Knoll invites all local Architects and Designers, familiar with the Knoll product line to come and join them in the celebration and release of "Generation"
RSVP: rsvpdc@knoll.com
Monday, July 06, 2009
Saturday, July 04, 2009
July Restaurant Spotlight: Kitchen 2404
I went over to Kitchen 2404 on Tuesday night and had a blast. It has great design features, and a great staff.
Here are some of the details:
Kitchen is a two-story restaurant in Glover Park serving Southern comfort foods and Southern themed drinks. It is owned by Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld and Fritz Brogan, the same owners behind Gin and Tonic. I had the pleasure of meeting Fritz on Tuesday! The design was lead by Washington DC Architect and Designer Christy Schlesinger.
My Visit: When you come up Wisconsin to Kitchen you know immediately you are in for a good time. The front windows are all open so you can see into the front bar. You get a taste for whats to come with the reclaimed wood on the front facade and if you listen closely you may even hear old blues style (or even country, at the right time) music playing inside. The last thing you need to do is catch a glimpse of the wrought iron, tractor seat style, bar stools and you hooked. The lighting is dim and intriguing, and you're ready to go inside.
When you enter, you may be greeted by Dave, the bartender, who I had the pleasure of meeting. Dave isn't just a great bartender, but this guy actually figured out a way to "widdle", and I use that word loosely because what we are talking about is a plastic straw. But Dave "widdled" a flute out of a plastic straw, and it ACTUALLY works, and doesn't sound half bad!
But I digress, when you enter you may be greeted by Dave, the bartender. But you will also be greeted with the instant feeling of being of a small town restaurant. The ambiance is priceless. The dramatic high ceilings of the front bar compliment your glimpse of the dining room just beyond with its low ceilings and reclaimed wood feature.
The tractor seat style bar stools beg to be sat in. So, if you're like me, you may choose to start there. Taking a seat at the bar, and hanging your purse up on the hook (yes, ladies this is a good restaurant, they have hangers for our purses!!! yey!). You place your elbows up on the cool to the touch, distressed metal bar top, and ask Dave "whats good?" Well there Happy Hour is GREAT, so I go with that. As I sip my wine, I begin to take in all that Kitchen has to offer.
Just above my head is a back lit wood ceiling feature that wraps the full ceiling and then dies down into the back bar. I am intrigued by the material contrast in this and the reclaimed barn wood feature that wraps down into the dining room. The brick walls are a painted beige and it creates the perfect background for the exposed silver duct work and art work, which is antique farm equipment.
My Visit: When you come up Wisconsin to Kitchen you know immediately you are in for a good time. The front windows are all open so you can see into the front bar. You get a taste for whats to come with the reclaimed wood on the front facade and if you listen closely you may even hear old blues style (or even country, at the right time) music playing inside. The last thing you need to do is catch a glimpse of the wrought iron, tractor seat style, bar stools and you hooked. The lighting is dim and intriguing, and you're ready to go inside.
When you enter, you may be greeted by Dave, the bartender, who I had the pleasure of meeting. Dave isn't just a great bartender, but this guy actually figured out a way to "widdle", and I use that word loosely because what we are talking about is a plastic straw. But Dave "widdled" a flute out of a plastic straw, and it ACTUALLY works, and doesn't sound half bad!
But I digress, when you enter you may be greeted by Dave, the bartender. But you will also be greeted with the instant feeling of being of a small town restaurant. The ambiance is priceless. The dramatic high ceilings of the front bar compliment your glimpse of the dining room just beyond with its low ceilings and reclaimed wood feature.
The tractor seat style bar stools beg to be sat in. So, if you're like me, you may choose to start there. Taking a seat at the bar, and hanging your purse up on the hook (yes, ladies this is a good restaurant, they have hangers for our purses!!! yey!). You place your elbows up on the cool to the touch, distressed metal bar top, and ask Dave "whats good?" Well there Happy Hour is GREAT, so I go with that. As I sip my wine, I begin to take in all that Kitchen has to offer.
Just above my head is a back lit wood ceiling feature that wraps the full ceiling and then dies down into the back bar. I am intrigued by the material contrast in this and the reclaimed barn wood feature that wraps down into the dining room. The brick walls are a painted beige and it creates the perfect background for the exposed silver duct work and art work, which is antique farm equipment.
I ask Dave to watch my seat and sneak back into the dining room to catch a look. While the bar area lends itself to a more social feeling, the dining area in very intimate and quiet. I see many couples and groups of friends enjoying a bite to eat. The perimeter of the dining room is wrapped in banquette seating. The banquette backs are an off white leather, and seats contrast that in camel. The dining tables are in a dark wood, and the dining chairs in off white, make me think of a modern take on a traditional colonial chair. Over sized mirrors create a sort of twinkle from the ceiling lights and tea lights on the tables. 
Don't forget to notice on your way to the second floor, or restroom, the walls on the stairs. It is a full chalk board. If your nice to Dave the bartender, and don't make fun of his flute, he may be able to provide you some chalk so you can add to it!
So after, I felt I had the full tour of the design elements of Kitchen, I asked the guys to tell me some good stuff for the blog!
First meet the guys on the right: 
Left to Right: We've got...Pat the Waiter, John the Waiter, Andrew the Manager, and Dave the Bartender
Pat the waiter said the burger, medium rare. John, the waiter said definitely the steak sandwich(6") with tater tots. Andrew, the manager said when he's famished the bacon cheese burger, when they don't have chicken fried steak. And good ole' Dave, the bartender, recommends the wings.
I had the crispy chicken tenders and tater tots (because I hadn't had them in years) and they were great!
If you could serve anyone who would it be???
Pat said Mark Twain...ummm.... haha. John said Megan Fox because I would sit down next to her and tell her we need to start dating. Andrew said John Daly, because we have drinks here named after him, and he'd be impressed. And Dave said, Rick Vaughan, because he is MY HERO!!!
What is the funniest experience you've had at Kitchen???
Although, the guys said there were too many to name, I managed to get out of them, that once they had a lady come in who was getting stranger and stranger as the night went on. She gave them a really hard time and then unfortunately they ran out of $1 bills, so when they had to give her change (which was over $3) in quarters, she threw them at her waiters face and stormed out!!
Well, luckily I was paying with plastic! But all kidding aside, I had a great time at Kitchen, the interior design was great, the food was great, and the team there is fabulous. They just opened in January, and are off to a great start.
I asked Jessica Gibson, the marketing director for Kitchen, what's next?? and she said "We are kicking off a new Menu mid-July with a new Executive Chef names Alex McCoy, who was featured on NBC's The Chopping Block." So... I will definitely make another trip over there then to see what's new, and you should too!
Thank you to Jessica, for setting up my visit, and to Pat, John, Andrew, Dave and Fritz for showing me around and showing me a little bit of "Kitchen" hospitality!
Check them out at: http://www.kitchen2404.com/
Friday, July 03, 2009
Solar Ivy
Solar Ivy (or SMIT Grow) is a spectacular system of thin, fluttering solar panels that generate energy by sparkling in the sunlight. The wind and solar power generating photovoltaic leaves can be easily integrated on the side of a building to produce energy. The concept, designed by Brooklyn based SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology), consists of a layer of thin-film material on top of polyethylene with a piezoelectric generator attached to each leaf. When the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, energy is being generated via Solar Ivy.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Infinity Photography provides custom art consulting services to designers and architects in the hospitality and corporate markets. Leslie Ann Wigon, President of Infinity Photography, has over 20 years of experience in the photography field as a photography editor, art buyer and art consultant and is a passionate collector of fine art photography.
Stay Tuned for the photo of the week and enjoy some samples of her collections below!
Washington Post News- Apartment Zero Closing.
CLOSING!!!!
One of the District's most well-known modern furnishings stores, Apartment Zero in Penn Quarter, is closing. "It's sad. We love our customers. . . . Ten years has been a great, long run," co-owner Douglas Burton says. However, "we aren't closing the business; we're relocating and reorganizing it."
The decision was made in part because the landlord wants to remodel the building and is not renewing leases. Also, the business is "evolving," Burton says. Apartment Zero's customers are changing; retail sales have dropped, and demand for interior design services has increased.
So starting Wednesday, everything at Apartment Zero will be on sale.
Stop in and take advantage of the sales
406 Seventh St. NW
Read more on Washington Post.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-Dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR2009070101011.html
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Linked-IN Design and Construction Network- June 30th Photos
I attended the Linked-IN Design and Construction Networking happy hour last night at Sobe Seafood Co. in Clarendon. This was a great event. It draws a large crowd and a diverse crowd. It was sponsored by Atlantic Risk Management and Spine visualization studio. I met a lot of great people, take a look at the pictures!
On the Left: Justin Snyder, Marketing/Business Development at OTJ Architects and David Doherty, Project Manager at Skanska Construction. On the Right: Erin Larkin a hospitality designer at BBG-BBGM Architects and Jon Wareham from Design Tech Engineering.
On the Left: Sharlene Ghorban, Senior Designer at Marriott International and Sady from Architectural Ceramics. On the Right: Sarah Szczygiel, Business Development Director at BBG-BBGM Architects and Kathleen O'Leary, General Contractor/Construction Manager at Scott-Long Construction, INC.
On the Left: Doug Koeser from RK&K, Chris Mundy, Realtor at Coldwell Banker, and Scott Coulter, A&D rep for Architectural Ceramics. On the Right: Ashley Fowler, Marketing Coordinator at William H. Gordon Associates and Deborah Hayward, Marketing and Graphic Design Manager at Studio 39 Landscape Architecture, P.C.
On the Left: Nick Peters, Governement Stategic Account Spcialist at The Mowhawk Group, Devon Smith from Devon Smith Design Studio, Michael Tulenko, Team Coordinator at ACN Energy and Rob Carey from TME. On the right: Leslie Magos from REOPC Processing Center and Nathalie Abutaha, Sustainable Business Manager at AtSite.
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