Hospitality Design - October 2016 - 76

perspectives

interview thomas keller and

adam d. tihany

4
3
there are some very strict limitations. We
wanted to create this cocoon-like restaurant.
It's a very comfortable, sexy area. No matter
where you sit, you're surrounded by sensuous
materials, by beautiful colors. On a boat, it's
rare you get that sense of intimacy.
TK: It looks like a Pullman car on a train.

using great art. People were cultured and
sophisticated, besides being rich. It's a lost
era. I took these three incentives, or nostalgic
signposts, and distilled it into the Grill on
Seabourn Quest.

What did you want the restaurant to
reflect?

AT: In the dining room, the biggest challenge
was the window wall. That was where the
fins came in. The whole window side has
these beautiful wooden fins you can adjust
according to the light streaming in. You don't
fee like you're in a closed room but you don't
feel like the food gets washed away by the
strong daylight. And you can regulate it. It's a
functional detail.
TK: They can be very nautical if you want them
to be [or] they can be a wooden wall. It depends
on how you feel about it.

TK: The Grill comes from a specific time in
our history. In America, that's the 1950s and
'60s, revolving not necessarily around any
national cuisine, or ethnic cuisine, but what's
called continental cuisine. We were the most
optimistic people at that time-we were
in celebration of ourselves. After the war,
restaurants became places of celebration, these
social gatherings. That's what this restaurant
needed to be.

How did you translate that into the
design?

AT: Thomas spoke eloquently about the spirit
and the ethos. Where I go is to research the
period-what was the language of these
public spaces? It's an interesting combination
between the British pub, the American
steakhouse, and corporate America. Corporate
America was building the most interesting
and thoughtful and sophisticated interiors,

076

October 2016 hospitalitydesign.com

Besides designing on a ship, what were
some of the other challenges?

Any other favorite elements?

TK: We built a carving station at the end of the
corridor. We bring out the roasted chicken, take
it back to the station, and a chef carves it. It's not
truly tableside service, but you feel like there's a
chef in the dining room with you, which was an
important part.
AT: We have a beautiful wine decanting station
with a great wine cabinet. It's very personal.
TK: There's a small wonderful bar in the front-

3. A rendering of the
larger Grill space on the
Encore ship, with its rose
gold wine tasting table
and a staircase fronting a
two-story backlit art wall.

4. The masculine dining
room of the Grill on the
Quest features curved
wood coffers, warm brown
and tan leather seating,
and a marble-topped wine
decanting station.

people can stand at the bar while they're waiting
and have a martini. It's this very romantic kind of
experience and something different from anything
else that's on the ship. [The restaurant] only seats
45 people and we only do 60 people a night, so
in reality, a guest who's on a seven-day cruise
can only eat there once. There's limited access to
it, which also creates this desire to be there and
really enjoy the moment.

The larger Encore ship's Grill design is
different from the rest of the fleet.

AT: It's a much bigger space. It was designed
as a larger restaurant. It has a large bar-lounge
and a very different kind of layout. But it has
similarities-the furniture, the carpet, the service
style. It's an expanded version.
TK: One of the important aspects of this restaurant
is music. We developed the playlist for the Grill on
the Quest, Sojourn, and Odyssey. At Encore [there's
a piano], so we'll have musicians who are in the
room, harking back to that period in American
history when you had those kinds of restaurants.
We wanted it to be as romantic and special as it is
on the smaller ships.
AT: A different special but special nevertheless. hd
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - October 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - October 2016
