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L.A. Leads the Pack at Restaurant Design Awards

By Zach Behrens
June 22, 2012
Restaurant Design Awards winners (from top left, clockwise): Take a Bao, Beachwood Cafe, A-Frame, and Le Zinque. | Photos: Courtesy AIA Los Angeles
Restaurant Design Awards winners (from top left, clockwise): Take a Bao, Beachwood Cafe, A-Frame, and Le Zinque. | Photos: Courtesy AIA Los Angeles

Los Angeles area restaurants again took top honors at the annual Restaurant Design Awards with eight of the 10 honors going local. Announced today at the Dwell on Design conference, cafes, bars, and restaurants were awarded by both the public in the People's Choice awards and by a jury that included KCRW's "Good Food" host Evan Kleiman and Bravo TV's "Top Chef" Season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio.

Here's how it played out:

Jury Award Winners
Lounge/Nightclub

  • La Descarga, Hollywood (Houston Hospitality)
  • Salvage Bar, downtown L.A. (Straight Designs and Tima Winter, Inc.)

Cafe/Bar

  • Le Zinque, Venice (Modern Arc Inc. and Eric Ryder, AIA)

Restaurant

  • A-Frame, Culver City (Knibb Design Corp)
  • Beachwood Cafe, Hollywood (Bestor Architecture)
  • La Birreria, New York City (TPG Architecture)
  • Talisker on Main, Park City, Utah (Denton House Design Studio)

People's Choice Award Winners
Lounge/Nightclub

  • Salvage Bar, downtown L.A. (Straight Designs and Tima Winter, Inc.)

Cafe/Bar

  • Le Zinque, Venice (Modern Arc Inc. and Eric Ryder, AIA)

Restaurant

  • Take a Bao, Studio City (MASS Architecture and Design)
Award winners La Descarga and Salvage Bar | Photos: Courtesy AIA Los Angeles
Award winners La Descarga and Salvage Bar | Photos: Courtesy AIA Los Angeles

The awards are open to any project in the country, or an international location designed by a U.S.-based firm, but the number of winning L.A. area restaurants year after year is no surprise, considering the local jury panel and local awarding organization, the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles chapter. Still, there were a number of outside restaurants that were nominated: Sushi Noguchi in Yorba Linda of Orange County, Napa Farms Market in San Francisco, Poppy in Seattle, and Clyde Frazier's Wine and Dine in New York City.

Local nominations that didn't make the cut were Maximiliano in Eagle Rock, Short Order in Fairfax Village, Harvard and Stone in Hollywood, and Hyde Lounge, also in Hollywood.