Designing a restaurant guests remember

When I review a restaurant plan I look at the guest first. What will they feel when they arrive, where do they pause, what do they see next. A restaurant is lived in order, from the door to the table, and every step either helps the idea of the place or gets in its way.

Then I look for focal points. People do not remember a whole room. They remember a wall, a bar, a light. I decide those moments on purpose and give them room, so the restaurant has something to be remembered by.

The mistake I see most often is a space that does not agree with itself. The menu says one thing, the materials another and the service a third. The brand and the full experience have to point the same way. When they do, the room feels right even if the guest cannot say why.