An All-Custom Environment Adds Spark to the
San Francisco Dining Scene.
A seeming contradiction in terms, the Plump Jack Café, located
on Fillmore Street in the San Francisco marina, is meant to combine
the ethereal quality of a stage set with the industrial strength
of a steel yard. At least this was the stated aim of Craig Leavitt,
who, with partner Stephen Weaver, designed the 2,000-sq-ft. restaurant
as a follow-up to the success of the clients' two-year-old wine
shop of the same name.
While the dining room 60 (supplemented by a private room with seating
for 50) is full of whimsical accoutrements to amuse the eye and
has enough metallic finishes to infuse it with the requisite glamour
quotient, the space was, in fact, designed to withstand the abuse
of a heavily trafficked situation. Leavitt and Weaver's ownership
of a manufacturing operation allowed them to develop special paneling
as well as work with steel to create a built environment that would
be virtually maintenance free.
Dimensional wall panels, which the designers intend to duplicate
along with the high-impact visual elements for franchise operations,
are cast in a plaster/resin composite from wood originals. The cast
pieces are then finished in a three-layer paint process entailing
a first coat of flat color followed by a "misting" of
pearlescent pigment and a final beige/white wash. The resulting
surface is one with a distressed quality. As for metal, the designers
used steel and aluminum, finished with copper plating and a clear
powder coat, to produce pieces with vague allusions to medieval
English imagery. Metal mesh combined with stylized-steel swords
form both the window treatment plus a screen implying separation
between the maitre d' stand and the dining room proper. Lanterns
and sconces are of copper-plated aluminum with parchment, and fanciful
mirror frames introduce color. The room's grand wine rack is a standard
pine fixture embellished with an over scaled capital plus copper
restraints and fittings.
Because this was a budget job that was meant to look otherwise,
the designers customized production-line chairs by having the backs
cut in one of four shield patterns and then painted in a tarnished
gold/copper tint. In lieu of leather, banquettes are covered with
metallic vinyl. Plump Jack Café, which is already set for
a franchise operation in Santa Fe, was completed in less than a
year for undisclosed costs. |
|
 |
