| style art decor |
Recently we met friends for dinner at Victor’s in Provincetown. It was our first time there, and we were pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was light and airy; very enjoyable. Unlike a lot of Outer Cape restaurants, which are oddly dark or horrendously touristy, this one let’s you feel like your’e in a beach town, without blatant reminders. The food was good too. We’ll definitely go back. (PS – There’s a drag brunch every Sunday.)
Despite the 90+ degree heat, we ambled (ok, drove with the A/C blasting) into Provincetown yesterday, having promised the boys a trip to the Penny Patch and Puzzle Me This. The allure for us was the chance to try out the new upscale burger spot at 186 Commercial Street, Local 186. It’s a new venture owned by Eric Jansen and Guillermo Yingling. Eric co-owns the superb restaurant Blackfish in Truro, where many a summer night you can find us at the bar. Anyway, the burgers, fries, and onion strings were tasty, but the real surprise was the decor. It is crisp but homey and very pulled together. I haven’t had a chance to connect with anyone to find out who’s responsible, but I did take a bunch of photos for you.
ADDITION: This morning I heard back from GM Jennifer White (thank you!), who provided me with many, many details, which I used to caption the images. She says, “It was a collective local effort. Every piece is all made by local artists with reclaimed woods and other vintage materials, all collected from old Provincetown properties.” They goal was for it to look new and different, eclectic, layered, and collected, but not over the top. It’s right on.
Susie Neilsen, graphic designer and owner of Farm Gallery in Wellfleet helped with the overall design concept and layout. She also designed the logo, menu, and website.
The murals are by artist Kris Smith, owner of Coastline Tattoo, in town.
Mat Millett, owner of Helltown Gallery, with the help of Tom Magar (the bartender and an off-season carpenter), made the custom tables in the back dining room and the vintage tin-covered bar back.
The onion strings, served in a shiny metal tin, were extra salty and delicious.
Another shot of the back dining room banquette table.
All the dining chairs are covered with vintage feed and flour sacks that Jennifer White found on eBay and other sites.
All the designs are different.
A local craftsman named Michael made the barn wood coffee tables in the lounge (above) and hostess podium, as well as the copper artwork and reclaimed ductwork.
One of the coffee tables in the lounge has a built-in Ouija board.
Bartender Edwige. Industrial lighting over the bar came from a warehouse in Yarmouth.
A niche in the entry that looks through to the bar is filled with cocktail paraphernalia.
Waiting area.
My lunch: The Old-Fashioned—8 oz. Painted Hills burger, Nueske’s bacon, Grafton Reserve cheddar, $14.
Co-owner Gui Yingling arranged a collection of vintage knives over the fireplace in the back dining room.
There are a couple of different vintage animal sculptures,from yard sales ,flea markets, and auctions are mounted on the walls.
Bar-style seating on the front patio.
Architect Steven McGovern designed the new covered porch, in keeping with the design of the original Victorian building. Local craftsman and master carpenter John Badam and his team built it. You can’t see them in this photograph, but there are flying saucer style lamps that co-owner John Yingling had stored in his garage for over 20 years, knowing they’d come in handy someday.
The view—Cape Cod Bay—from the covered porch. It’s visible from some of the tables inside too.
Last Tuesday I posted photos of Moko Market. Today it’s shots of Finnair’s fancy first class lounge at the Helsinki airport. Sadly, I flew coach (pretty ice blue and green color scheme, but very squished seating), so wasn’t privy to the treats. However the hostess did let me in to take pictures, helping pass my too much time before takeoff. It is seriously cute. I was dying to dig into the salad bar and soup tureens.
Photo: Justin Ide
Boston chef and restaurateur Barbara Lynch‘s new Fort Point restaurant Menton (rhymes with Vuitton), opened on Saturday. Yesterday her publicist sent along some official interior photos. (You can see the artsier shots on photographer Justin Ide‘s blog.)
As fitting for a high-end, special occasion spot (she’s hoping diners will wear jackets), the décor, designed by Cheryl and Jeffrey Katz, is subdued. Looks like the entry has some nice details, and the Moroccan style lighting in the dining room keep it from coming off as dull.
It’s named for a small French village near the Italian border, and according to the press kit, “The cuisine is a marriage of refined French technique and soulful Italian cooking.” There are two menu formats: a 4-course prix fixe menu for $95 and a 7-course chef’s tasting menu for $145. Pricey.
Photo: Justin Ide
The palette is composed of earthy greens, grays, and browns, with accents of silver, bright white, and black. A Murano glass chandelier hangs above a silver leather reception desk. Iranian carpets cover the floor of the lounge.
Photo: Justin Ide
The main dining room features Italian wood veneer-clad walls, traditional black slat back chairs, glittering banquettes, and natural linen and white cotton table cloths
Photo: Justin Ide
The main dining room features paintings by Matt McClune, an artist and onetime bartender at Lynch’s No.9 Park, who is now based in the Burgundy region of France.
Photo: Justin Ide
Painter Matt McClune, who has a BFA from Mass Art, is represented locally by the Howard Yezerski Gallery at 460 Harrison.
Photo via Grubb Street Boston
The kitchen has marble mosaic floors and a stainless steel Molteni cooking suite, imported from France. Apparently it was a huge deal to get it into the space, since it’s all one piece.
There’s a view of the kitchen from the chef’s table, a glass-fronted room at the back of the kitchen. The space includes a silver banquette runs the entire length of the room, Philipe Starck ghost chairs, a faux-bois floor, malachite wallpaper, and stark graphite drawings of trees and flora by Dean Brown. Nineteenth-century reproduction French garden mural wallpaper covers the hallway leading to the private dining room. I wish I had a pictures!
Photo: Justin Ide
M E N T O N
354 Congress Street
Boston, Massachusetts
617.737.0099
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Read my interview with Lynch on her new cookbook Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition on eBay’s new style site The Inside Source, where Lynch names her must-haves for every kitchen.
My friend Tanya hosted a birthday lunch this afternoon. There was a delicious fennel salad and absolutely divine individual spinach and feta soufflés. Her husband Rob made the desserts, including this gorgeous vanilla cream tart studded with berries.
There was also handmade ricotta drizzled with honey on some sort of fancy cracker ($8 a box for the crackers, but it was her birthday after all), and lemon profiteroles. Maybe they will cater my birthday brunch.