Do you believe in restaurant reincarnation? Interior designer Andee Hess makes her case with a fresh spin on a beloved classic.
Photographed by Jeremy Bittermann
The waiting area in the entryway of Q Restaurant in Portland.
For 45 years, hungry Portlanders flocked to Veritable Quandry, a seasonal Northwest restaurant in a downtown brick building known for its cozy solarium and outdoor patio. When the beloved eatery announced in January 2016 that it would close at the end of the year to make way for a new courthouse, two regulars hatched an idea to keep the spirit of the place alive. They bankrolled a new restaurant, Q, four blocks away from the original, keeping much of the same menu and team—chef, waitstaff, general manager—intact. For the interior, the new owners sought a fresh look, but one that was inspired by the old space.
“Q’s design is a balance of old establishment and new sensibility. Our design challenge was to explore how close we could get to classic while infusing that base with fresh blood and vibrancy.” —Andee Hess, interior designer
The Art Deco-inspired bar area with a terrazzo floor and a coffered rosewood ceiling. Osmose Design dropped the ceiling above the bar counter and wrapped it in bronze-toned mirror, a trick deployed to give the illusion of more height in the rest of the room.
“We wanted to capture Veritable Quandary’s intimate feeling but also stand out as a new restaurant, not just a continuation of what was,” says Andee Hess, founder of Osmose Design, who was charged with turning the empty corner unit into a welcoming bar and eatery—one with visual punch but no trendy gimmicks. Richly hued wood and minimal lighting in the bar area offer a subtle paean to Veritable Quandary’s dark mahogany bar, while the lighter color palette in the compact dining room recalls VQ’s solarium. Even the new embellishments come from old inspirations. “Some detailing on the wood-clad columns in the bar area is a riff on an antique Deco cabinet I saw years ago,” says Hess. “I like to take historic or vintage details and twist them a bit to make them new.”
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Columns around the perimeter of the bar are embellished with white oak trim and custom stained-glass sconces from LightLite. The dining room features two custom chandeliers by Hilliard Lamps composed of 2,000 individually hand-cut pieces of stained glass. Room-bisecting back-to-back banquettes maximizes space. Above the open kitchen, backlit onyx glows in a grid pattern. In the bathroom, the geometric lines of a custom cherry-framed mirror complement the tone and shape of the Rosso Verona marble-tiled wall.
Dark, curve-backed chairs are another hint at the restaurant’s former incarnation—they’re practical and subtle but also a visual cue to longtime customers. “Certain stylized elements have a nostalgic feel, but you can’t quite put a label on them,” Hess notes. “This abstraction leads to an environment that is comfortable and inviting while still evocative and full of energy.”
DESIGN TEAM
interiors: Osmose Design
architecture: R&H Construction
construction: Hennebery Eddy Architects
millwork: Uncommon Cabinetry
Comentarios