Restaurants have become the new “it” locales to see and be seen, according to AIA Los Angeles. “The thing about a restaurant is that it really engages all your senses. Not just taste, but smell, sight, sounds...everything to do with design,” said RDA Juror Dean Larkin.

The Restaurant Design Awards (RDA) acknowledge the fact that design is important to the dining experience as a whole.

For Los Angeles design fans, Carlo Caccavale, Associate Director of AIA|LA, noticed a trend amongst Angeleno eatery finalists, “It is interesting to note that three Culver City establishments are among the finalists...Culver City is becoming the new food mecca of LA.”

“There were major themes we saw that really made me realize how quickly these themes move through our society. This made the elimination actually easy because you look for the best example of each,” said Larkin.

The Restaurant finalists are:

•    Edamame Sushi + Grill (Columbus, OH) - designed by Bass Studio Architects

•    Grace Restaurant (Portland, ME) - designed by R. Dean Bingham, AIA & Tivi Design

•    Gyenari Restaurant (Culver City, CA) - designed by Chun Studio, Inc. & Robert Weimer Design

•    Lukshon (Culver City, CA)- designed by MASS Architecture and Design

•    Pitfire Pizza (Los Angeles, CA)- designed by Bestor Architecture

•    The Wright at the Guggenheim Museum (New York, NY) - designed by Andre Kikoski Architect

•    Twenty Five Lusk (San Francisco, CA) - designed by CCS

The Café/Bar Category finalists are:

•    City Center's Aria Pool Deck (Las Vegas, NV) - designed by GRAFT

•    Earl's Gourmet Grub (New York, NY) - designed by FreelandBuck

•    Gitane (San Francisco, CA) - designed by Rothschild Shwartz Architects & Mister Important Design

•    Mendocino Farms (Marina del Rey, CA) - designed by Poon Design Inc.

•    Sprinkles Cupcakes New York (New York, NY) - designed by a l m project inc.

The Lounge/Nightclub Category finalists are:

•    Icenhauer's (Austin, TX) - designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture

•    The Spare Room (Hollywood, CA) - designed by FER Studio, LLP & Studio Collective

The jury included Mark Peel, Executive Chef and Owner of Campanile, and Haily Zaki, Chief Operative at Secret Agent PR. The winners will be announced at the Restaurant Design Awards Ceremony at AIA|LAʼs Design Conference at Dwell on Design, June 24. The Peopleʼs Choice Awards voting is open now through June 20.