Contract - August 2009 - (Page 84)

design burger boutique In a highly collaborative process with the chef and restaurateur, design firm ai3 creates the concept of the perfect burger joint in Atlanta By Danine Alati Photography by Lance Davies Photography How complex can a burger really be? A grilled beef patty between two buns with perhaps cheese and a few other fixings, and you have the perfect meal—as all-American as baseball, the Statue of Liberty, and apple pie. But how do you create a restaurant that reinvents the hamburger, offers a sense of nostalgia of burger joints of old, and celebrates “fine dining between two buns”—a phrase coined by chef Richard Blais, an Atlanta native who gained national acclaim last year as a finalist on the Bravo reality television show “Top Chef: Chicago”? When Blais, known as a culinary designer who takes innovative interpretations on classic cuisine, teamed up with restaurateur Barry Mills to create Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta, they sought a design team to help them conceptualize and develop the Flip brand in a modern burger-joint setting. Atlanta-based ai3 fit the bill, joining the process from the inception to help restaurant owner Mills and creative director Blais find a location and conduct visioning sessions to help articulate what the new restaurant would be. In a highly collaborative process, ai3 first designed the Flip logo—Mills had the name of the new burger restaurant before the location or interior design scheme—then came the graphics, branding, and motifs for the interiors. “From a design standpoint, I wanted this project to exude a modern Los Angeles/New York/London feel and for the clientele to walk in and have a ‘wow’ moment,” explains Mills. “I felt that we were reinventing the traditional burger menu so I wanted the design to complement that menu and be fun, creative, and modern. Also, a priority was that it be different than other restaurants in Atlanta. I needed fresh ideas and design aspects that were not already in town.” Mills was confident that ai3 was best for the job because the firm had only a few restaurants under its belt, and therefore wouldn’t create something where patrons would walk in and think that it’s a “typical ai3 space.” The menu and design scheme were developed in tandem so that one built upon the other. “Richard [Blais] is an artist who’s known for experimenting with food and flavor,” says Dave Heimbuch, a designer at ai3. “It became a fun experience, as the idea of the menu conceptualized the design work, and the space’s design helped inform the menu.” Amy Price, a designer at ai3, explains that the logo also drove the design of the interiors. “Barry [Mills] wanted it to be a light, bright, high-energy space and for it to always feel full. The palette is hip, modern, and very white with only a pop of red. We took the bright red from the logo, and translated it back into the space.” The ceiling soffit over the communal table plays on the flip theme, as do the mirror-image booths, which feature stark-white, leather-upholstered cushions of the banquette seat replicated and inverted on the ceiling of the booth. 84 contract august 2009 www.contractmagazine.com http://www.contractmagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - August 2009

Contract - August 2009
Contents
Editorial
Industry
Exhibition: Best of NeoCon® 2009
Up To The Challenge
Pinstripe Pride
Steak in the Grass
Natural Wonder
Showing Off
Graphic Inspiration
Burger Boutique
In Style
Designers Rate: Guest Seating
A Pivotal Shift: Leveraging for Advantage
Ad Index
Source Lists
Perspectives

Contract - August 2009