AIA/LA Restaurant Design Awards Finalists: The New Faces of Recession Dining

After much deliberation, judges Ben Ford (Chef/Proprietor, Ford’s Filling Station), Lara Hedberg Deam (Founder/Owner, Dwell Magazine), Clive Piercy (Principal, Air Conditioned Design), and Joey Shimoda, AIA (Principal, Shimoda Design Group) have selected the finalists for the 2010 AIA/LA Restaurant Design Awards. In totality 12 venues received nominations with the breakdown as follows: 4 in the Restaurant Category, 5 in the Café Category and 3 in the Bar/Lounge Category. In past years, sleek, moderns haunts like the Lab Gastropub, Bottega Louie, and The Conga Room walked away as winners, though this year's players seem to embody a more natural, earthy, organic atmosphere overall.

Restaurant Finalists
Char No. 4 (Brooklyn, NY) | Berman Horn Studio
Choice Restaurant (Brooklyn, NY) | Evan Douglis Studio
Gjelina Restaurant (Venice, CA) | Modern Arc Inc
South Beverly Grill (Beverly Hills, CA) | Assembledge+

Cafe Finalists
Café de Leche (Los Angeles, CA) | FreelandBuck
Intelligentsia Venice (Venice, CA) | MASS Architecture + Design
Mod Market (Boulder, CO) | Roth + Sheppard Architects
Sandwiched (New York, NY) | INABA
URBNMRKT (Los Angeles, CA) | AC Martin, Inc

Bar/Lounge Finalists
Las Perlas (Los Angeles, CA) | MASS Architecture + Design, Ricki Kline + Jeanmarie Dumouchel
Press Club (San Francisco, CA) | Baldauf Catton von Eckartsberg Architects
The Varnish (Los Angeles, CA) | Kelly Architects + Ricki Kline

Voting is now open for the People's Choice Awards, so feel free to cast that ballot. Awards will be announced at the Restaurant Design Awards Ceremony on June 25.
·AIA/LA Design Awards Call For Submissions [~ELA~]
·Hangover Observations: Design Awards Winners Recap [~ELA~]

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Las Perlas

7511 Santa Monica Boulevard, , CA 90046 (323) 822-5065 Visit Website

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Gjelina

1429 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, , CA 90291 (310) 450-1429 Visit Website