-By AnnMarie Marano

If you build it, they will come. "There's been an evolution in the past 10 years, and hotel operators are seeing the benefit of having a restaurant that is a destination in its own right," says Patrick O'Hare, AIA, IIDA, senior associate with San Rafael, Calif.-based EDG Interior Architecture+Design. "If you build a venue to attract locals, then your guests will want to be there too."
 
With the rise of the boutique hotel, operators have opened their eyes to the importance of having an incredible restaurant, in every aspect from food to design to service. Boutique has pushed food and beverage components to even surpass the hotel as a destination, making this market segment more competitive than ever. But more important, this newly found focus on restaurant expression is giving the full service and luxury brands – those who aren’t necessarily concerning themselves with uber-trendy interiors -- a platform for design that is more hip and edgy.
 
"A restaurant doesn't necessarily need a hotel to be successful, but a hotel does need a great food and beverage program, and a restaurant fits the bill," explains O'Hare. "If there is a trend in hotel design, it is toward a greater recognition of the importance of the restaurant and food and beverage experience in defining its competitive position. The restaurant needs to stand on its own as a real restaurant, and increasingly the hotel is highlighting the restaurant as a standard bearer for design, cuisine, and brand expression."

This in turn has resulted in a spike in diners' expectations, requiring designers to meet these expectations in a variety of ways. One of them is increased interaction between guests and restaurant staff. Open kitchens and other focal features of the like are becoming more popular. "The open kitchen is requested, but many now want glassed-in versions so that they are more quiet and a little more sophisticated," says Cass Calder Smith, AIA, principal of CCS Architecture, who has offices in San Francisco and New York. Charcuteries and raw bars are other ways to create action, or for instance, a Tagine on display at a Moroccan restaurant or an Indian restaurant with a Saj oven for all to see, says Leila Abdulrahim, a regional director with Warwick, R.I.-based DiLeonardo International.

But even as expectations have risen, designers are seeing dining move from semi-formal to casual with flexible seating and "zones" of varying experiences. "For example, as you transition from a lounge area into a restaurant, you may want to incorporate a transitional area, where a guest can have only snacks or a light meal. Many business people conduct meetings in these 'in between' areas these days," Abdulrahim says.

Sometimes, this trend can result in more options for the guests, or in a consolidation. At the Four Seasons Vancouver, O'Hare developed Yew, a single operation that took the place of a three-meal venue, a fine dining room, and a lobby bar. "It used to be conventional wisdom that hotels need a specialty restaurant for fine dining, a three-meal restaurant for basic all-day service and a lobby bar to activate the lobby," he says. "We're seeing a shift toward consolidation to create a more flexible food and beverage venue with greater draw."

For others, flexibility means a broader range of restaurants. According to Smith, a hotel might want to include a casual three-meal place that can do table and buffet service, and another venue that is a more upscale, one meal place. "They also typically want a large and exciting lobby bar that can be for guests, events, and even for people working on laptops when it's not busy," he says. "The other component I am seeing requested is coffee bars that are separate entities near the lobby serving beverages and packaged food for the quick or late/early traveler."

Other small developing details include the disappearance of the host podium. Smith is hearing requests for the host to be able to stand next to a cabinet, rather than behind a podium, so they can be seen as a more casual host rather than a formalized object.

Whatever the goals or the location might be, one thing is certain: the hotel restaurant has gone from a simple guest courtesy to a highly developed food and beverage concept that can boost not just itself, but a hotel property to an in-demand destination.