A TWENTY-SEAT FARM-TO-TABLE TASTING MENU DESTINATION
photography by Sean Henderson
“With the long-awaited arrival of Feld, the counter format
—as Chicagoans have come to know it—
Reaches its apotheosis.”
-Grimod, Understanding Feld
FRESH INGREDIENTS,
FRESH VISION
Re-envisioning the counter format, VARIANT took queues from theatrical traditions, moving the seating to the outer edge of the space. Moving from entry to dining room, the team further infused performance and spectacle through both ambient and focused lighting.
Inspired by the simplified raw ingredients of Chef Potashnick’s dishes, as well as his culinary background, the design team pared back elements throughout the space, emphasizing a neutral palette and natural materials.
Clean, simple lines and organic warmth harnessed from the Japanese and Scandinavian styles were merged with traditional elements of the Chicago School movement to create a layered and luxurious revelation of the Chicago ‘long-shot’ dining space.
“These 20 seats, spread across banquettes, effectively adapt the idea’s structure: guests no longer saddle up to a bar that overlooks the kitchen —
instead, the kitchen unveils itself & comes to them.”
-Grimod, Understanding Feld
RENDERING
REALITY
“You walk through the foyer past a display of the day’s ingredients. Beyond lies the dining room, where the 18 to 20 guests occupy tables hugging the walls so they all face a central plating area and one another.
(This makes a fun game of guessing their stories.)
The kitchen lies at the far end, where an open hearth blazes.
-John Kessler, Chicago Magazine
RENDERING
REALITY
RENDERING
REALITY
“This interpretation of the counter format expands the restaurant’s operating capacity beyond what any single stretch of surface could house. It provides an extra degree of guest comfort—of privacy (always perilous when squeezing in next to self-professed “foodies”)—that makes up for a slight reduction in closeness with an added dose of luxury. It builds a feeling (at least it intends to) that lands somewhere between the careful focus on the chef’s motions that characterizes an omakase and the pervading energy that charges the rooms of Chicago’s two- and three-Michelin-star properties. ”