to decide – how do I want to use these tools? But coming from the front side of hospitality – we do have the chat boxes to respond to guests. We're more on the old-school, personable side where we want a human to respond to somebody. It definitely enhances the guest experience.
CREATING AN INTANGIBLE VIBE IN YOUR RESTAURANT
Christian: I think one thing that is really important to talk about is the intangible part of a restaurant or a bar that makes it successful. That intangible part or what we call a vibe or creating a soulful experience. The design in my mind always is a compliment, but the service and the food really need to be excellent, but a lot of people can’t get that recipe. So what makes the places that we all know and love have a vibe that just make them a place you want to come back to over and over throughout the years? Maybe it's a place that you've been going to for years. Maybe it's a place that you just discovered. What's one place that has this kind of intangibility of a vibe that is beyond trend that has made this place successful in your mind?
I've been in New York for a long time and I've been in LA for about half my life. I'd say there's beautiful places that have inspired me and got me excited. There's a new place that just opened called La Dolce Vita - it's been there since the fifties and the owners are dear friends of ours that have redone it themselves. They did a quick rebranding of it and it just has the intangible. The food is great. The service is exceptional. And I urge you all to go to the La Dolce Vita in Beverly Hills and have a great experience.
Daniel: There is a place in Oakland called Duende, it's actually a project of ours and it is both trend and stands the time. It is continually reinventing itself. And even though we designed it, we marvel at how they interpret and evolve the space. It's just always exciting to go there and see something new, and obviously, what's happening in the kitchen. But the other one that we weren’t involved in and doesn't change and it's that constant comfortable place is Suppenküche over in Haze Valley in San Francisco, a little German kitchen/beer hall. It just has that right warmth and that coziness - it's the place that feels fresh even though it's been around for years.
Hannah: There’s a new natural wine bar in San Francisco called Bodega. And it's pretty effortless design. I just couldn't believe the vibe. Natural wine bars are the place where vibe is at these days. I feel like Ordinaire in Oakland is another one that always has a really good vibe. And I think it's the people who are there more than anything.
Dala: [Arca in Tulum is this intimate outdoor space that just has the best vibe. I love how the energy changed from dinner to post-dinner drinks and it was essentially through music. Restaurant Progress in Phoenix is another one. The restaurant is small and intimate. The proximity to the bartender and chef regardless of where you're seated in the restaurant makes it feel so home-like.] I would have to say music is a big deal - if you're eating a meal and a bad song comes on, you realize it. But when a good song is playing, you don't really know it because it's part of the flow of the experience.
Angela: I'm all about the Cheers vibe - where everybody knows your name. There's one in Texas, Canjea it's by Tavel Bristol-Joseph. It's one of those places where it feels like home. And I can still remember the food. I remember the taste of being in a nook where he's walking you through his space - noticing design elements too. But it felt like you're in his aunt's home because you’re in a space where it can transform you. And then Compère Lapin in New Orleans by Nina Compton, which I went back to the next day. I love Nina anyway, but I was sitting with her, we were eating and I was just blown away. Just something that takes your breath away.
