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| Accolades for their food, we're more interested in their sense of style... by Lauren Liebowitz La Condesa is one of Austin's best known upscale Mexican restaurants, taking its inspiration from the trendy Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City. While the food (a mixture of contemporary and traditional) earns its own accolades, we're more interested in the restaurant's sense of style. |
| The moment you step inside, you'll see what we mean - a strikingly modern but upscale interior from the architecture to the lighting to the decor. It's a luxurious take on the modern concept, to be sure, but there's no mistaking the use of form both inside and out. In fact, La Condesa won the People's Choice category at the AIA Los Angeles Restaurant Design Awards in 2009. We got a hold of Jesse Herman, the restaurant's founder, for a peek into the mind behind this award-winning design. |
| MA: What motivated you to choose a modern design for the interior of your restaurant? The motivation for the design was the same as the inspiration for the menu and really all aspects of the concept. I was inspired by mexico city, more specifically the neighborhood of colonia condesa. The materials (wood, glass, concrete, steel) are abundant in mexico city architecture and design, as is openness and light (why we have huge windows). As our food is a modern take on classic regional mexican, so is our design. We were inspired not only by the neighborhood, but also well-known mexican designers of the last century such as luis berragan, legoretta + legoretta and enrique norten of ten arquitectos. |
MA: Who was your designer?
I oversaw the design process which
was a collaboration between myself,
architect michael hsu and designer
joel mozersky.
MA: Can you tell us anything about the
specific manufacturers or product lines
used in your interior?
There are only two manufacturers that
we used for the restaurant design. we
have herman miller chairs in the dining
room and modernica bar stools at the
bar. other than that, all other furniture
is vintage- some reupholstered, some
not. As far as light fixtures, they are all
generic bulbs and fixtures with a couple
of raw, custom fixtures. The two main
lighting features (the bulbs hanging in
the dining room and the cloud fixture
in the bar area) were actually made
from generic products available at
home depot. The cloud fixture was
made by local artist andy coolquitt.
also, the mixed-media mural that
dominates the dining room was done
by local artist collective sodalitas.
It is made of old mexican billboard
advertisements. Many of our vintage
pieces were purchased locally at
uptown modern in austin.
I oversaw the design process which
was a collaboration between myself,
architect michael hsu and designer
joel mozersky.
MA: Can you tell us anything about the
specific manufacturers or product lines
used in your interior?
There are only two manufacturers that
we used for the restaurant design. we
have herman miller chairs in the dining
room and modernica bar stools at the
bar. other than that, all other furniture
is vintage- some reupholstered, some
not. As far as light fixtures, they are all
generic bulbs and fixtures with a couple
of raw, custom fixtures. The two main
lighting features (the bulbs hanging in
the dining room and the cloud fixture
in the bar area) were actually made
from generic products available at
home depot. The cloud fixture was
made by local artist andy coolquitt.
also, the mixed-media mural that
dominates the dining room was done
by local artist collective sodalitas.
It is made of old mexican billboard
advertisements. Many of our vintage
pieces were purchased locally at
uptown modern in austin.
| MA: How has your interior design affected your clientele and how the public perceives your restaurant? I think that when you go for a modern design, people tend to associate that with trying to be trendy. I think what most people don't realize about our design is how many of our pieces are vintage and how many local artists worked with very basic and often recycled products to create fixtures that look incredible. The most defining elements of our design cost the least money. That is all part of the design ethos of the condesa neighborhood (recycle, reuse). While it's not immediately obvious, so many customers ask about some of our design elements that we have had to train or servers to be able to answer their questions! |
| Visit La Condesa online at www.lacondesaaustin.com or stop by the restaurant in downtown Austin: La Condesa 400A West 2nd Street. Austin, TX 78701 |