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September 4, 2018

New Chicago Restaurant Combines California-Inspired Design and Cuisine

Pacific Standard Time, whose interiors are by New York–based firm Parts and Labor Design, is awash in a palette of terrazzo, textural glazed tile, leather, and wood galore.

By: Lila Allen

Pacific Standard Time chicago restaurant design — Pacific Standard Time, a new restaurant in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, pays homage to California cooking and West Coast residential architecture. **Courtesy Parts and Labor Design**

Whether or not you hail from the West Coast, you might feel at home at Pacific Standard Time, a new California-inspired restaurant in Chicago. The concept of the eatery, both in cuisine and architecture, began with the hearth: The space, by New York–based firm Parts and Labor Design, was conceived around an open kitchen anchored by two wood-fired ovens. “That, from [the restaurateurs’] point of view, was a really Californian approach to cooking,” says Danu Kennedy, design director at the firm. “[We] just kept going back to the idea of the open kitchen, being invited into somebody’s home.”

This conceit of the hearth translates into a rounded graphic element that Parts and Labor Design integrated throughout the entire scheme of the restaurant, appearing subtly in tile motifs, wall treatments, and even glazing. The interiors are awash in a palette of terrazzo, textural glazed tile, leather, and wood galore—creamy, light wood wrapping the bar and lining the floor; teak that spans the ceiling; pendant light fixtures that resemble birds in flight. These material choices lend the space a homey air, contributing to the intimacy of its gastronomic program. “It definitely had a nod to residential ’70s architecture and design, where there might be the odd quirk or two,” says Kennedy, “but not being too rigid with it.”

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