How To Heat Up F&B: Q&A with Jennifer Johanson

by Mary Scoviak, Contributing Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 9/1/2007

Jennifer Johanson Principal of Engstrom Design Group

Jennifer Johanson, principal of Engstrom Design Group (EDG), San Rafael, California, dishes up the latest idea on what put the "hot" in hotel bar and restaurant design.

HOTELS:You talk a lot about introducing visibility and excitement into hotel restaurant design. How are you doing that in terms of layout, space planning and design?
Johanson: We design the room like a restaurant. That sounds obvious, but most hotel restaurants of the past have been designed to be elegant private rooms. The lighting looked like banquet room lighting, and they usually had no bar or other focus in the room. Seating was designed for maximum flexibility to accommodate private parties.

We develop zoning in the room, using multiple seating areas that create the illusion of smaller areas of containment if there is light traffic. We carve up the spaces with service stations and screens instead of walls. We develop small private rooms to provide the operator with added flexibility. They can be used for private dining or closed off to make a smaller space if there is seasonal or light traffic. We focus a lot of energy on developing interesting lighting solutions that can help the place translate from day to night successfully.

HOTELS: What got you started in hotel restaurant design?
Johanson: One of our very early projects was the renovation of a private room at Postrio in San Francisco. It was a small project—a little gem in the Prescott Hotel—and we were collaborating with Wolfgang Puck as the restaurateur. Pat Kuleto had designed and built Postrio. We collaborated with (the glass artist) Dale Chihuly on the private room. It was a great experience, and the room has done great business for the operators. The project is a successful, early example of an independent restaurant associated with a hotel.

When Wolfgang called us about an opportunity to design his new restaurant Spago at the Four Seasons Maui, we were thrilled. At that time Four Seasons had a very brand-standard approach to hotel restaurant design which dictated a neutral palette and dining room style. That didn't resonate with Wolfgang's personality and energy. We had some convincing to do! We developed a vibrant glowing interior featuring large scale photo images of sea anemones in the ceiling coffers and focal walls, and we opened the restaurant to the views with a new patio. It was (and still is) a big hit with the guests and with locals and visitors alike. The success of Spago Maui led to further collaborations with Wolfgang Puck and with Four Seasons and started our journey into a new realm of hotel restaurant design.

HOTELS:What are the biggest changes impacting the projects you have on the drawing boards now? How much has that been inspired by fashion, how much by guests' preferences and changes in their lifestyles and how much by operational requirements or owners' needs?
Johanson: While fashion is always an inspiration, restaurant design requires a degree of timelessness if it’s going to last. Guest preferences and lifestyle trends are important but they aren’t uniform unless you are after a sliver-demographic. Operational requirements are always the ultimate inspiration for us, because, for hospitality to work, you need great service. We consistently prioritize how to make service appropriate to the food concept and seamless for the customer. I would have to say that the new wave sweeping the entire design realm is authentic, sustainable design. It’s a global change that is impacting our design process as well as the processes of the restaurateur, the chef and the hotel owner.

HOTELS:What differentiates your restaurants from the typical hotel restaurant or dining room? What comments have you gotten from owners, developers and chefs?
Johanson: What we are doing is inspiring our hotel clients to think creatively about how to activate these rooms with movement, whether it be through culinary activity or service. A beautifully designed room with lots of eye candy is actually not stimulating. People like to see people moving. That’s what creates excitement. We come up with solutions for the hotel restaurant that keep as many of the employees on the floor as possible, rather than hiding them away in kitchens or service bars or hidden stations, which is the old hotel format.

We always recommend a bar in the room even if it is a three-meal restaurant. This is a big differentiator between a hotel dining room and a restaurant. The bar can be a platform that translates to another use in the morning if they think creatively from an operational point of view. The service stations and side boards should be out on the floor, not hidden away. If we can get an open kitchen or a view to the kitchen or an open pantry, we will recommend that too.

Our projects make the operator money instead of being a loss leader. We designed an exciting new three-meal restaurant that opened last weekend in Austin, Texas, and the general manager of the hotel sent me a message saying that one guest thought it was “an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.” Equally important, they sold more wine that evening than they had in the previous six months.

HOTELS:Which hotel companies or brands are leading the way in design terms and why?
Johanson: Design styles vary depending on the brand. The leaders are those that recognize where the equity of their brand lies and how they can leverage this to best effect with design. I think that the smaller boutique brands like Kimpton and Morgans have had more opportunities to get this right, and this applies to their restaurants. They have inspired the luxury brands to take a look at how they are facing this issue. We are seeing a lot of movement in all of the leading hotel companies and ownership groups we work with toward a recognition of design as a strategic differentiator--particularly with restaurants.

HOTELS:What do’s and don’ts would you recommend for operators thinking about new hotel restaurant design or renovations?
Johanson: Don't think like an hotelier; think like a restaurateur. If you don’t have the ability to do that, hire someone to do it for you.

HOTELS:How have the needs of family travelers impacted your designs? How are the brands viewing bars? Do they need to accommodate families?
Johanson: Families are customers, and different properties have varying demographics. We strive for balance so that a family-oriented property is able to not only accommodate families but exceed their expectations. We work with the hotel management team and the food and beverage team, as well as the restaurant operator (if it’s an independent), to create a flexible design solution that will work for different meal periods and different seasons.

When we design bars in hotel settings we really need to understand the demographic. Often there are breakfast offerings like espresso and fresh pastry displays that can enliven a bar for morning service. The bar has evolved as a great food platform for evening too. We’ve incorporated raw bars, charcuterie and sushi in many of our projects to add shoulders to the traditional meal times, and, if there's one thing that families want, it seems to be flexibility and choice.

HOTELS:How do you handle foodservice in wall-less spaces such as the lobby?
Johanson: In our work we rely a lot on service elements to define space and create appropriate zoning. Bars, kiosks, a free-standing pantry and innovative food platforms are not only critical to providing great service, they add excitement and action to a space. The notion that service should be hidden leads to an unintended consequence that service is invisible. We put it on show.

HOTELS: What are the trends in private dining?
Johanson: We design private dining spaces as an important part of the restaurant experience—a place to see and be seen. With private dining being a growing revenue opportunity, our clients are eager to showcase just how great their room or rooms are, and a cloistered space with a board-room table doesn’t cut it. We are designing private rooms as free-standing cabanas, wine-rooms and figurative chef’s tables with a high degree of transparency though glass walls and sheers. They sell themselves.

HOTELS: How is uniform design changing?
Johanson: This is a great area of innovation for our restaurant clients and an area that many hotel restaurants are just beginning to tackle. As hotel restaurants evolve their look and feel to be more distinct, they are faced with the last hold-out: The uniformed employee with a hotel name-tag. Restaurant hospitality develops at the table in a personal manner, and it’s an opportunity to make a connection. We find that hosts, waiters and managers want to feel like they’re out for the evening too, that they are part of this distinct experience and looking good. Uniform trends vary by region and service level, but the gold brocade vest and captain's blazer are out. A recent hotel restaurant we worked on has dispensed with name-tags and the staff is wearing brighter colors which tie in with the design of the space.