Tablespoon Cooking Co.

Interior Architecture- Small Scale (<5,000 sf)

Project Narrative

Tablespoon Cooking Co. is a new home for a local company that merges professional cooking lessons with a dinner party experience. The design seeks to blend the utility of a commercial kitchen with the familiarity and comfort of a home. Located within Over-the-Rhine’s vibrant Findlay Market district, this project occupies the ground floor of a state-recognized historic building. Negotiating between Commercial and Domestic, Historic and Contemporary, Utility and Comfort, Tablespoon Cooking Co.’s atmosphere is unique unto itself.

One long continuous space is adapted into numerous functions including bar, reception, dining, and cooking demonstration. An ultra-performance custom overhead assembly runs the length of the demonstration area, providing mise-en-place storage, task lighting, utilities, audio-visual equipment, decorative displays, and more. This rigid architectural framework gives order to an otherwise chaotic environment, without making it feel sterile.

Design details play up the unconventional mash-up of home cooking and professional kitchen. Colorful wire grids recall speed racks and cage carts found in back-of-house kitchens. Concrete terrazzo countertops mingle with stainless steel work tables that can be rearranged for different class sizes and events. Industrial electric supplies spiral down from overhead, interspersed between houseplants and high-end cookware. A dimensional fruit mural creates a contemporary twist on vintage floral print wallpaper, setting a domestic backdrop to plush banquettes of vibrant colors.

The design is executed in a way that is not “either/or” but rather, formally and functionally “both/and”. The dialogue between the diverse elements of the design activates this casual, inviting environment and sustains engagement, inviting new conversations to occur.